Age and IQ as predictors of emotion identification in adults with mental retardation.
Expect older age and lower IQ to predict poorer emotion recognition in adults with intellectual disability.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested how well adults with intellectual disability could name emotions. They looked at age and IQ as predictors.
Participants completed three emotion tasks. The team checked if older adults or lower-IQ adults scored worse.
What they found
Older adults with ID made more errors. Higher IQ linked to better emotion naming.
The pattern held across all three tasks. Age hurt scores; IQ helped them.
How this fits with other research
Repp et al. (1992) saw the same IQ gap in a matched study. Their adults with mild ID beat those with moderate ID, echoing W et al.'s IQ link.
Hetzroni et al. (2002) later replicated the IQ effect with a new sample. Mild ID outscored moderate ID on happy, sad, angry, and fearful faces.
Ohan et al. (2015) pooled 25 years of papers. Their review includes the 1996 data and confirms a large, stable deficit in adults with ID versus typical peers.
Why it matters
When you screen social skills, check both age and IQ. Older adults or lower-IQ clients may miss facial cues. Start emotion training with easy happy faces and give extra trials for fear or anger. If progress stalls, lower the task difficulty rather than assuming motivation issues.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The effects of age and IQ on the identification of six emotions were assessed for adults with mental retardation. Emotion perception was tested in three paradigms: a short vignette was read, and the individual was asked to choose a pictorial representation of a facial expression which corresponded to the vignette; a short vignette was read, and the individual was asked to choose a word that corresponded to the vignette; and a word was read, and the individual was asked to choose a pictorial representation of a facial expression that corresponded to the word. Age correlated negatively with performance in the two conditions in which choosing a facial expression was used as a response. IQ significantly predicted performance in all three conditions. A decrease in right hemisphere processing abilities with age was suggested as one possible explanation for the findings.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1996 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(96)00024-8