Discrimination of Emotion, Affective Perspective-Taking and Empathy in Individuals with Mental Retardation.

This study utilized a video-taped presentation of the Test of Emotional Perception (Negri-Shoultz & Donnellan, 1989) to evaluate the social competency skills of emotion recognition, affective perspective-tak ing, and empathy expression of institutionalized adults with mild or moderate mental retardation. Analyses of resultant data compared the performance of individuals identified as having chronic interpersonal behav ior problems with peers who presented no clinical sign of behavior disorders. Additionally, the obtained data were compared with outcomes predicted by staff members. Results suggest that the responses of persons with moderate mental retardation to the tasks of discriminating emotions and expressing empathy was poor in contrast to those with mild retardation. Furthermore, individuals with mild mental retardation and no chronic challenging behaviors scored significantly better than individuals with mild mental retardation and chronic challenging behaviors of an interpersonal nature. There was, however, no significant difference between the scores of individuals with moderate levels of retardation with and without challenging behavior. Results related to staff estimates showed continual overestimation of participant skills. These results and their implications for practice are discussed. Many persons with mental retardation, espeemotional expression of others (Adams & cially those who also exhibit challenging beMarkham, 1991; Graczyk, 1988; Holder & havior, experience considerable difficulty Kirkpatrick, 1991; Negri-Shoultz & Donnel with transition to less restrictive environlan, 1989). ments. These difficulties often take the form Research in the area of emotion recogni of inadequate social or social competency tion or affective perspective-taking in individ skills (Greenspan & Shoultz, 1981; Hanleyuals with mental retardation is limited and re Maxwell, Rusch, Chadsey-Rusch, & Renzagsuits are conflicting (Strongman, 1985). One lia, 1986; Wilczenski, 1991). To be successful study that found no difference between indi in social interactions, participants must accuviduals with mental retardation and persons rately and rapidly decode the situation, deconsidered nonretarded was completed by cide on action to be taken, and perform the Levy, Orr and Rosenweig (1960). They stud selected action. Difficulties can occur in any ied individuals with mental retardation, indi one or combination of these areas (Chadseyviduals in a psychiatric ward, and college stu Rusch, 1986). Thus, some interpersonal difdents. Their results reported all three groups Acuities experienced by people with mental of subjects agreed in their judgements of retardation may be the result of decoding happy versus sad emotions. These results errors, and more speciflcally, a misinterprewere supported by Doman (1967) who found tation or a lack of appreciation of the emothat individuals with mental retardation were tional expressions of others. Data from studcapable of recognizing emotional incongruity ies of individuals with learning disabilities, by a mental age of nine. A similar Anding was autism and mental retardation suggest there noted by Brosgole, Gioia, and Zingmond is a need for further research into how well (1986). In this study, 5 year olds of normal individuals with disabilities understand the intelligence were compared with individuals with mild, moderate, and severe mental re tardation on a task of recognizing cartoon Correspondence concerning this manuscript character s expressions of happy, sad, or should be addressed to Courtney W. Moffatt, Deangry. Results showed that only the individ partment of Education, Edgewood College, 855 uals with severe mental retardation were deA Woodrow Street, Madison, WI 53711. cient on the task. 76 / Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities-March 1995 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.184 on Wed, 19 Oct 2016 04:12:04 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Gray, Fraser, and Leudar (1983) also disThe primary purpose of the current study cussed the ability of an individual with mild was to evaluate the social competency skills and moderate mental retardation to recoginvolved in emotional recognition, affective nize emotions, in this case photographs of perspective-taking, and expression of em emotional expressions. Their investigation pathy of individuals with mild or moderate found that individuals with moderate levels mental retardation who also exhibited of retardation made more errors in recognichronic behavior problems of an interper tion than individuals with mild retardation. sonal nature. A secondary purpose was to Similarly, Adams and Markham (1991) comidentify whether the skills of these individuals pared children and adolescents with mental differed from their peers who presented no retardation versus children without retardaclinical signs of behavioral difficulties. A final tion on their ability to recognize facial expurpose was to assess the ability of staff to pression. Results suggest that children with accurately predict the social competency cognitive disabilities are less able than chilskills of those people with whom they dren without cognitive disabilities to develop worked. emotional recognition skills by observational According to Izard (1971, 1977) and Ek learning. In a more specific study, McAlpine, man (1973) individuals judge emotions in Kendall and Singh (1991) report findings, others in context through a combination of: from a study of 511, that among individuals facial expression, posture, eye contact, bodily with mental retardation or borderline intellidistance, words, tone of voice, speech pauses, gence, recognition of facial expression inand physical contact. For this reason, video creases with IQ. However, among individuals presentation was used to provide a more real with normal intelligence recognition accuistic assessment of an individual's skill of racy increases with age. More recently these identifying emotional expression in others, researchers evaluated 80 children and adults affective perspective-taking, and expressing with and without mental retardation to deempathy. Past studies have used mainly still termine their ability to recognize facial exphotographs, pressions of emotion. Subjects were read sto ries then asked to pick a picture to match the Method story from a set of 6 photographs of basic fa cial expressions of emotions. Individuals This study utilized a video-taped presenta without cognitive disabilities were more able tion of the Test of Emotional Perception (Ne to match pictures to stories about emotions gri-Shoultz & Donnellan, 1989) to evaluate than individuals with mental retardation. the social competency skills of emotion recog (McAlpine, Singh, Kendall, & Ellis, 1992). nition, affective perspective-taking, and em Bradley and Meredith (1991) found similar pathy expression of institutionalized adults results; social perspective-taking in students with mild or moderate mental retardation, with mild mental retardation improved with Study participants, materials, and procedures age. These same students showed far less are described in this section, growth in the understanding of friendship re lationships, however. It may be that the ability to understand emotions, or social competency skills, is not A stratified random sampling procedure was delayed in persons with mental retardation, used to selected 40 participants from the 250 but a reflection of age combined with perpotential participants who resided in one of sonal and maturational experiences. The imtwo midwestern residential facilities serving portance of both factors in relation to social individuals with mental retardation. All resi competence has been researched by Rothendents from both facilities who met IQ parame berg (1970) using children with average intelters (between 36 and 75 as measured on the lectual ability. In her investigation, age, intelStanford-Binet, Weschler Adult Intelligence lectual ability and interpersonal adjustment Scale, or the Weschler Intelligence Scale for were shown to contribute most to the develChildren); had no severe hearing, vision, or opment of accurate social perceptions. communication impairments; and whose Affective Perspective arid Empathy / 77 Participants This content downloaded from 207.46.13.184 on Wed, 19 Oct 2016 04:12:04 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms