Article, Early Access,
Same name, different representational levels? Misalignment of indirect parent-reported and direct alternative forced choice measures of emotion word comprehension in preschool children
Affiliations
- [1] Aarhus Univ, Dept Psychol, Bartholins Alle 11, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark [NORA names: AU Aarhus University; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [2] Univ Oslo, Dept Psychol, Forskningsveien 3A, N-0373 Oslo, Norway [NORA names: Norway; Europe, Non-EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [3] Univ Melbourne, Mindful Ctr Training & Res Dev Hlth, Dept Psychiat, Bldg C,50 Flemington St, Melbourne 3032, Australia [NORA names: Australia; Oceania; OECD]
Abstract
This study assessed the relationship between preschoolers' directly and indirectly assessed emotion word comprehension. Forty-nine two-to-five-year-old Norwegian children were assessed in a tablet-based 4-alternative forced choice (AFC) task on their comprehension of six basic and six complex emotions using facial expression photographs. Parents reported emotion word comprehension and production of the same words. Parent-reported emotion word production interacted with age to predict preschoolers' performance, with a parent-child alignment only observed for older children. Parent-reported word comprehension did not significantly predict accuracy. The results suggest that, in preschoolers, direct and indirect assessments might address distinct representational levels of emotion word comprehension.