Facial affect recognition in children

This study tests the hypothesis that the right hemisphere is specialized for the processing of emotional information in children, as it is in adults. We compared the performance of eight children with right-hemisphere lesions and eight with left-hemisphere lesions on a test of facial affect recognition. The mean score of the right-hemisphere group fell significantly below that of the left-hemisphere group and normal controls, suggesting that the specialization of the right hemisphere occurs early in development. This finding is consistent with clinical observations that children with right-hemisphere dysfunction manifest a high incidence of difficulty in social interactions.