Abstract
This article introduces the Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal as instruments to enable children to provide judgments of emotions they witness or experience along the major dimensions of affect. In two studies (Study 1: N = 160, 3–11 years and adults; Study 2: N = 280, 3–5 years and adults), participants used the scales to indicate the levels of pleasure or arousal they perceived in stylized drawings of facial expressions, in photographs of facial expressions, or in emotion labels. All age groups used the Pleasure Scale reliably and accurately with all three types of stimuli. All used the Arousal Scale with stylized faces and with facial expressions, but only 5-year-olds did so for emotion labels.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Lisa Ferguson and Sarah Knowlden Lowen for their help with this study. This article was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (1025563).
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Appendix: Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal
Appendix: Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal
The Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal were designed to enable preliterate children to provide judgments of pleasure or arousal. These judgments could concern the child’s own feelings, the feelings of others, or more descriptive judgments of various kinds. The child is presented with one scale, either that for pleasure or that for arousal, and is taught the labels for each of its levels.
The Pleasure Scale
The Pleasure Scale is shown in Fig. 5. It consists of five boxes. It has black boxes on each end (very very bad, very very good), two gray boxes (a little bad, a little good), and the center box is white (normal). The order from left to right is very very bad, a little bad, normal, a little good, and very very good. The boxes are each 3” × 3” and the entire scale is 18” long.
The Children’s Pleasure Scale
The experimenter introduces the scale by pointing to the five boxes and telling the child that the different boxes are for different feelings. The child is then shown a stickman (a simple human figure printed on a piece of paper), and the experimenter explains that how the stickman feels can be shown by putting it in one of the boxes. So that the Pleasure and Arousal Scales might be used to test children’s understanding of emotion labels and faces, the training uses neither. However, tone of voice is used to convey feelings.
Stage 1: Two extremes (Very Very Bad, Very Very Good)
The experimenter explains, “This end here [pointing to the far-left, black box] is for when the stickman feels very very bad. When he moves this way [right] he feels better and better, until he gets to this box [far-right, black box] where he feels very very good. Remember, this end [pointing to the very very bad box] is for when he feels very very bad, like when someone breaks all your toys or when you have a nightmare. Do you know how that feels? [Child responds.] This end [indicating the very very good box] is for when he feels very very good, like when you get lots of toys. Do you know what that is like? [Child responds]”.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two end boxes. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very bad or very very good, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified while the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 2: Displeasure
The child’s attention is directed to the left half of the board. The experimenter says, “This end is for when the stickman feels bad. Remember, this box is for when he feels very very bad [pointing to the leftmost box]—like when someone breaks all your toys. But if the stickman feels just a little bad he goes here [pointing to the second-from-the-left, gray box]—like when someone breaks just one of your toys. A little bad is right beside very very bad.” The experimenter invites the child to repeat each of the labels.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two boxes on the left end of the scale. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very bad or a little bad, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 3: Pleasure
The child’s attention is directed to the right half of the board. The experimenter says, “This end is for when the stickman feels good. Remember that this box is for when he feels very very good [pointing to the rightmost, black box]—like when you get lots of toys. If the stickman feels good but not as much as in this box [pointing to the very very good box] then he goes in this box [pointing to the second-from-the-right, gray box]. This box is for when the stickman feels a little good—like when you get only one toy.” The experimenter invites the child to repeat the labels.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two boxes on the left end of the scale. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very good or a little good, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 4: Four Levels
Next, the child is given another series of practice trials, this time with the four labels he or she has learned (very very bad, a little bad, a little good, and very very good). The experimenter selects one of the four labels at random and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. These practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on five consecutive trials.
Stage 5: Normal
Finally, the experimenter points out that there is one box left that they haven’t talked about yet, and says, “We have the middle box [white] left. This box is for when the stick man feels normal. He’s not feeling bad and he’s not feeling good—he’s just feeling normal. Remember, this side is for when he feels bad [pointing to the left end of the scale], and this side is for when he feels good (pointing to the right end of the scale), and this middle box [pointing to the middle box] is for when the stickman feels normal, not bad or good.”
Then the child is given a number of practice trials, this time restricted to only the middle box. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling normal and asks the child to put the stick man in the normal box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on two consecutive trials.
Pre-trial
After the child has learned all the labels for the pleasure scale, the experimenter explains, “Now we are going to use the whole board. Can you show me how you feel today [sweeping hand across the scale]?” After the child responded, the experimenter shows the child a stickman and said, “One day, the stickman felt very very bad. Where should he go?” The child is given the stickman and asked to put it in the box he or she thinks was correct. If the response is correct, the child is praised. If the response was incorrect, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified while the correct label is repeated. This procedure is repeated for each of the labels, and until the child is correct on five consecutive trials.
The Arousal Scale
The Arousal Scale is shown in Fig. 6. It consists of five boxes. It has a white box on the left end (very very sleepy), then, in order from left to right, it has a light gray box (a little sleepy), a middle gray box (normal), a dark gray box (wide awake), and the rightmost box is black (very very wide awake). The boxes are each 3” × 3” and the entire scale is 18” long.
The Children’s Arousal Scale
The experimenter introduces the scale by pointing to the five boxes and telling the child that the different boxes are for different feelings. The child is then shown a stickman, and the experimenter explains that how the stickman feels can be shown by putting it in one of the boxes. Though emotion labels and faces are not used in the training, tone of voice is used to convey feelings.
Stage 1: Two Extremes (Very Very Sleepy, Very Very Wide Awake)
The experimenter explains, “This end here [pointing to the far-left, white box] is for when the stickman feels very very sleepy. When he moves this way [right] he feels better and better, until he gets to this box [far-right, black box] where he feels very very wide awake. Remember, this end [pointing to the very very sleepy box] is for when he feels very very sleepy, like when it is late at night and you are in bed. Do you know how that feels? [Child responds.] This end [indicating the very very wide awake box] is for when he feels very very wide awake, like when you are moving around a lot. Do you know what that is like? [Child responds]”.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two end boxes. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very sleepy or very very wide awake, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 2: Low Arousal
The child’s attention is directed to the left half of the board. The experimenter says, “This end is for when the stickman feels sleepy. Remember, this box is for when he feels very very sleepy [pointing to the leftmost box]—like when it is late at night and you are in bed. But if the stickman feels just a little sleepy he goes here [pointing to the second-from-the-left, light gray box]—like when you yawn. A little sleepy is right beside very very sleepy.” The experimenter invites the child to repeat each of the labels.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two boxes on the left end of the scale. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very sleepy or a little sleepy, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 3: High Arousal
The child’s attention is directed to the right half of the board. The experimenter says, “This end is for when the stickman feels wide awake. Remember that this box is for when he feels very very wide awake [pointing to the rightmost, black box]—like when you are jumping around. If the stickman feels awake but not as much as in this box [pointing to the very very wide awake box] then he goes in this box [pointing to the second-from-the-right, dark gray box]. This box is for when the stickman feels wide awake—like when you are walking around.” The experimenter invites the child to repeat the labels.
Then the child is given a series of practice trials restricted to the two boxes on the right end of the scale. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling very very wide awake or wide awake, and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on three consecutive trials.
Stage 4: Four Levels
Next, the child is given another series of practice trials, but this time with the four labels he or she has learned (very very sleepy, a little sleepy, wide awake, and very very wide awake). The experimenter selects one of the four labels at random and asks the child to put the stickman into the appropriate box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. These practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on five consecutive trials.
Stage 5: Normal
Finally, the experimenter points out that there is one box left that they haven’t talked about yet, and says, “We have the middle box [middle gray] left. This box is for when the stick man feels normal. He’s not feeling sleepy and he’s not feeling wide awake—he’s just feeling normal. Remember, this side is for when he feels sleepy [pointing to the left end of the scale], and this side is for when he feels wide awake (pointing to the right end of the scale), and this middle box [pointing to the middle box] is for when the stickman feels normal, not sleepy or wide awake.”
Then the child is given a number of practice trials, this time restricted to only the middle box. The experimenter says that the stickman is feeling normal and asks the child to put the stick man in the normal box. A correct response is praised, and incorrect responses corrected. In cases in which correction is required, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified and the label is repeated. The practice trials are repeated until the child is correct on two consecutive trials.
Pre-trial
After the child has learned all the labels for the arousal scale, the experimenter explains, “Now we are going to use the whole board. Can you show me how you feel today [sweeping hand across the scale]?” After the child responded, the experimenter shows the child a stickman and says, “One day, the stickman felt very very sleepy. Where should he go?” The child is given the stickman and asked to put it in the box he or she thinks is correct. If the response is correct, the child is praised. If the response was incorrect, the child is reminded of the label of the chosen box, and the correct box is identified while the correct label is repeated. This procedure is repeated for each of the labels, and until the child is correct on five consecutive trials.
Scoring
The boxes on the Pleasure Scale were scored consecutively from 1 to 5, from very very bad to very very good. The boxes on the Arousal Scale were scored consecutively from 1 to 5, from very very sleepy to very very wide awake.
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Widen, S.C., Russell, J.A. Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal. J Nonverbal Behav 40, 187–203 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-016-0228-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-016-0228-x