Recognition of facial expressions of emotions in tactile drawings by blind children, children with low vision and sighted children.

In the context of blindness, studies on the recognition of facial expressions of emotions by touch are essential to define the compensatory touch abilities and to create adapted tools on emotions. This study is the first to examine the effect of visual experience in the recognition of tactile drawings of facial expressions of emotions by children with different visual experiences. To this end, we compared the recognition rates of tactile drawings of emotions between blind children, children with low vision and sighted children aged 6-12 years. Results revealed no effect of visual experience on recognition rates. However, an effect of emotions and an interaction effect between emotions and visual experience were found. Indeed, while all children had a low average recognition rate, the drawings of fear, anger and disgust were particularly poorly recognized. Moreover, sighted children were significantly better at recognizing the drawings of surprise and sadness than the blind children who only showed high recognition rates for joy. The results of this study support the importance of developing emotion tools that can be understood by children with different visual experiences.

Emotion regulation in blind and visually impaired children aged 3 to 12 years assessed by a parental questionnaire.

Emotion regulation develops from the earliest years of a child's life and mostly through visual information. Considering the importance of emotion regulation in daily life situations, it is important to study the effect of visual experience on the development of this ability. This study is the first to examine the effect of visual experience and age in emotion regulation by comparing groups of children with different visual status and age. For this purpose, after testing the reliability and consistency of the French version of Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC-vf) with 245 parents of blind, visually impaired and sighted children aged 3-5, 6-8 or 9-12 years, we conducted analyses on the effect of visual status and age on emotion regulation composite scores. The first result confirmed that the ERC-vf can be reliably used on populations of blind and visually impaired children. The second result revealed an effect of visual status on ER composite scores of emotion regulation: Blind children and visually impaired children each had significantly lower composite scores than sighted children. Moreover, the effect of age and the interaction between age and visual status were not significant on ER composite scores. The ER subscale results suggest, however, that age may have a variable effect for blind and visually impaired children as blind children's scores become lower and those of visually impaired children become equal to sighted children with age. The results of our study may help the children's entourage to better adapt their interactions in a context of visual impairment.

Exploring 3D miniatures with action simulations by finger gestures: Study of a new embodied design for blind and sighted children.

Tactile books for blind children generally contain tactile illustrations referring to a visual world that can be difficult to understand. This study investigates an innovative way to present content to be explored by touch. Following embodied approaches and evidence about the advantages of manipulations in tactile processing, we examined 3D miniatures that children explored using their middle and index fingers to simulate leg movements. This "Action simulations by finger gestures-ASFG" procedure has a symbolic relevance in the context of blindness. The aim of the present study was to show how the ASFG procedure facilitates the identification of objects by blind and sighted children. Experiment 1 examined the identification of 3D miniatures of action objects (e.g. the toboggan, trampoline) by 8 early blind and 15 sighted children, aged 7 to 12, who explored with the ASFG procedure. Results revealed that objects were very well identified by the two groups of children. Results confirmed hypotheses that ASFG procedures are relevant in the identification process regardless of the visual status of subjects. Experiment (control) 2 studied identification of tactile pictures of same action objects by 8 different early blind and 15 sighted children, aged 7 to 12. Results confirmed that almost all objects obtained lower recognition scores in tactile pictures than in 3D miniatures by both groups and showed surprisingly higher scores in blind children than in sighted children. Taken together, our study provides evidence of the contribution of sensorimotor simulation in the identification of objects by touch and brings innovative solutions in book design for blind people. Moreover, it means that only the ASFG procedure has a very inclusive potential to be relevant for a larger number of subjects, regardless of their visual skills.

Adults' visual recognition of actions simulations by finger gestures (ASFGs) produced by sighted and blind individuals.

The present study examines the visual recognition of action simulations by finger gestures (ASFGs) produced by sighted and blind individuals. In ASFGs, fingers simulate legs to represent actions such as jumping, spinning, climbing, etc. The question is to determine whether the common motor experience of one's own body is sufficient to produce adequate ASFGs or whether the possibility to see gestures from others are also necessary to do it. Three experiments were carried out to address this question. Experiment 1 examined in 74 sighted adults the recognition of 18 types of ASFGs produced by 20 blindfolded sighted adults. Results showed that rates of correct recognition were globally very high, but varied with the type of ASFG. Experiment 2 studied in 91 other sighted adults the recognition of ASFGs produced by 10 early blind and 7 late blind adults. Results also showed a high level of recognition with a similar order of recognizability by type of ASFG. However, ASFGs produced by early blind individuals were more poorly recognized than those produced by late blind individuals. In order to match data of recognition obtained with the form that gestures are produced by individuals, two independant judges evaluated prototypical and atypical attributes of ASFG produced by blindfolded sighted, early blind and late blind individuals in Experiment 3. Results revealed the occurrence of more atypical attributes in ASFG produced by blind individuals: their ASFGs transpose more body movements from a character-viewpoint in less agreement with visual rules. The practical interest of the study relates to the relevance of including ASFGs as a new exploratory procedure in tactile devices which are more apt to convey action concepts to blind users/readers.

How to Make the Body Speak? Visual Disability, Verbalism and Embodied Speech / Como Fazer Falar o Corpo? Deficiência Visual, Verbalismo e Fala Encarnada / ¿Cómo Hacer que el Cuerpo Hable? Discapacidad Visual, Verbalismo y Discurso Incorporado

Verbalism represents a controversial issue in the field of visual disability. It is frequently stated that blind people use statements with words and expressions which are not based on direct sensory experience. Sometimes it is considered a pathology or something specific to blind people. In taking the work of three blind researchers ­ Pierre Villey, Joana Belarmino and Bertrand Verine ­ as a guideline, this paper emphasizes two main points: 1) The usage of words with visual references constitutes a strategy of inclusion in a social environment dominated by vision; 2) The importance to develop new affirmative actions to stimulate embodied and multisensory discourse, favoring experiences of belonging and sharing between the blind and the sighted beyond the hegemony of vision....(AU)

O verbalismo constitui um problema controverso no campo da Psicologia da deficiência visual. É frequente a afirmação de que pessoas cegas utilizam enunciados que portam palavras concretas, mas que não estão baseadas na experiência sensorial direta. Por vezes é considerado algo patológico e específico de pessoas que não dispõem da visão. Tomando como fio condutor o trabalho de três pesquisadores cegos ­ Pierre Villey, Joana Belarmino e Bertrand Verine ­, o estudo destaca dois pontos principais: 1) O uso de palavras com referências visuais é uma estratégia desenvolvida pelas pessoas cegas visando sua inclusão num ambiente social dominado pela visão; 2) É importante desenvolver ações afirmativas de estímulo à produção discursiva encarnada e multissensorial, favorecendo experiências de pertencimento e partilha entre cegos e videntes, para além da hegemonia da visão....(AU)

El verbalismo representa un tema controvertido en el campo de la discapacidad visual. Con frecuencia se afirma que las personas ciegas usan afirmaciones con palabras y expresiones que no se basan en la experiencia sensorial directa. A veces se considera una patología o algo específico de las personas ciegas. Al tomar el trabajo de tres investigadores ciegos ­ Pierre Villey, Joana Belarmino y Bertrand Verine ­ como una guía, este documento enfatiza dos puntos principales: 1) El uso de palabras con referencias visuales constituye una estrategia de inclusión en un entorno social dominado por la visión; 2) La importancia de desarrollar nuevas acciones afirmativas para estimular el discurso incorporado y multisensorial, favoreciendo las experiencias de pertenencia e intercambio entre los ciegos y los videntes más allá de la hegemonía de la visión....(AU)

The role of visual experience in the production of emotional facial expressions by blind people: a review.

Facial expressions of emotion are nonverbal behaviors that allow us to interact efficiently in social life and respond to events affecting our welfare. This article reviews 21 studies, published between 1932 and 2015, examining the production of facial expressions of emotion by blind people. It particularly discusses the impact of visual experience on the development of this behavior from birth to adulthood. After a discussion of three methodological considerations, the review of studies reveals that blind subjects demonstrate differing capacities for producing spontaneous expressions and voluntarily posed expressions. Seventeen studies provided evidence that blind and sighted spontaneously produce the same pattern of facial expressions, even if some variations can be found, reflecting facial and body movements specific to blindness or differences in intensity and control of emotions in some specific contexts. This suggests that lack of visual experience seems to not have a major impact when this behavior is generated spontaneously in real emotional contexts. In contrast, eight studies examining voluntary expressions indicate that blind individuals have difficulty posing emotional expressions. The opportunity for prior visual observation seems to affect performance in this case. Finally, we discuss three new directions for research to provide additional and strong evidence for the debate regarding the innate or the culture-constant learning character of the production of emotional facial expressions by blind individuals: the link between perception and production of facial expressions, the impact of display rules in the absence of vision, and the role of other channels in expression of emotions in the context of blindness.