New research from the Department of Psychology has revealed that children are more likely than adults to judge a person's emotions based on what they hear rather than what they see. The study, published in the journal Infant and Child Development, involved 164 participants, including children aged 4 to 11 and adults. Researchers showed participants short video clips of people expressing emotions through body movements, such as smiling or frowning, while pairing these visual cues with emotional sounds like laughter, crying, screams, or angry vocalizations. In some cases, the body language and sounds matched, but in others, they conflicted—for example, a person showing fear through their body movements while laughing. When the visual and auditory cues matched, both children and adults were able to accurately identify the emotions being expressed. However, when the cues conflicted, children consistently relied on the sound to determine the emotion, rather than the visual display. Adults, on the other hand, were more likely to focus on the visual cues or showed no clear preference between the two. This difference in perception means that children and adults might come to completely different conclusions about how a person is feeling, even when they are watching and listening to the same interaction. The study builds on earlier findings that children often prioritize auditory information over visual information when interpreting their environment. This has important implications for areas like education and healthcare, where environments are designed for children. Researchers suggest that adults may focus heavily on visual elements, such as colorful decorations in classrooms or hospital rooms, while not fully considering the emotional impact of sounds. This could affect how children perceive and respond to their surroundings. The findings also highlight the importance of tone of voice when communicating with children. A calm appearance may not be enough to reassure a child if the person's voice conveys stress, anxiety, or frustration. Future research will explore whether carefully designed soundscapes, such as calming natural sounds in schools, could influence children's experiences and engagement. The research team is also planning further studies to understand why children prioritize auditory information and how different sounds might affect learning and emotional responses in classroom settings.