NONVERBAL BASES OF SOCIAL-PERCEPTION - DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGE IN SENSITIVITY TO PATTERNS OF MOTION THAT REVEAL INTERPERSONAL EVENTS

This study examined the development of sensitivity to specific pattern s of movement that reveal interpersonal events. Preschoolers and adult s viewed an animated film created by Heider and Simmel (1944), and the n answered a set of probe questions about traits, emotions, and relati onships that characterized the geometric figures in the film. Five-yea r-olds and adults gained similiar impressions of the film, and their a ttributions were similar to those that have emerged in open-ended desc riptions of the film produced by adults in other experiments. The resp onses of 4-year-olds diverged from this pattern, as did, to a greater extent, the responses of 3-year-olds. The results were interpreted as supporting the view that sensitivity to patterns of motion that reveal interpersonal events emerges gradually during the late preschool year s.