Craniofacial maturity and perceived personality in children with Down syndrome

In this pair of studies, we examined whether the common perception of a pos itive Down syndrome personality is associated with a youthful craniofacial appearance, similar to Zebrowitz's (1997) "babyface." In Study 1, 43 observ ers rated photographs of age-matched children with Down syndrome, another m ental retardation syndrome (5p- syndrome), and typically developing childre n. Those with Down syndrome were perceived as being more physically babyfac ed and more likely to behave in an immature manner. We controlled for the e ffect of familiarity with Down syndrome in Study 2 by employing a within-et iology design in which 128 observers rated 12 pictures of 10-year-old child ren with Down syndrome. Results showed that more physically babyfaced child ren with Down syndrome are more subject to the overgeneralization.