Brief reports influence of "mentally retarded" label on teachers' nonverbal behavior toward preschool children.
Teachers (N = 12) were assigned to either an experimental (labeled) or control (nonlabeled) child. All children were, in fact, nonhandicapped and had no diagnosis or record of mental retardation. After reading a description (labeled or nonlabeled) of their child's developmental status, each teacher read their child a story. The results indicated that teachers were more immediate (i.e., showed less social distance) to children bearing the "mentally retarded" label. Implications of this finding were discussed.
D001519:Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D013663:Teaching