Craniofacial maturity and perceived personality in children with Down syndrome

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