How Do We Recognize Faces?

Researchers, Jason M. Gold and Patrick J. Mundy, have found that people recognize an entire face no better than how they recognize each individual feature as it is shown alone. “Surprisingly, the whole was not greater than the sum of it's parts,” says Gold. These findings appear in the journal Psychological Science, which is published by the Association for Psychological Science. A summary of this article can be read in the March 9, 2012, ScienceDaily research news review.

Do2Learn released it's game FACELAND in 2009. FACELAND was designed and developed by Donna Stanger, a teacher for over 20 years and an educational software developer since 1979. Donna is responsible for over 100 award winning programs from Edmark and Sunburst including Muppet Slate and Imagination Express. Donna and the team at Do2Learn knew back before 2009 that those individuals with Autism struggle with recognizing facial expressions. 

Strategies teaching facial recognition led to FACELAND and here are some of the effective ways that this game works:

• Breaks down the entire face into smaller concepts (clues).
• Promotes clue acquisition via spaced repetition.
• Combines clues for “part to whole” learning.
• Checks for understanding of clues using new examples.

Our team included the ability to produce student progress reports and for extensive student tracking. This is a huge bonus for classroom teachers who need this kind of data for IEP reporting. The game uses real faces, not cartoon images. So, your student is learning exactly what they will be looking for in the expressions of others. FACELAND was awarded the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award in 2009.

How exciting to know that Do2Learn was ahead of this research in getting FACELAND out and available to our customers! If you don't have your students playing this yet, get FACELAND now.

Please take a look at Do2Learn's YouTube FACELAND Video!

FACELAND: A Fun Game to Practice Recognizing Emotions

Many folks with autism spectrum disorder struggle with recognizing others facial expressions. There are many ways to teach recognizing emotions in others: through flash cards, comics, role plays, and even watching television shows and labeling the characters emotions can be helpful. Another option is FACELAND, a game developed by Do2Learn that teaches kids to recognize six important emotions: Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Surprise, and Happiness. These skills are taught through a video game format with an amusement park theme. The effective strategies in FACELAND include:

• Breaking the entire face down into a smaller concept (a clue). For example, raised eyebrows might indicate surprise or fear
• Promoting clue acquisition via spaced repetition
• Checking for understanding of clues using new examples
• Combining clues for “part to whole” learning
• Utilizing instruction that incorporates photos, mirror mimic sessions, and varied interaction

FACELAND was awarded with the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award in 2009. Click here to watch a demo of how FACELAND works!

What strategies have you tried for teaching emotion recognition?