Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

Second Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Previous literature has found that emotion recognition is essential to how we respond to others; that people after the age of about 12 months focus longer on negative faces than happy ones (a negative attentional bias); and that Montessori students see more surprise in ambiguous faces, see less fear in ambiguous faces, and are more likely to look longer at happy faces (a positive attentional bias) than children in traditional public schools. However, only one study has investigated this difference between Montessori and non-Montessori students, and little is known about the potential differences between and impact of teachers. The current study addresses this gap by comparing Montessori teachers (N = 45), non-Montessori teachers (N =23), and non-teacher adults (N = 101) on an emotion recognition task, a task assessing attentional biases, and a demographic survey. When shown an ambiguous target face (a blend of surprise and fear) with neutral context, Montessori teachers and non-teachers labeled the face as fear less often and shame or sadness more often than non-Montessori teachers. Montessori teachers held overall positivity biases and positivity biases in trials with baby faces, while the other groups held negativity biases except for a positivity bias found in non-Montessori teachers when shown adult faces. The study also compared participants based upon classroom fidelity to the Montessori method, whether they work with children, and whether they attended Montessori school during childhood. Overall, while no significant differences were found between groups, the results trended in expected directions and suggest differences between Montessori teachers, non-Montessori teachers, and non-teachers in emotion recognition and attentional biases. The results also suggest that there may be lasting differences in emotion recognition and attentional biases between those who attended and did not attend Montessori school. This has implications both for the benefits of Montessori attendance and for the impacts teachers may have on their students.

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