Do Actions Speak Louder than Words? Preschool Children’s Use of the Verbal- Nonverbal Consistency Principle during Inconsistent Communications

The present study investigated whether preschool children could use the conventional “actions speak louder than words” principle (or the verbal-nonverbal consistency principle) to process information in situations where verbal cues contradict nonverbal cues. Three-, 4-, and 5-year-olds were shown a video in which an actor drank a beverage and made a verbal statement (e.g., “I like it”) that was inconsistent with her emotional expression (e.g., frowning), and were asked whether the actor liked or disliked the beverage. If children used the verbal-nonverbal consistency principle, they should respond according to the information conveyed by the actor’s emotional expression. Results showed that when the message was more naturalistic, the majority of children tended to respond based on the actor’s verbal message. However, when the inconsistency between the verbal and nonverbal messages was made salient, more children appeared to rely on the nonverbal cue. Younger children’s reliance on verbal cues reported in previous research may be partly explained by the salience of the verbal message.