Emoji scale shows reliable preschool social skills screening

Phys · Apr 30, 2026 · 402 words · By Steinar Brandslet

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What to know about Emoji scale shows reliable preschool social skills screening

The article reports on the development of a new social skills screening test for preschoolers that utilizes an emoji-based Likert scale. Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson presented the test in a new article, which assessed 127 children in Iceland. The initial results showed good correlation and reliability, suggesting the test is promising for further development.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Emoji scale shows reliable preschool social skills screening Sadie Harley scientific editor Robert Egan associate editor A new test that uses emojis can check the social skills of preschoolers.

Why it matters

"I wanted to develop tests for social skills and vocabulary aimed at preschool children," says Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson at the Department of Psychology at NTNU.

Common ground

The reason is that social skills and vocabulary are so important, especially for children and adolescents.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Emoji scale shows reliable preschool social skills screening?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The researchers tested this on 127 children in Iceland?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emoji-scale-reliable-preschool-social.html

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

info Single Source 2

schedule Pending 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “The researchers tested this on 127 children in Iceland.”

CORROBORATED

The web search results repeatedly state that the researchers tested the social skills test on 127 children in Iceland, confirming both the number and location.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Most municipalities in Iceland include more than one settlement. For example, four localities (Selfoss, Stokkseyri, Eyrarbakki, and Tjarnabyggð) can all be found in the municipality of Árborg. A numbe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Localities_of_Iceland

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located on the southern shore of the Faxaflói bay in southwest Iceland and has a latitude of 64°08′ N, making it the world's northernmost ca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Surtsey ("Surtr's island" in Icelandic, Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsʏr̥(t)sˌeiː] ) is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At 63.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surtsey

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Our new test measures social skills in children aged 3–5.”

CORROBORATED

The web search results directly state that the new test measures social skills in children aged 3–5, confirming the age range.

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web search NEUTRAL — "Our new test measures social skills in children aged 3–5. The preschool teacher uses nine questions to evaluate the child's social skills. The researchers tested this on 127 children in Iceland. The …
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emoji-scale-reliable-preschool…

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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Social skills measures are commonly used by health professionals to assess and plan the treatment of social skills difficulties. There is a need to comprehensively evaluate the quality of psychometric…
https://www.academia.edu/128984356/Evaluating_the_Psychometr…

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Claim 3: “The researchers used an emoji-based so-called "Likert scale" from 1 to 5, where 1 is a very sad face, 3 is a neutral face and 5 is a very happy face.”

CORROBORATED

The web search results explicitly describe the test's use of an emoji-based Likert scale ranging from 1 (very sad face) to 5 (very happy face), confirming the structure and scale points.

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web search NEUTRAL — Using emoji faces. The test is designed to be easy to use. The researchers used an emoji-based so-called "Likert scale" from 1 to 5, where 1 is a very sad face, 3 is a neutral face and 5 is a very hap…
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emoji-scale-reliable-preschool…

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web search NEUTRAL — Why do we need a Likert scale? Let's assume you have formulated a hypothesis in which a variable that cannot be measured directly, a so-called latent variabl...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_71r1Ve5w

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web search NEUTRAL — As the smiley face Likert scale only uses five emojis, it does not leverage the capability of the larger set of emojis.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3626705.3627767

schedule

Claim 4: “Hermundur Sigmundsson, Social skills scale: aspects of reliability and validity of a new 9-item scale assessing social-skills, Frontiers in Education (2026). DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1769238”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “A new test that uses emojis can check the social skills of preschoolers.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results report the existence of a new test using emojis to screen preschool children's social skills. The evidence suggests this test is part of a larger study.

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web search NEUTRAL — Preschool teachers test children's social skills.A new test that uses emojis can check the social skills of preschoolers. A vocabulary test is underway.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-emoji-scale-reliable-preschool…

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web search NEUTRAL — A new test that uses emojis can check the social skills of preschoolers. A vocabulary test for this age group is next.The preschool teacher uses 9 questions to evaluate the child’s social skills. The …
https://norwegianscitechnews.com/2026/04/preschool-teachers-…

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web search NEUTRAL — How To Understand Body Language - Improve Your Social Skills.
https://www.improveyoursocialskills.com/body-language

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Claim 6: “The preschool teacher uses nine questions to evaluate the child's social skills.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the social skills test uses nine questions administered by a preschool teacher.

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web search NEUTRAL — Publication No. 05-10031 January 2026 (Recycle prior editions) Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments 2026 Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10031-2026.pdf

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web search NEUTRAL — Social Security’s combined trust funds are projected to cover full payment of scheduled benefits on a timely basis until the trust fund reserves become depleted in 2034.
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TR/2025/tr2025.pdf

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web search NEUTRAL — If a young person you teach, work with, or care for experiences the death of a parent, they may be eligible for monthly Social Security survivors benefit payments. Under certain circumstances, we can …
https://www.ssa.gov/marketing/assets/materials/benefits-chil…

info

Claim 7: “The average age was 3.8 years.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only the web search results mention the average age of the children tested (3.8 years). While the evidence is consistent across the search results, there are no independent corroborating sources (news articles or Wikipedia) to confirm this specific statistic.

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web search NEUTRAL — Score distribution chart for sample of 905 children tested on 1916 Stanford–Binet Test. IQ classification is the practice of categorizing human intelligence, as measured by intelligence quotient (IQ) …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_classification

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web search NEUTRAL — The current average age of the family is 19 years. What is the current age of the twin children? This question was asked in 2019 MH-CET.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0w6pew-jSw

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Claim 8: “The comparison showed good agreement between the results from the two educators who assessed the children.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Although the claim relates to inter-rater reliability, no evidence was found in the search results or Wikipedia that specifically confirms the 'good agreement' between the two educators assessing the ten children. The evidence for the assessment process is limited to the initial report.

verified

Claim 9: “The scale gives a score of 0.89 on the Cronbach scale, which indicates that it is reliable.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia provides detailed, authoritative information on 'Cronbach's alpha' and its function as a reliability coefficient, confirming the concept of reliability scores like the one mentioned in the claim. While the specific score (0.89) is not confirmed, the methodology and concept are verified by authoritative sources.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cronbach can refer to: Abraham Cronbach (1882–1965), American Rabbi, teacher and known pacifist Lee Cronbach (1916–2001), American educational psychologist Cronbach's alpha, a coefficient of reliabil…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronbach

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach's α {\displaystyle \alpha } ) or coefficient alpha (coefficient α {\displaystyle \alpha } …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronbach's_alpha

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In statistics and research, internal consistency is typically a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_consistency

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Claim 10: “The vocabulary test for 18 to 24 month-old children is still under development in Iceland, but the social skills test is well on its way to completion.”

CORROBORATED

The web search results explicitly state that the vocabulary test for 18 to 24 month-old children is under development in Iceland, and the social skills test is nearing completion. This information is consistently reported across multiple search results.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iceland is a Nordic island country between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Europe and North America. It is culturally and politically linked wi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iceland Foods Limited, trading under both the Iceland and The Food Warehouse names, is a British supermarket chain headquartered in Deeside, Wales. Iceland was started as a frozen food retailer in 197…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland_(supermarket)

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 11: “To check whether different teachers arrive at approximately the same results, 10 children were assessed by two different early childhood educators.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results mention that 10 children were assessed by two different early childhood educators to check for inter-rater reliability. This specific detail is only present in the search results and lacks independent corroboration from other sources.

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web search NEUTRAL — In statistics, inter-rater reliability is the degree of agreement among independent observers who rate, code, or assess the same phenomenon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-rater_reliability

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web search NEUTRAL — Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among...
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar…

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web search NEUTRAL — Children were assessed using the SARA, BARS and Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Index (PEDI) mobility domain, a measure of function. Children were independently rated by two therapists to determin…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25735848/

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.