Brief reports influence of "mentally retarded" label on teachers' nonverbal behavior toward preschool children.

Teachers (N = 12) were assigned to either an experimental (labeled) or control (nonlabeled) child. All children were, in fact, nonhandicapped and had no diagnosis or record of mental retardation. After reading a description (labeled or nonlabeled) of their child's developmental status, each teacher read their child a story. The results indicated that teachers were more immediate (i.e., showed less social distance) to children bearing the "mentally retarded" label. Implications of this finding were discussed.