Newly-published research by a professor at MSU Meridian has turned up some results that may help in identifying abducted children.

If your child were abducted, you would give a picture of your child to law enforcement. That picture would probably be a school picture, with your child clean and smiling.

But would that picture help spot a child who was dirty with messy hair and who looked unhappy? Probably not.

That's what MSU Meridian associate psychology professor, Dr. Vicki Gier, found in a recent study.

"What the research showed, if participants see the same type of photo. So if you see a pictures of a child and they are clean faced and happy looking and later see that same child with the same or similar appearance, recognition is good," said Dr. Gier. "If you see a picture of a child who is dirty in appearance, their hair is messed, maybe their face is dirty, and you see the same type of picture later on, recognition is good."

But what about if you see a nice school picture, and then later see the child dirty with messed up hair? Recognition is not nearly as likely. The same is true for a picture of a dirty child that is seen clean later on.

Dr. Gier encourages those with children to take frequent photos.

"I know parents don't sit around thinking, 'oh I want to have a really great dirty picture of my son or daughter with their face all messed up or the hair all messed up', but actually in reality it might be one of those pictures that actually can save their child," Gier said.

Gier recommends giving pictures showing varying appearances to law enforcement when children are missing.

More information is available on this subject at Dr. Gier's Web site. A link is provided below.