If you open the hypershade and right click in the graph view you can select "graph materials on viewport selection" from the marking menu - this will bring up the material for whatever you have selected
@sprunghunt I actually solved it , if you select the meterial by face , right click and go to 'material attributes' near the bottom of the list, it selects the right material :)
so if I have an object with more than one material and I click on a face with a pareticular material, maya does not automatically seclect that material in the attribute aditor like in blender. is ther any way to sync the selection?