Your Face and Moves Seem Happier When I Smile

Abstract. In this experiment, we replicated the effect of muscle engagement on perception such that the recognition of another’s facial expressions was biased by the observer’s facial muscular activity (Blaesi & Wilson, 2010). We extended this replication to show that such a modulatory effect is also observed for the recognition of dynamic bodily expressions. Via a multilab and within-subjects approach, we investigated the emotion recognition of point-light biological walkers, along with that of morphed face stimuli, while subjects were or were not holding a pen in their teeth. Under the “pen-in-the-teeth” condition, participants tended to lower their threshold of perception of happy expressions in facial stimuli compared to the “no-pen” condition, thus replicating the experiment by Blaesi and Wilson (2010). A similar effect was found for the biological motion stimuli such that participants lowered their threshold to perceive happy walkers in the pen-in-the-teeth condition compared to the no-pen condition. This pattern of results was also found in a second experiment in which the no-pen condition was replaced by a situation in which participants held a pen in their lips (“pen-in-lips” condition). These results suggested that facial muscular activity alters the recognition of not only facial expressions but also bodily expressions.

Download Full-text

Your face and moves seem happier when I smile. Facial action influences the perception of emotional faces and biological motion stimuli

10.31234/osf.io/4uvdq ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos ◽

Aiko Murata ◽

Kyoshiro Sasaki ◽

Yuki Yamada ◽

Ayumi Ikeda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Facial Expressions ◽

Biological Motion ◽

Muscular Activity ◽

Emotional Faces ◽

Bodily Expression ◽

Recognition Of Facial Expressions ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

Within Subjects ◽

Face Stimuli ◽

Point Light

In this research, we replicated the effect of muscle engagement on perception such that the recognition of another’s facial expressions was biased by the observer’s facial muscular activity (Blaesi & Wilson, 2010). We extended this replication to show that such a modulatory effect is also observed for the recognition of dynamic bodily expressions. Via a multi-lab and within-subjects approach, we investigated the emotion recognition of point-light biological walkers, along with that of morphed face stimuli, while subjects were or were not holding a pen in their teeth. Under the ‘pen-in-the-teeth’ condition, participants tended to lower their threshold of perception of ‘happy’ expressions in facial stimuli compared to the ‘no-pen’ condition; thus replicating the experiment by Blaesi and Wilson (2010). A similar effect was found for the biological motion stimuli such that participants lowered their threshold to perceive ‘happy’ walkers in the ‘pen-in-the-teeth’ compared to the ‘no-pen’ condition. This pattern of results was also found in a second experiment in which the ‘no-pen’ condition was replaced by a situation in which participants held a pen in their lips (‘pen-in-lips’ condition). These results suggested that facial muscular activity not only alters the recognition of facial expressions but also bodily expression.

Download Full-text

Emotion Recognition of Facial Expressions Presented in Profile

Psychological Reports ◽

10.1177/00332941211018403 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003329412110184

Author(s):

Paola Surcinelli ◽

Federica Andrei ◽

Ornella Montebarocci ◽

Silvana Grandi

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Response Times ◽

Recognition Accuracy ◽

Recognition Of Facial Expressions ◽

Profile View ◽

The Face ◽

Within Subjects ◽

Face Stimuli ◽

Affective Information

Aim of the research The literature on emotion recognition from facial expressions shows significant differences in recognition ability depending on the proposed stimulus. Indeed, affective information is not distributed uniformly in the face and recent studies showed the importance of the mouth and the eye regions for a correct recognition. However, previous studies used mainly facial expressions presented frontally and studies which used facial expressions in profile view used a between-subjects design or children faces as stimuli. The present research aims to investigate differences in emotion recognition between faces presented in frontal and in profile views by using a within subjects experimental design. Method The sample comprised 132 Italian university students (88 female, Mage = 24.27 years, SD = 5.89). Face stimuli displayed both frontally and in profile were selected from the KDEF set. Two emotion-specific recognition accuracy scores, viz., frontal and in profile, were computed from the average of correct responses for each emotional expression. In addition, viewing times and response times (RT) were registered. Results Frontally presented facial expressions of fear, anger, and sadness were significantly better recognized than facial expressions of the same emotions in profile while no differences were found in the recognition of the other emotions. Longer viewing times were also found when faces expressing fear and anger were presented in profile. In the present study, an impairment in recognition accuracy was observed only for those emotions which rely mostly on the eye regions.

Download Full-text

Differences Between Autistic and Non-autistic Adults in the Recognition of Anger From Dynamic Expressions Remain After Controlling for Alexithymia.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-88768/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Connor Tom Keating ◽

Sophie L Sowden ◽

Dagmar S Fraser ◽

Jennifer L Cook

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Recognition Accuracy ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Reasoning Ability ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Normal Speed ◽

Point Light ◽

And Control ◽

Autistic Population

Abstract A burgeoning literature suggests that alexithymia, and not autism, is responsible for the difficulties with static emotion recognition that are documented in the autistic population. Here we investigate whether alexithymia can also account for difficulties with dynamic facial expressions. Autistic and control adults (N=60) matched on age, gender, non-verbal reasoning ability and alexithymia, completed an emotion recognition task, which employed dynamic point light displays of emotional facial expressions that varied in speed and spatial exaggeration. The ASD group exhibited significantly lower recognition accuracy for angry, but not happy or sad, expressions with normal speed and spatial exaggeration. The level of autistic, and not alexithymic, traits was a significant predictor of accuracy for angry expressions with normal speed and spatial exaggeration.

Download Full-text

202. Common neural activation perceiving biological motion in dynamic fearful facial expressions and point-light animations of body actions

Clinical Neurophysiology ◽

10.1016/j.clinph.2008.04.218 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 119 (9) ◽

pp. e149-e150

Author(s):

L. García ◽

A. Perez ◽

Y. Acosta ◽

M.A. Bobes ◽

M. Valdes

Keyword(s):

Facial Expressions ◽

Biological Motion ◽

Neural Activation ◽

Point Light

Download Full-text

Differences Between Autistic and Non-autistic Adults in the Recognition of Anger From Dynamic Expressions Remain After Controlling for Alexithymia.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-88768/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Connor Tom Keating ◽

Sophie L Sowden ◽

Dagmar S Fraser ◽

Jennifer L Cook

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Recognition Accuracy ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Reasoning Ability ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Normal Speed ◽

Point Light ◽

And Control ◽

Autistic Population

Download Full-text

Intranasal oxytocin selectively modulates the behavior of rhesus monkeys in an expression matching task

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-51422-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica Taubert ◽

Molly Flessert ◽

Ning Liu ◽

Leslie G. Ungerleider

Keyword(s):

Facial Expressions ◽

Rhesus Monkeys ◽

Anxiolytic Effect ◽

Matching Task ◽

Primate Behavior ◽

Match To Sample ◽

Within Subjects ◽

Face Stimuli ◽

Male Rhesus ◽

Identity Task

Abstract Although the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is thought to regulate prosocial behavior in mammals, there is considerable debate as to how intranasal OT influences primate behavior. The aim of this study was to determine whether intranasal OT has a general anxiolytic effect on the performance of rhesus monkeys tasked with matching face stimuli, or a more selective effect on their behavior towards aversive facial expressions. To this end, we developed an innovative delayed match-to-sample task where the exact same trials could be used to assess either a monkey’s ability to match facial expressions or facial identities. If OT has a general affect on behavior, then performance in both tasks should be altered by the administration of OT. We tested four male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in both the expression and identity task after the intranasal administration of either OT or saline in a within-subjects design. We found that OT inhalation selectively reduced a selection bias against negatively valenced expressions. Based on the same visual input, performance in the identity task was also unaffected by OT. This dissociation provides evidence that intranasal OT affects primate behavior under very particular circumstances, rather than acting as a general anxiolytic, in a highly translatable nonhuman model, the rhesus monkey.

Download Full-text

Differences Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults in the Recognition of Anger from Facial Motion Remain after Controlling for Alexithymia

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-021-05083-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Connor T. Keating ◽

Dagmar S. Fraser ◽

Sophie Sowden ◽

Jennifer L. Cook

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Reasoning Ability ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Motion Cues ◽

Facial Motion ◽

Lower Accuracy ◽

Autistic Adults ◽

Point Light

AbstractTo date, studies have not established whether autistic and non-autistic individuals differ in emotion recognition from facial motion cues when matched in terms of alexithymia. Here, autistic and non-autistic adults (N = 60) matched on age, gender, non-verbal reasoning ability and alexithymia, completed an emotion recognition task, which employed dynamic point light displays of emotional facial expressions manipulated in terms of speed and spatial exaggeration. Autistic participants exhibited significantly lower accuracy for angry, but not happy or sad, facial motion with unmanipulated speed and spatial exaggeration. Autistic, and not alexithymic, traits were predictive of accuracy for angry facial motion with unmanipulated speed and spatial exaggeration. Alexithymic traits, in contrast, were predictive of the magnitude of both correct and incorrect emotion ratings.

Download Full-text

The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Recognition of Ambiguous Emotional Facial Expressions in Individuals With ADHD

Journal of Attention Disorders ◽

10.1177/1087054718785473 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 565-575 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Orrie Dan ◽

Iris Haimov ◽

Kfir Asraf ◽

Kesem Nachum ◽

Ami Cohen

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Sleep Deprivation ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Emotional Expressions ◽

Controlled Environment ◽

Adhd Group ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

Intensity Threshold ◽

Face Stimuli

Objective: The present study sought to investigate whether young adults with ADHD have more difficulty recognizing emotional facial expressions compared with young adults without ADHD, and whether such a difference worsens following sleep deprivation. Method: Thirty-one young men ( M = 25.6) with ( n = 15) or without ( n = 16) a diagnosis of ADHD were included in this study. The participants were instructed to sleep 7 hr or more each night for one week, and their sleep quality was monitored via actigraph. Subsequently, the participants were kept awake in a controlled environment for 30 hr. The participants completed a visual emotional morph task twice—at the beginning and at the end of this period. The task included presentation of interpolated face stimuli ranging from neutral facial expressions to fully emotional facial expressions of anger, sadness, or happiness, allowing for assessment of the intensity threshold for recognizing these facial emotional expressions. Results: Actigraphy data demonstrated that while the nightly sleep duration of the participants with ADHD was similar to that of participants without ADHD, their sleep efficiency was poorer. At the onset of the experiment, there were no differences in recognition thresholds between the participants with ADHD and those without ADHD. Following sleep deprivation, however, the ADHD group required clearer facial expressions to recognize the presence of angry, sad, and, to a lesser extent, happy faces. Conclusion: Among young adults with ADHD, sleep deprivation may hinder the processing of emotional facial stimuli.

Download Full-text

What you morph is not what you get: Subjective and neural responses to facial expressions of emotion depend on perceived intensity/arousal (not on amount of morphing)

10.31234/osf.io/qda9m ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Ferreira-Santos ◽

Mariana R. Pereira ◽

Tiago O. Paiva ◽

Pedro R. Almeida ◽

Eva C. Martins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Facial Expressions ◽

Electrophysiological Study ◽

Objective Measure ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Supporting Evidence ◽

Emotional Intensity ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Facial Stimuli ◽

Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽

Processing Techniques

The behavioral and electrophysiological study of the emotional intensity of facial expressions of emotions has relied on image processing techniques termed ‘morphing’ to generate realistic facial stimuli in which emotional intensity can be manipulated. This is achieved by blending neutral and emotional facial displays and treating the percent of morphing between the two stimuli as an objective measure of emotional intensity. Here we argue that the percentage of morphing between stimuli does not provide an objective measure of emotional intensity and present supporting evidence from affective ratings and neural (event-related potential) responses. We show that 50% morphs created from high or moderate arousal stimuli differ in subjective and neural responses in a sensible way: 50% morphs are perceived as having approximately half of the emotional intensity of the original stimuli, but if the original stimuli differed in emotional intensity to begin with, then so will the morphs. We suggest a re-examination of previous studies that used percentage of morphing as a measure of emotional intensity and highlight the value of more careful experimental control of emotional stimuli and inclusion of proper manipulation checks.

Download Full-text

Acting Surprised: Comparing Perceptions of Different Dynamic Deliberate Expressions

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior ◽

10.1007/s10919-020-00349-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mircea Zloteanu ◽

Eva G. Krumhuber ◽

Daniel C. Richardson

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Affective State ◽

External Condition ◽

Internal Condition ◽

Minimal Effort ◽

Better Than

AbstractPeople are accurate at classifying emotions from facial expressions but much poorer at determining if such expressions are spontaneously felt or deliberately posed. We explored if the method used by senders to produce an expression influences the decoder’s ability to discriminate authenticity, drawing inspiration from two well-known acting techniques: the Stanislavski (internal) and Mimic method (external). We compared spontaneous surprise expressions in response to a jack-in-the-box (genuine condition), to posed displays of senders who either focused on their past affective state (internal condition) or the outward expression (external condition). Although decoders performed better than chance at discriminating the authenticity of all expressions, their accuracy was lower in classifying external surprise compared to internal surprise. Decoders also found it harder to discriminate external surprise from spontaneous surprise and were less confident in their decisions, perceiving these to be similarly intense but less genuine-looking. The findings suggest that senders are capable of voluntarily producing genuine-looking expressions of emotions with minimal effort, especially by mimicking a genuine expression. Implications for research on emotion recognition are discussed.

Download Full-text