Developmental Changes in Gaze Behavior and the Effects of Auditory Emotion Word Priming in Emotional Face Categorization

Abstract Social interactions often require the simultaneous processing of emotions from facial expressions and speech. However, the development of the gaze behavior used for emotion recognition, and the effects of speech perception on the visual encoding of facial expressions is less understood. We therefore conducted a word-primed face categorization experiment, where participants from multiple age groups (six-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults) categorized target facial expressions as positive or negative after priming with valence-congruent or -incongruent auditory emotion words, or no words at all. We recorded our participants’ gaze behavior during this task using an eye-tracker, and analyzed the data with respect to the fixation time toward the eyes and mouth regions of faces, as well as the time until participants made the first fixation within those regions (time to first fixation, TTFF). We found that the six-year-olds showed significantly higher accuracy in categorizing congruently primed faces compared to the other conditions. The six-year-olds also showed faster response times, shorter total fixation durations, and faster TTFF measures in all primed trials, regardless of congruency, as compared to unprimed trials. We also found that while adults looked first, and longer, at the eyes as compared to the mouth regions of target faces, children did not exhibit this gaze behavior. Our results thus indicate that young children are more sensitive than adults or older children to auditory emotion word primes during the perception of emotional faces, and that the distribution of gaze across the regions of the face changes significantly from childhood to adulthood.

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Efficient visual search for facial emotions in patients with major depression

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03093-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Charlott Maria Bodenschatz ◽

Felix Czepluch ◽

Anette Kersting ◽

Thomas Suslow

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Spatial Attention ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Study Groups ◽

Fixation Time ◽

Gaze Behavior ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Manual Response

Abstract Background Major depressive disorder has been associated with specific attentional biases in processing emotional facial expressions: heightened attention for negative and decreased attention for positive faces. However, using visual search paradigms, previous reaction-time-based research failed, in general, to find evidence for increased spatial attention toward negative facial expressions and reduced spatial attention toward positive facial expressions in depressed individuals. Eye-tracking analyses allow for a more detailed examination of visual search processes over time during the perception of multiple stimuli and can provide more specific insights into the attentional processing of multiple emotional stimuli. Methods Gaze behavior of 38 clinically depressed individuals and 38 gender matched healthy controls was compared in a face-in-the-crowd task. Pictures of happy, angry, and neutral facial expressions were utilized as target and distractor stimuli. Four distinct measures of eye gaze served as dependent variables: (a) latency to the target face, (b) number of distractor faces fixated prior to fixating the target, (c) mean fixation time per distractor face before fixating the target and (d) mean fixation time on the target. Results Depressed and healthy individuals did not differ in their manual response times. Our eye-tracking data revealed no differences between study groups in attention guidance to emotional target faces as well as in the duration of attention allocation to emotional distractor and target faces. However, depressed individuals fixated fewer distractor faces before fixating the target than controls, regardless of valence of expressions. Conclusions Depressed individuals seem to process angry and happy expressions in crowds of faces mainly in the same way as healthy individuals. Our data indicate no biased attention guidance to emotional targets and no biased processing of angry and happy distractors and targets in depression during visual search. Under conditions of clear task demand depressed individuals seem to be able to allocate and guide their attention in crowds of angry and happy faces as efficiently as healthy individuals.

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The Distance Threshold (PRE-PRINT)

10.31234/osf.io/fcrxa ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas Jonathan Nyman ◽

James Michael Lampinen ◽

Jan Antfolk ◽

Julia Korkman ◽

Pekka Santtila

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Response Time ◽

Response Times ◽

Age Groups ◽

Identification Accuracy ◽

Older Children ◽

Eyewitness Accuracy ◽

Perceptual Distance ◽

Eyewitness Identifications ◽

Age Range

Increased distance between an eyewitness and a culprit decreases the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, but the maximum distance at which reliable observations can still be made is unknown. Our aim was to identify this threshold.We hypothesized that increased distance would decrease identification and rejection accuracy, confidence, and increase response time. We expected an interaction effect, where increased distance would more negatively affect younger and older participants (vs. young adults), resulting in age-group specific distance thresholds where diagnosticity would be 1. We presented participants with four live targets at distances between 5-110 meters (m) using an eight-person computerized line-up task. We employed simultaneous and sequential target-absent or target-present line-ups and presented these to 1588 participants (age range 6-77; 61% female, 95% Finns) resulting in 6233 responses. We found that at 40m diagnosticity was 50% lower than at 5m, and with increased distance diagnosticity tapered off until it was 1 (+/- 0.5) at 100m for all age groups and line-up types. However, young children (6-11) and older adults (45-77) reached a diagnosticity of 1 at shorter distances compared with older children (12-17) and young adults (18-44). We found that with increased distance, confidence dropped whereas response time remained stable, and that high confidence and shorter response times were associated with identification accuracy up to 40m. We conclude that age and line-up type moderate the effect distance has on eyewitness accuracy and that there are perceptual distance thresholds at which an eyewitness can no longer reliably encode and later identify a culprit.

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The impact of slippage on the data quality of head-worn eye trackers

Behavior Research Methods ◽

10.3758/s13428-019-01307-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 1140-1160 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Diederick C. Niehorster ◽

Thiago Santini ◽

Roy S. Hessels ◽

Ignace T. C. Hooge ◽

Enkelejda Kasneci ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Tracking ◽

Data Quality ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Estimation Algorithm ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Gaze Behavior ◽

Face To Face ◽

Movement Data ◽

The Impact

AbstractMobile head-worn eye trackers allow researchers to record eye-movement data as participants freely move around and interact with their surroundings. However, participant behavior may cause the eye tracker to slip on the participant’s head, potentially strongly affecting data quality. To investigate how this eye-tracker slippage affects data quality, we designed experiments in which participants mimic behaviors that can cause a mobile eye tracker to move. Specifically, we investigated data quality when participants speak, make facial expressions, and move the eye tracker. Four head-worn eye-tracking setups were used: (i) Tobii Pro Glasses 2 in 50 Hz mode, (ii) SMI Eye Tracking Glasses 2.0 60 Hz, (iii) Pupil-Labs’ Pupil in 3D mode, and (iv) Pupil-Labs’ Pupil with the Grip gaze estimation algorithm as implemented in the EyeRecToo software. Our results show that whereas gaze estimates of the Tobii and Grip remained stable when the eye tracker moved, the other systems exhibited significant errors (0.8–3.1∘ increase in gaze deviation over baseline) even for the small amounts of glasses movement that occurred during the speech and facial expressions tasks. We conclude that some of the tested eye-tracking setups may not be suitable for investigating gaze behavior when high accuracy is required, such as during face-to-face interaction scenarios. We recommend that users of mobile head-worn eye trackers perform similar tests with their setups to become aware of its characteristics. This will enable researchers to design experiments that are robust to the limitations of their particular eye-tracking setup.

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Visual avoidance of faces in socially anxious individuals: The moderating effect of type of social situation

Journal of Experimental Psychopathology ◽

10.1177/2043808721989628 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 204380872198962

Author(s):

Jiemiao Chen ◽

Esther van den Bos ◽

Sara L.M. Velthuizen ◽

P. Michiel Westenberg

Keyword(s):

Community Sample ◽

Social Situation ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

Social Consequences ◽

Fixation Time ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Gaze Behavior ◽

Socially Anxious ◽

Total Fixation ◽

Gaze Avoidance

Patients with social anxiety disorder appear to display aberrant gaze behavior across a variety of social situations. In contrast, the gaze behavior of high socially anxious (HSA) individuals from the community seems to depend on the type of situation and the aberration might be limited to gaze avoidance. This study investigated the differential effect of social situation—a face-viewing task and a public speaking task—on gaze behavior in HSA participants from a community sample. Participants’ eye movements were tracked using a wearable eye tracker. Two aspects of gaze behavior were measured: (1) gaze avoidance was assessed by total fixation time, fixation counts, and mean fixation time on faces; (2) hypervigilance was assessed by scan path length and mean distance between fixations. The results confirmed a moderating effect of task on total (though not mean) fixation time on faces and fixation counts. Compared to low socially anxious participants, HSA participants looked less frequently (hence shorter) at the audience during the speech only. This indicates that visual avoidance in HSA individuals does not occur by default, but only when risks of (negative) social consequences are perceived. High and low socially anxious participants showed no difference in hypervigilance in either situation.

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RTS,S/AS01, a vaccine targeting pre-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20170101 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (6) ◽

pp. 533-537

Author(s):

Lorenz von Seidlein ◽

Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn ◽

Podjanee Jittmala ◽

Sasithon Pukrittayakamee

Keyword(s):

Protective Efficacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Phase Iii ◽

European Medicines Agency ◽

Older Children ◽

Pivotal Phase ◽

Malaria Epidemiology ◽

Maximum Benefit ◽

Sub Saharan

RTS,S/AS01 is the most advanced vaccine to prevent malaria. It is safe and moderately effective. A large pivotal phase III trial in over 15 000 young children in sub-Saharan Africa completed in 2014 showed that the vaccine could protect around one-third of children (aged 5–17 months) and one-fourth of infants (aged 6–12 weeks) from uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The European Medicines Agency approved licensing and programmatic roll-out of the RTSS vaccine in malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO is planning further studies in a large Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, in more than 400 000 young African children. With the changing malaria epidemiology in Africa resulting in older children at risk, alternative modes of employment are under evaluation, for example the use of RTS,S/AS01 in older children as part of seasonal malaria prophylaxis. Another strategy is combining mass drug administrations with mass vaccine campaigns for all age groups in regional malaria elimination campaigns. A phase II trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the RTSS in combination with antimalarial drugs in Thailand. Such novel approaches aim to extract the maximum benefit from the well-documented, short-lasting protective efficacy of RTS,S/AS01.

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Cognitive Processing of Film Cuts Among 4- to 8-Year-Old Children

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000098 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 257-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Carmen Munk ◽

Günter Daniel Rey ◽

Anna Katharina Diergarten ◽

Gerhild Nieding ◽

Wolfgang Schneider ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Media Literacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Time Span ◽

Short Film ◽

Calculation Formula ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Chronological Sequence

An eye tracker experiment investigated 4-, 6-, and 8-year old children’s cognitive processing of film cuts. Nine short film sequences with or without editing errors were presented to 79 children. Eye movements up to 400 ms after the targeted film cuts were measured and analyzed using a new calculation formula based on Manhattan Metrics. No age effects were found for jump cuts (i.e., small movement discontinuities in a film). However, disturbances resulting from reversed-angle shots (i.e., a switch of the left-right position of actors in successive shots) led to increased reaction times between 6- and 8-year old children, whereas children of all age groups had difficulties coping with narrative discontinuity (i.e., the canonical chronological sequence of film actions is disrupted). Furthermore, 4-year old children showed a greater number of overall eye movements than 6- and 8-year old children. This indicates that some viewing skills are developed between 4 and 6 years of age. The results of the study provide evidence of a crucial time span of knowledge acquisition for television-based media literacy between 4 and 8 years.

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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.

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Incidence of childhood injuries and modifiable household risk factors in rural Ghana: a multistage, cluster-randomised, population-based, household survey

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039243 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. e039243

Author(s):

Adam Gyedu ◽

Barclay T Stewart ◽

Easmon Otupiri ◽

Kajal Mehta ◽

Peter Donkor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Age Groups ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Older Children ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Sampling Weights ◽

Effective Prevention ◽

Childhood Injuries ◽

Rural Ghana

ObjectiveWe aimed to describe the incidence of childhood household injuries and prevalence of modifiable household risk factors in rural Ghana to inform prevention initiatives.Setting357 randomly selected households in rural Ghana.ParticipantsCaregivers of children aged <5 years.Primary and secondary outcome measuresChildhood injuries that occurred within 6 months and 200 metres of the home that resulted in missed school/work, hospitalisation and/or death. Sampling weights were applied, injuries were described and multilevel regression was used to identify risk factors.ResultsCaregivers from 357 households had a mean age of 35 years (SD 12.8) and often supervised ≥2 children (51%). Households typically used biomass fuels (84%) on a cookstove outside the home (79%). Cookstoves were commonly <1 metre of the ground (95%). Weighted incidence of childhood injury was 542 per 1000 child-years. Falls (37%), lacerations (24%), burns (12%) and violence (12%) were common mechanisms. There were differences in mechanism across age groups (p<0.01), but no gender differences (p=0.25). Presence of older children in the home (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.24; adjusted OR (aOR) 0.26, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.54) and cooking outside the home (OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.42; aOR 0.25, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.49) were protective against injury, but other common modifiable risk factors (eg, stove height, fuel type, secured cabinets) were not.ConclusionsChildhood injuries occurred frequently in rural Ghana. Several common modifiable household risk factors were not associated with an increase in household injuries. Presence of older children was a protective factor, suggesting that efforts to improve supervision of younger children might be effective prevention strategies.

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Visual Attention and Aging: an Age-Related Cognitive Model of Positive Adaptation

European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education ◽

10.3390/ejihpe4030017 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 181-191

Author(s):

José Manuel Rodríguez-Ferrer

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Visual Attention ◽

Response Times ◽

Age Groups ◽

Cognitive Model ◽

Covert Attention ◽

Positive Adaptation ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Age Related ◽

Healthy Young People

We have studied the effects of normal aging on visual attention. Have participated a group of 38 healthy elderly people with an average age of 67.8 years and a group of 39 healthy young people with average age of 19.2 years. In a first experiment of visual detection, response times were recorded, with and without covert attention, to the presentation of stimuli (0.5º in diameter grey circles) appearing in three eccentricities (2.15, 3.83 and 5.53° of visual field) and with three levels of contrast (6, 16 and 78%). In a second experiment of visual form discrimination circles and squares with the same features as in the previous experiment were presented, but in this case subjects only should respond to the emergence of the circles. In both age groups, the covert attention reduced response times. Compared to young people, the older group achieved better results in some aspects of attention tests and response times were reduced more in the stimuli of greater eccentricity. The data suggest that there is a mechanism of adaptation in aging, in which visual attention especially favors the perception of those stimuli more difficult to detec

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Infant Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Unique Clinical and Biological Entity

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13040777 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 777

Author(s):

Charlotte Calvo ◽

Odile Fenneteau ◽

Guy Leverger ◽

Arnaud Petit ◽

André Baruchel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽

Age Groups ◽

Study Groups ◽

Biological Entity ◽

Age Group ◽

Older Children ◽

Megakaryoblastic Leukemia ◽

Acute Myeloid

Infant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a rare subgroup of AML of children <2 years of age. It is as frequent as infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) but not clearly distinguished by study groups. However, infant AML demonstrates peculiar clinical and biological characteristics, and its prognosis differs from AML in older children. Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) is very frequent in this age group and has raised growing interest. Thus, AMKL is a dominant topic in this review. Recent genomic sequencing has contributed to our understanding of infant AML. These data demonstrated striking features of infant AML: fusion genes are able to induce AML transformation without additional cooperation, and unlike AML in older age groups there is a paucity of associated mutations. Mice modeling of these fusions showed the essential role of ontogeny in the infant leukemia phenotype compared to older children and adults. Understanding leukemogenesis may help in developing new targeted treatments to improve outcomes that are often very poor in this age group. A specific diagnostic and therapeutic approach for this age group should be investigated.

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