The adequate interpretation of facial expressions of emotion is crucial for social functioning and human interaction. New methods are being applied, and a review of the methods that are used to evaluate facial emotion recognition is timely for the field. An extensive review was conducted using the Web of Science, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases. The following keywords were used to identify articles that were published within the past 20 years: emotion recognition, face, expression, and assessment. The initial search yielded 291 articles. After applying the exclusion criteria, 115 articles were included in this review. Articles were analyzed using 3 different approaches: (a) non-behavior-dependent methodologies (MRI and electroencephalography [EEG]), (b) behavioral instruments that were used to assess facial emotion recognition, and (c) instruments or methods that were used to assess facial recognition impairment in health conditions. The behavioral instruments were further subdivided into 7 groups. Static human face stimuli were the most frequently used method, although there are some criticisms concerning the ecological validity of these types of stimuli. Nonvalidated instruments were also commonly used, especially in psychopathological studies. Computer-based morphing has been used to develop new visual stimuli, and brief videos are also being applied. Drawings, which may have lower validity, were often used for assessment in children. Research that uses functional and structural MRI or EEG as methodological alternatives has increased in the last decade. This is a rapidly changing field, and more studies are needed to compare methodologies that are used to explore impairments in facial emotion recognition.

The ability to recognize emotions in faces is essential to human interaction and occurs since childhood. Hypothesis: research using the morphing technique assume that children require greater or lesser intensity of emotional expression to perceive it. Objective: to examine the emotional recognition of faces in childhood, using a task with emotional intensity variation. Method: it was applied a Test of Facial Emotion Recognition for Children to 28 children between 7 and 11 years, of both sexes, which presented 168 faces manipulated by the morphing technique, of the six basic emotions. Results: age as a trend growth of the likelihood of success at the task; more right answers for happiness and worst performances for fear; and the emotional intensity increasing at 42% the chance of success by every unit of intensity. Conclusion: these findings are relevant because they show the recognition of emotions at different levels as a more sensitive method.

As palavras são poucas para agradecer a estas pessoas especiais que contribuíram de diversas maneiras à conclusão deste curso. À minha orientadora professora doutora Wânia Cristina de Souza, por ser guia nesta etapa e inspiração quanto à Neurociência. À professora mestre Ana Idalina de Paiva-Silva, da Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), pela parceria fundamental neste projeto e pela ótima companhia diária. À professora doutora Carla Silva Rocha Aguiar, da Universidade de Brasília (UnB), pela contribuição essencial de software e pelo apoio incondicional. Ao professor doutor Nelson Torro-Alves, pela parceria quanto ao Banco de Expressões Emocionais Brasileiro. Ao futuro mestre Víthor Rosa Franco, pela paciente consultoria em Estatística. Aos órgãos de pesquisa CNPq e CAPES, pela bolsa de estudos de pós-graduação a mim cedida no período do Mestrado.