Configural information in facial expression perception.

Abstract

Composite facial expressions were prepared by aligning the top half of one expression (e.g., anger) with the bottom half of another (e.g., happiness). Experiment 1 shows that participants are slower to identify the expression in either half of these composite images relative to a "noncomposite" control condition in which the 2 halves are misaligned. This parallels the composite effect for facial identity (A. W. Young, D. Hellawell, & D. C. Hay, 1987), and like its identity counterpart, the effect is disrupted by inverting the stimuli (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 shows that no composite effect is found when the top and bottom sections contain different models' faces posing the same expression; this serves to exclude many nonconfigural interpretations of the composite effect (e.g., that composites are more "attention-grabbing" than noncomposites). Finally, Experiment 4 demonstrates that the composite effects for identity and expression operate independently of one another. Bruce and Young's (1986) functional model of face recognition postulates separate parallel routes for the processing of facial identity (who the person is) and facial expression (what they are feeling). Over the years, this dissociation has been investigated by a number of studies using a range of different methodologies. These include cognitive studies of neurologically normal participants (Campbell, Brooks, de

The development of facial emotion recognition: The role of configural information

“…This topic of investigation is quite important because configural information also plays a significant role in facial emotion recognition by adults. Calder , Young, Keane, and Dean (2000;see also Calder & Jansen, 2005) observed a composite effect in emotion recognition similar to the one reported by Young, Hellawell, and Hay (1987) in face recognition; that is, when the top and bottom halves of a composite face depict different emotions, recognition of the emotion in either half is slower and less accurate than when the composite face is inverted or the two halves are offset laterally. Thus, it can be hypothesized, as for face recognition, that the development of the ability to process configural properties of faces also underlies the development of the ability to process facial emotions.The main aim of the current research concerned the possible role of configural information in the development of recognition of facial emotions.…”

“…In the composite task, we used the photographs from Baudouin and Humphreys (2006) of 8 persons (3 females and 5 males) expressing anger and 8 persons (6 females and 2 males) expressing happiness. Each photo was cut through the bridge of the nose (as was done by Calder et al, 2000). The top half was presented to 8 adults who were asked to state whether the face expressed happiness, anger, or fear.…”

“…Thus, it can be hypothesized, as for face recognition, that the development of the ability to process configural properties of faces also underlies the development of the ability to process facial emotions.The main aim of the current research concerned the possible role of configural information in the development of recognition of facial emotions. Configural information plays an important role in adults' recognition of facial emotions (e.g., Calder & Jansen, 2005;Calder, Young, Keane, & Dean, 2000), but the role of configural information in children's recognition of facial emotions is unknown. In particular, testing children's sensitivity to facial emotion orientation and composite emotion would help to reveal the processes that underlie developmental change in recognition of facial emotions.…”

“…The two halves were either aligned or shifted, and they were presented either upright or upside down. In adults, alignment in upright faces creates a new emotional configuration (the composite effect) that interferes with the recognition of the emotion displayed by each half; recognition is slower than it is in the shifted and upside-down conditions (Calder et al, 2000). This task allowed us to find out whether children would exhibit the same composite effect as do adults.…”

Intramuscular electrical stimulation of facial muscles in humans and chimpanzees: Duchenne revisited and extended.

“…Identifying the subtle facial movements of FACS (AUs) requires extensive training, as coders need to direct attention away from the facial expression and focus on individual movement components of the face. While this may not sound difficult, because humans process facial expressions holistically, it is often difficult to ignore the global configuration of the face and its expression, rather than focus on individual features (Calder, Young, Keane, & Dean, 2000).…”