Social Perception of Facial Color Appearance for Human Trichromatic Versus Dichromatic Color Vision

Thorstenson, Christopher A.; Pazda, Adam D.; Elliot, Andrew J.

doi:10.1177/0146167219841641

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Indeed, people hold facial-color emotion associations in line with these physiological changes (Thorstenson, Elliot, Pazda, Perrett, & Xiao, 2018), and people use facial coloration information to facilitate the perception of emotion (Peromaa & Olkkonen, 2019; Thorstenson, Pazda, Young, & Elliot, 2019; Young, Thorstenson, & Pazda, 2018). Further, it has been posited that perceiving facial coloration serves an adaptive function in better detecting the social states of others (Changizi et al, 2006; Hiramatsu, Melin, Allen, Dubuc, & Higham, 2017; Thorstenson, 2018; Thorstenson, Pazda, & Elliot, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of facial coloration in emotion disambiguation.

Thorstenson¹,

McPhetres²,

Pazda³

et al. 2022

Emotion

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Previous research has demonstrated that some pairs of emotion expressions are confusing to observers because they share common facial-muscular expressive features. Recent research has suggested that another expressive feature, facial coloration, can facilitate the disambiguation of these emotion expressions. The current work tests this hypothesis by presenting participants with pairs of ambiguous emotion expressions with varying facial coloration, then assessing perceived emotion via continuous ratings and categorizations. The results demonstrated that facial coloration can influence perceived emotion within the emotion pairs of anger-disgust (Experiment 1), surprise-fear (Experiments 2a and 2b), and tearful sadness-happiness (Experiment 3). Further, this influence contributed to emotion disambiguation nonuniformly between emotion pairs. Implications discussed include the role of facial coloration in emotion perception, conceptualizations of emotion categories, and the use of posed facial expression stimuli in emotion research.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of facial coloration in emotion disambiguation.

Thorstenson¹,

McPhetres²,

Pazda³

et al. 2022

Emotion

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“…Studies in humans indicate that the advantage for particular colors (e.g., red or blue) in facilitating particular cognitive functions is highly dependent on the task, context and difficulty (Elliot & Aarts, 2011; Elliot & Pazda, 2012; Elliot et al, 2007; Elliot, 2015; Lehmann et al, 2018; Mehta & Zhu, 2009; Payen et al, 2011; Tchernikov & Fallah, 2010; Thorstenson et al, 2020; Xia et al, 2016). A dominant hypothesis proposes that in humans red promotes avoidance motivation and consequently enhance performance in cognitive tasks that require precise evaluation of information, whereas blue color enhances approach motivation and therefore creative‐explorative behavior (Mehta & Zhu, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The red color might be associated with blood, injury and pain linked with inflamed tissues, or angry‐aggressive faces, and therefore perceived as a cue demanding allocation of cognitive resources (Mansouri et al, 2017) for organizing avoidance behavior. On the other hand, the red color might be associated with more romantic context in humans (Changizi et al, 2006; Elliot & Pazda, 2012; Thorstenson et al, 2020) or reproduction opportunities in monkeys and therefore promote approach behavior (Hughes et al, 2015). Our findings indicate advantages of the red color, compared with blue, in promoting response inhibition (Figure 2) and also the action execution (Figure 4) in monkeys.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These findings indicate that even when there was no differential color information on the visual scene and therefore no retinal stimulation, the history of color experienced in the preceding trial was enough to influence cognitive functions and suggest that simple processing advantages in retinal or early visual pathways does not explain the effects of color-hierarchies on cognitive functions. Studies in humans indicate that the advantage for particular colors (e.g., red or blue) in facilitating particular cognitive functions is highly dependent on the task, context and difficulty (Elliot & Aarts, 2011;Elliot & Pazda, 2012;Elliot et al, 2007;Elliot, 2015;Lehmann et al, 2018;Mehta & Zhu, 2009;Payen et al, 2011;Tchernikov & Fallah, 2010;Thorstenson et al, 2020;Xia et al, 2016).…”

Section: Response Inhibitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Color‐hierarchies in executive control of monkeys' behavior

Ghasemian

Vardanjani

Sheibani

et al. 2021

American J Primatol

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Processing advantages for particular colors (color-hierarchies) influence emotional regulation and cognitive functions in humans and manifest as an advantage of the red color, compared with the green color, in triggering response inhibition but not in response execution. It remains unknown how such color-hierarchies emerge in human cognition and whether they are the unique properties of human brain with advanced trichromatic vision. Dominant models propose that color-hierarchies are formed as experience-dependent learning that associates various colors with different human-made conventions and concepts (e.g., traffic lights). We hypothesized that if color-hierarchies modulate cognitive functions in trichromatic nonhuman primates, it would indicate a preserved neurobiological basis for such colorhierarchies. We trained six macaque monkeys to perform cognitive tasks that required behavioral control based on colored cues. Color-hierarchies significantly influenced monkeys' behavior and appeared as an advantage of the red color, compared to the green, in triggering response inhibition but not response execution. For all monkeys, the order of color-hierarchies, in response inhibition and also execution, was similar to that in humans. In addition, the cognitive effects of colorhierarchies were not limited to the trial in which the colored cues were encountered but also persisted in the following trials in which there was no colored cue on the visual scene. These findings suggest that color-hierarchies are not resulting from association of colors with human-made conventions and that simple processing advantage in retina or early visual pathways does not explain the cognitive effects of color-hierarchies. The discovery of color-hierarchies in cognitive repertoire of monkeys indicates that although the evolution of humans and monkeys diverged in about 25 million years ago, the color-hierarchies are evolutionary preserved, with the same order, in trichromatic primates and exert overarching effects on the executive control of behavior.

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“…Thus, demand characteristics might also be an alternative explanation for effects of facial redness on ratings of health Young et al, 2018), attractiveness , embarrassment (Thorstenson, Pazda, & Lichtenfeld, 2019), or confusing emotional expressions (Thorstenson, Pazda, Young, et al, 2019). As a consequence, our results urge caution regarding a social evolutionary account of trichromatic color vision (e.g., Changizi et al, 2006;Thorstenson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Observed Effects On Inferences About Healthmentioning

confidence: 75%

The Red-Anger Effect: Is it Nothing More Than Demand Characteristics?

Wolf¹,

Röseler²,

Leder³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Past studies have shown that higher levels of anger are inferred from faces that show increased facial redness (red-anger effect). However, all previous research in support of this effect has used within-subjects designs with varying levels of facial redness. We hypothesized that very frequent random changes in facial redness paired with limited options to respond to such changes can induce demand characteristics. As the color red has also been found to be strongly associated with anger, it may be obvious for participants that they are expected to respond to facial redness by indicating higher levels of perceived anger. In a preregistered close replication (Study 1, N = 40) conducted online, we observed the red-anger effect but were able to show that approximately one fifth of the participants were suspicious about the purpose of the study. If the effect is independent of demand characteristics, it should also emerge when facial redness is manipulated between-subjects. In a preregistered conceptual replication (Study 2, N = 329), we found the red-anger effect in a within-subjects design condition but not in a between-subjects design condition. We conclude that past findings of the red-anger effect were (at least partially) due to demand characteristics. Future research should (a) attend to demand characteristics, (b) use a broader diversity of methodological approaches, and (c) develop and test explanations about processes that are related to color in emotion perception.

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Social Perception of Facial Color Appearance for Human Trichromatic Versus Dichromatic Color Vision

Cited by 12 publications

References 98 publications

The role of facial coloration in emotion disambiguation.

The role of facial coloration in emotion disambiguation.

Color‐hierarchies in executive control of monkeys' behavior

The Red-Anger Effect: Is it Nothing More Than Demand Characteristics?

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