Emotion recognition
Emotions help to convey important social and survival information
Facial features are used to analyse faces to detect the expressed emotion
In general, the literature shows that eyes are diagnostic for recognising sad, angry, fearful, and neutral expressions (Calvo, Fernandez-Martin, Nummenmaa, 2014; Calvo & Marrero, 2009; Kohler, Tuner, Stolar et al., 2009; Scheller et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2005).
Strategies used previously to identify which facial features are diagnostic for recognition of certain emotions
Scheller et al. (2012)
Bubble technique. (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001).
Cueing attention to a particular spatial location prior to stimulus onset, using covert orienting of exogenous attention and has previously been found to improve detection of the target when it subsequently appears at the cued location (Posner & Cohen, 1984). Elaborate!
My study- Therefore, as the cued attention paradigm has not been used before to investigate whether covert orienting of attention to the correct DFF still influences ability to recognise emotions, this study will use an adapted version of the cued attention paradigm to cue participants to attend to a particular DFF.
a main factor identified to influence emotion recognition ability is empathy, defined by Sucksmith et al. (2013) as a means of viewing and responding to the emotions of others.
Empathy- recognition of fear (Besel & Yuille, 2010; Chakrabarti et al., 2006; Kosonogov et al., 2015; Peterson et al., 2015; Sucksmith et al., 2013), as well as being associated with gaze to the eye region (Dadds et al., 2006; Hernadez et al., 2009; Kliemann et al., 2010).
The association between empathy and emotion recognition, and with gaze to diagnostic features highlights a possibility that empathy may act to modulate gaze to the DFF to recognise emotions. However, this is only speculation as no study has explicitly investigated this potential link between empathy and gaze to the DFF in emotion recognition.
References:
Smith et al. (2005)
Posner & Cohen, 1984).
emotions (Atkinson & Smithson unpublished; Gamer & Bchel, 2009). Gamer & Bchel (2009)
Chakrabarti, Bullmore & Baron-Cohen, 2006; Horley, Williams et al., 2004; Scheller, Bchel & Gamer, 2012