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Asymmetric interference between sex and emotion in face perception
Anthony P Atkinson1, Jason Tipples, D Michael Burt
1Department of Psychology, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH 1 3LE, England. a.p.atkinson@durham.ac.uk
Perception & Psychophysics
|March 1, 2006
Summary
Facial sex influences emotion judgments, but facial emotion does not affect sex judgments. This asymmetric interference in face processing suggests distinct neurological systems for invariant and changeable facial features.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Face processing models propose separate systems for invariant and changeable facial aspects.
- Previous research shows identity information interferes with expression and speech judgments, but not vice versa.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate asymmetric interference between facial sex and emotion classification.
- To test predictions derived from a dual-system model of face processing.
Main Methods:
- Employed speeded-response interference tasks, including the Garner and Simon paradigms.
- Manipulated task-irrelevant variations in facial sex and emotion to assess classification interference.
Main Results:
- Emotion classification was significantly influenced by facial sex, but sex classification was not by emotion.
- Asymmetric interference patterns were consistent across different tasks and when task difficulty was equated.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis of distinct processing pathways for invariant (sex) and changeable (emotion) facial features.
- The results challenge face processing models to explain how asymmetric interference occurs across different processing stages.