Emotion perception in emotionless face images suggests a norm-based representation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Human Perception

Background:

• Facial expression perception is typically linked to underlying facial muscle movements.
• However, static facial features can sometimes elicit perceived emotions in neutral faces.
• This suggests non-dynamic cues influence emotional interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how static configural changes in neutral faces affect emotion perception.
• To determine if specific alterations in facial feature positions can induce perceptions of anger or sadness.
• To explore the role of configural variations from a norm in emotional perception.

Main Methods:

• Four variations of neutral facial configurations were created by altering the relative vertical positions of the nose, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.
• Participants were presented with these static facial configurations.
• Perceptions of emotion (anger, sadness) were recorded for each configuration.

Main Results:

• Reducing the vertical distance between eyes and mouth resulted in the perception of anger.
• Increasing the vertical distance between eyes and mouth led to the perception of sadness.
• The intensity of perceived emotion correlated with the degree of configural change.

Conclusions:

• Static configural changes in neutral faces significantly impact perceived emotion.
• Facial feature arrangement, independent of muscle movement, plays a crucial role in emotion perception.
• Perception appears to be based on deviations from a prototypical facial norm.