Compatibility between tones, head movements, and facial expressions
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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: May 15, 2016
Gernot Horstmann1, Ulrich Ansorge
1Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, P.O. Box 100 131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany. gernot.horstmann@uni-bielefeld.de
Abstract:
The study tests the hypothesis of an embodied associative triangle among relative tone pitch (i.e., high or low tones), vertical movement, and facial emotion. In particular, it is tested whether relative pitch automatically activates facial expressions of happiness and anger as well as vertical head movements. Results show robust congruency effects: happiness expressions and upward head tilts are imitated faster when paired with high rather than low tones, while anger expressions and downward head tilts are imitated faster when paired with low rather than high tones. The results add to the growing evidence favoring an embodiment account that emphasizes multimodal representations as the basis of cognition, emotion, and action.
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