The effect of forced choice on facial emotion recognition: a comparison to open verbal classification of emotion labels
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Updated: May 10, 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
Kerstin Limbrecht-Ecklundt1, Andreas Scheck, Lucia Jerg-Bretzke
1University of Ulm, University Clinic of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology, Ulm, Germany.
Objective:
This article includes the examination of potential methodological problems of the application of a forced choice response format in facial emotion recognition.
Methodology:
33 subjects were presented with validated facial stimuli. The task was to make a decision about which emotion was shown. In addition, the subjective certainty concerning the decision was recorded.
Results:
The detection rates are 68% for fear, 81% for sadness, 85% for anger, 87% for surprise, 88% for disgust, and 94% for happiness, and are thus well above the random probability.
Conclusion:
This study refutes the concern that the use of forced choice formats may not adequately reflect actual recognition performance. The use of standardized tests to examine emotion recognition ability leads to valid results and can be used in different contexts. For example, the images presented here appear suitable for diagnosing deficits in emotion recognition in the context of psychological disorders and for mapping treatment progress.
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