Emotion recognition training using composite faces generalises across identities but not all emotions

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Cognitive bias modification (CBM) frequently employs facial emotion stimuli.
• Composite stimuli in CBM may lead to identity- or emotion-specific effects, limiting generalizability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the generalizability of CBM effects using composite faces across identities and emotions.
• To determine if CBM training with composite faces transfers to novel stimuli.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments with healthy adults randomized into four training conditions.
• Conditions included stimulus-congruent and incongruent training (opposite sex or different emotion faces).

Main Results:

• Training effects generalized across different identities.
• Generalization across emotions was partial, indicating emotion-specific effects.
• CBM effects extended beyond the specific stimuli used during training.

Conclusions:

• CBM effects using composite faces can generalize across identities.
• Generalization across emotions is limited, suggesting emotion-specific CBM mechanisms.
• Findings highlight the importance of stimulus selection in CBM for broader applicability.