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Reading What the Mind Thinks From How the Eye Sees.
Daniel H Lee1,2, Adam K Anderson3,4
11 Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder.
Psychological Science
|April 14, 2017
Summary
Human eye appearance, specifically widening or narrowing, communicates basic emotions and complex mental states like awe or suspicion. This visual information is key to understanding social perception and how we interpret others' feelings.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Vision Science
Background:
- Human eyes convey rich social and emotional information.
- The specific physical eye features and mechanisms for conveying mental states remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if perceived mental states are grounded in expressive eye appearance with an optical function.
- To investigate how eye widening and narrowing convey basic and complex emotions.
Main Methods:
- Experimental manipulation of eye appearance (widening vs. narrowing).
- Assessment of perceived basic and complex mental states.
- Analysis of the sensitivity-discrimination dimension in perception.
- Evaluation of eye features' diagnostic power against competing facial cues.
Main Results:
- Eye widening and narrowing conveyed distinct basic emotions (fear vs. disgust) and complex mental states (awe vs. suspicion).
- The sensitivity-discrimination dimension explained 61.7% of the variance in perceived mental states.
- Eye features remained predictive of mental states despite conflicting information from the lower face.
Conclusions:
- Human perception of complex mental states is significantly influenced by eye appearance.
- Basic optical principles governing vision may underlie the interpretation of complex emotions.
- Expressive eye features serve a functional role in communicating internal states.