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Published on: November 16, 2017
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Developmental differences in the visual processing of emotionally ambiguous neutral faces based on perceived valence.
Leslie Rollins1, Erin Bertero1,2, Laurie Hunter1
1Department of Psychology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, United States of America.
Plos One
|August 16, 2021
Summary
Children and adults perceive neutral faces negatively. Adults focus on eyes when faces seem negative, while children focus on eyes when faces appear neutral, suggesting developmental differences in emotional face processing.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Emotion perception is crucial for social interaction.
- Neutral faces are often used as a control in emotion research.
- Age-related differences in processing emotional stimuli are well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in interpreting and visually processing emotionally ambiguous neutral faces.
- To compare how children and adults allocate attention when viewing neutral faces.
- To explore the developmental trajectory of affective face interpretation.
Main Methods:
- Participants included children and adults.
- Eye movements were recorded during face viewing.
- Participants provided valence and arousal ratings for neutral child faces.
Main Results:
- Both children and adults interpreted neutral faces as negative.
- Fixations to the eye region decreased when faces were rated as positive.
- Adults fixated more on eyes for negative faces; children fixated more on eyes for neutral faces.
Conclusions:
- Children may strategically attend to the eye region of ambiguous faces for affective information.
- Findings challenge the use of neutral faces as a universal control condition.
- This research provides a foundation for understanding the development of emotion interpretation.
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