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The Compositionality of Facial Expressions.

Carmel Sofer1, Ron Dotsch2, Dan Vilenchik3

  • 126732Department of Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

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|March 1, 2022
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The principle of compositionality, key in language research, also guides facial expression interpretation. Our study shows composite facial meanings arise from individual expressions and how they combine.

Keywords:
emotionsfacial expressionssemantic compositionalityvector representationword embedding

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The principle of compositionality is fundamental in understanding language and cognition.
  • It suggests complex meanings derive from constituent parts and their combination rules.
  • Its application to non-linguistic communication, like facial expressions, remains less explored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of the principle of compositionality in interpreting sequences of facial expressions.
  • To determine if composite meanings of facial expressions follow compositional rules.
  • To provide a systematic account of facial expression meaning perception.

Main Methods:

  • Three experimental studies were conducted.
  • Participants interpreted sequences of two emotional facial expression images.
  • Data were analyzed to identify patterns of meaning formation.

Main Results:

  • Evidence supports the principle of compositionality in facial expression interpretation.
  • The composite meaning of facial expression sequences is determined by constituent expressions and an algebraic operation.
  • A systematic model for perception of single and sequential facial expressions was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

  • The principle of compositionality significantly influences the interpretation of facial expressions.
  • Facial expression meaning is constructed compositionally, similar to language.
  • This suggests compositionality may underpin various human communication modalities beyond spoken language.