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Emotion lateralization in a graduated emotional chimeric face task: An online study.
Vojtěch Smekal1, D Michael Burt1, Robert W Kentridge1
1Department of Psychology.
Neuropsychology
|April 7, 2022
Summary
The right cerebral hemisphere (RH) shows dominance in processing emotional faces, but this bias lessens with lower emotional expression intensity. This suggests RH dominance in emotional perception is influenced by task difficulty.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychology
Background:
- The role of the right cerebral hemisphere (RH) in emotional face perception is debated.
- Previous studies show conflicting results regarding RH dominance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate RH dominance in emotional face perception.
- To examine the influence of emotional expression intensity and conscious perception on this dominance.
Main Methods:
- An online emotional chimeric face task (ECFT) was employed.
- Participants judged emotional intensity across six basic emotions.
- Emotional expression intensity was varied incrementally from neutral to fully emotional.
Main Results:
- An overall left hemiface bias was observed, supporting RH dominance in emotional lateralization.
- This left hemiface bias diminished as the intensity of emotional expressions decreased.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the RH hypothesis for emotional face perception.
- RH dominance may be modulated by task difficulty and visual perception strategies.
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