Construction of face databases for tasks to recognize facial expressions of basic emotions: a systematic review

Recognizing the other's emotions is an important skill for the social context that can be modulated by variables such as gender, age, and race. A number of studies seek to elaborate specific face databases to assess the recognition of basic emotions in different contexts.

This systematic review sought to gather these studies, describing and comparing the methodologies used in their elaboration.

The databases used to select the articles were the following: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Scopus. The following word crossing was used: "Facial expression database OR Stimulus set AND development OR Validation."

A total of 36 articles showed that most of the studies used actors to express the emotions that were elicited from specific situations to generate the most spontaneous emotion possible. The databases were mainly composed of colorful and static stimuli. In addition, most of the studies sought to establish and describe patterns to record the stimuli, such as color of the garments used and background. The psychometric properties of the databases are also described.

The data presented in this review point to the methodological heterogeneity among the studies. Nevertheless, we describe their patterns, contributing to the planning of new research studies that seek to create databases for new contexts.