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Drift-diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly.
Martijn J Mulder1, Franziska Prummer2, David Terburg3
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.j.mulder@uu.nl.
Scientific Reports
|October 9, 2023
Summary
Face masks increase facial expression ambiguity, impacting emotion recognition. Research reveals masks create a perceptual bias toward friendliness but a preconceptual bias toward unfriendliness, suggesting people expect negative interactions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Face masks, common during the COVID-19 pandemic, obscure facial expressions.
- This obstruction impacts emotion recognition, social interaction, and judgment.
- Understanding the cognitive mechanisms behind interpreting masked faces is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether perceptual or preconceptual processes explain misinterpretations of masked facial expressions.
- To determine the independent effects of perceptual and preconceptual biases on judging masked faces.
Main Methods:
- 136 participants judged ambiguous facial expressions (with/without masks) as friendly or unfriendly.
- A drift-diffusion model (DDM) was used to analyze behavioral data and differentiate cognitive biases.
Main Results:
- Face masks caused a significant loss of facial information.
- A slight perceptual bias towards friendly interpretations was observed.
- A notable preconceptual bias towards unfriendly interpretations of masked faces emerged.
Conclusions:
- Face masks introduce ambiguity in facial expression interpretation.
- While masks may slightly enhance perceived friendliness perceptually, a preconceptual bias leads individuals to interpret masked faces as unfriendly.
- This highlights a top-down cognitive bias influencing social perception in mask-wearing contexts.
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