Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Encoding and decoding of pain expressions: a judgement study

Kenneth M Prkachin1, Sandra Berzins, Susan R Mercer

  • 1Department of Health Studies, University of Waterloo, WaterlooCanada.

Pain
|August 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Food insecurity and acute care utilisation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BMJ public health·2026
Same author

Patient and Provider Experiences With a Digital App to Improve Compliance With Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocols: Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Canadian Experience.

JMIR formative research·2023
Same author

Insensitivity to Suffering: Psychopathic Traits and Perception of Others' Pain.

Journal of personality disorders·2022
Same author

Corrigendum: Computer Mediated Automatic Detection of Pain-Related Behavior: Prospect, Progress, Perils.

Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)·2022
Same author

Computer mediated automatic detection of pain-related behavior: prospect, progress, perils.

Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)·2022
Same author

Unobtrusive Pain Monitoring in Older Adults With Dementia Using Pairwise and Contrastive Training.

IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics·2020

Observers struggle to accurately interpret pain intensity from facial expressions, often underestimating patient suffering. This highlights a gap in nonverbal pain communication and understanding.

Area of Science:

  • Pain communication research
  • Nonverbal behavior analysis
  • Psychology of suffering

Background:

  • Pain communication involves encoding by sufferers and decoding by observers.
  • Rosenthal's (1982) communication model provides a framework for analyzing pain expression.
  • Facial expressions are a key nonverbal channel for pain information transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the role of facial expression in pain communication.
  • To assess observers' accuracy in judging pain intensity from facial cues.
  • To investigate the relationship between patient-reported pain and observer interpretations.

Main Methods:

  • Applied Rosenthal's (1982) communication model.
  • Utilized videotapes of patients with shoulder pain during movement.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Employed 5 judges assessing pain using verbal descriptor scales.
  • Measured facial expressions using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS).

    • Main Results:

    • Observers could make coarse distinctions in pain states but lacked sensitivity.
    • Observers tended to systematically underestimate the intensity of patients' suffering.
    • Insufficient use of available facial expression information by observers was noted.

    Conclusions:

    • Healthcare workers may underestimate patient pain due to limited sensitivity to facial cues.
    • Improved training is needed for healthcare professionals to better interpret nonverbal pain signals.
    • Future research should explore enhancing observer accuracy in pain perception.