The dominant theory in facial expression research is the dual mode hypothesis. After reviewing the literature pertaining to the dual mode hypothesis within the recognition of facial identities and emotional expressions, seven experiments are reported testing the role of configural processing within the recognition of emotional expressions of faces. The main findings were that the dual mode hypothesis can be supported within the facial recognition of emotional expression. This and other more specific findings are then reviewed within the context of extant literature. Implications for future research and applications within applied psychology are then considered.

This thesis explores the effects of movement on various face processing tasks. In Experiments One to Four, unfamiliar face recognition was investigated using identical numbers of frames in the learning phase; these were viewed as a series of static images, or in moving sequences (using computer animation). There was no additional benefit from studying the moving sequences, but signal detection measurements showed an advantage for using dynamic sequences at test. In Experiments Five and Six, moving and static images of unfamiliar faces were matched for expression or identity. Without prior study, movement only helped in matching the expression. It was proposed that motion provided more effective access to a stored representation of an emotional expression. Brief familiarisation with the faces led to an advantage for dynamic presentations in referring to a stored representation of identity as well as expression. Experiments Seven to Nine explored the suggestion that motion is beneficial when accessinga pre-existingd escription. Significantly more famous faces were recognised in inverted and negated formats when shown in dynamic clips, compared with recognition using static images. This benefit may be through detecting idiosyncratic gesture patterns at test, or extracting spatial and temporal relationships which overlapped the stored kinematic details. Finally, unfamiliar faces were studied as moving or static images; recognition was tested under dynamic or fixed conditions using inverted or negated formats. As there was no difference between moving and static study phases, it was unlikely that idiosyncratic gesture patterns were being detected, so the significant advantage for motion at test seemed due to an overlap with the stored description. However, complex interactions were found, and participants demonstrated bias when viewing motion at test. Future work utilising dynamic image-manipulated displays needs to be undertaken before we fully understand the processing of facial movement.

The present four studies are the first to examine the effect of presentation time on accurate facial expression discrimination while concurrently using eye movement monitoring to ensure fixation to specific features during the brief presentation of the entire face. Recent studies using backward masking and evaluating accuracy performance with signal detection methods (A’) have identified a happy-face advantage however differences between other facial expressions of emotion have not been reported. In each study, a specific exposure time before mask (150, 100, 50, or 16.67 ms) and eight different fixation locations were used during the presentation of neutral, disgusted, fearful, happy, and surprised expressions. An effect of emotion was found across all presentation times such that the greatest performance was seen for happiness, followed by neutral, disgust, surprise, and with the lowest performances seen for fear. Fixation to facial features specific to an emotion did not improve performance and did not account for the differences in accuracy performance between emotions. Rather, results suggest that accuracy performance depends on the integration of facial features, and that this varies across emotions and with presentation time.

Facial expression has been used as a measure of pain in clinical and experimental studies. The Sociocommunications Model of Pain (T. Hadjistavropoulos, K. Craig, & S. Fuchs-Lacelle, 2004) characterizes facial movements during pain as both expressions of inner experience and communications to other people that must be considered in the social contexts in which they occur. While research demonstrates that specific facial movements may be outward manifestations of pain states, less attention has been paid to the extent to which contextual factors influence facial movements during pain. Experimenters are an inevitable feature of research studies on facial expression during pain and study of their social impact is merited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of experimenter presence on participants’ facial expressions during pain. Healthy young adults (60 males, 60 females) underwent painful stimulation induced by a cold pressor in three social contexts: alone; alone with knowledge of an experimenter watching through a one-way mirror; and face-to-face with an experimenter. Participants provided verbal self-report ratings of pain. Facial behaviours during pain were coded with the Facial Action Coding System (P. Ekman, W. Friesen, & J. Hager, 2002) and rated by naïve judges. Participants’ facial expressions of pain varied with the context of the pain experience condition but not with verbally self-reported levels of pain. Participants who were alone were more likely to display facial actions typically associated with pain than participants who were being observed by an experimenter who was in another room or sitting across from them. Naïve judges appeared to be influenced by these facial expressions as, on average, they rated the participants who were alone as experiencing more pain than those who were observed. Facial expressions shown by people experiencing pain can communicate the fact that they are feeling pain. However, facial expressions can be influenced by factors in the social context such as the presence of an experimenter. The results suggest that facial expressions during pain made by adults should be viewed at least in part as communications, subject to intrapersonal and interpersonal influences, rather than direct read-outs of experience.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available in print.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Higher Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-38). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR31977

Issued also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Bibliography: p. 46-47.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p.110-130).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duke University, 2008.