表情判别能力的发展特点与影响因素

本实验通过不同年龄学生对各类表情的判别之研究,探讨了表情判别能力的发展特点及其与个体情绪发展间的关系。结果表明：①身段表情判别能力是导致表情判别年龄差异的核心因素;②面部表情判别能力发展较早,在小学阶段已相当完善,身段表情判别能力发展较晚,到大学阶段才达到与前者相同的水平;③身段表情判别能力的发展与个体情绪发展的阶段性特点及其主要社会适应问题相关联。     

Brain asymmetry and autonomic conditioning: Sensitization control

In the present experiment we report effects of cerebral asymmetry, or laterality, during classical conditioning to facial emotional stimuli. Twenty-five female subjects were presented with slides of a happy face in one visual half-field (VHF), and simultaneously a slide of an angry face in the other VHF, followed by shock as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). To control for effects of sensitization, a new stimulus, never associated with the UCS, was introduced in the extinction phase. Dependent measures were phasic heart rate responses (HR) and skin conductance responses (SCR). The HR results showed a significant right hemisphere effect for the CS-UCS association, that was not attributable to UCS sensitization. No significant effects were found for the SCRs. The basic HR finding was a right hemisphere superiority for learning of a conditioned association.     

THE EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTER FACIAL ORIENTATION DURING IMITATION MAINTENANCE1

The training and maintenance of imitative responding has become an important therapeutic process with language-handicapped children, as indicated by Garcia and DeHaven (American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1974, 79 , 169–178). Typically a training “package” is used, that might entail the use of operant shaping, fading, reinforcement, and punishment techniques designed to increase correct imitation and decrease incorrect responding. Only recently have studies begun to concentrate on the components of these training “packages”. Steinman (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1970, 3 , 159–167) highlighted the roles played by less conspicuous but functionally important components of these packages. The present study attempted to provide a systematic extension of this work within an applied context. Using subjects who were responding at high levels during an imitation-maintenance procedure, experimenter facial orientation (experimenter's eyes and head oriented towards the subject's face and head), was systematically manipulated for experimentally determined “types” of imitative behavior. Differential responding within these parameters provided an evaluation of facial orientation as a functional component within this training package. Three retarded children participated in the study. Two types of topographically different imitative responses were defined for experimental purposes (“standing” and “sitting”). Each subject progressed through four conditions of the study, which called for the reinforcement of all imitative responses. But during preselected conditions, experimenter facial orientation was removed from the therapeutic package for one of the two topographical types of imitation. Results indicated that imitation of the two topographical types of models was dependent on the presence of experimenter facial orientation within the experimental procedure.     

Perception of emotional tears with body postures,visual scenes,and written scenarios

Emotional tears tend to increase perceived sadness in facial expressions. However, it is unclear whether tears would still be seen as an indicator of sadness when a tearful face is observed in an emotional context (e.g., a touching moment during a wedding ceremony). We examine the influence of context on the sadness enhancement effect of tears in three studies. In Study 1, participants evaluated tearful or tearless expressions presented without body postures, with emotionally neutral postures, or with emotionally congruent postures (i.e., postures indicating the same emotion as the face). The results show that the presence of tears increases the perceived sadness of faces regardless of context. Similar results are found in Studies 2 and 3, which used visual scenes and written scenarios as contexts, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that tears on faces reliably indicate sadness, even in the presence of contextual information that suggests non-sadness emotions.     

群体面孔情绪的整体编码及其影响因素

当面孔以群体形式出现,认知神经系统会自动整合情绪信息提取平均情绪,此过程被称为群体面孔情绪的整体编码。探讨其与低水平整体表征的分离,与个体表征的关系及神经活动特点是揭示其加工机制的关键,但目前尚未形成系统性模型。未来应综合利用眼动、神经电生理和脑成像技术,结合注意、记忆及社会线索进一步拓展对其认知神经机制和影响因素的研究,同时关注具有认知情感障碍的特殊人群,并从毕生发展的角度探索其发展轨迹。     

When smiles (and frowns) speak words: Does power impact the correspondence between self-reported affect and facial expressions?

Self-reported experiences are often poor indicators of outward expressions. Here we examine social power as a variable that may impact the relationship between self-reported affect and facial expressions. Earlier studies addressing this issue were limited by focusing on a single facial expression (smiling) and by using different, less sensitive methods that yielded mostly null results. Sampling, for the first time, self-reported affect repeatedly in response to different negative, neutral and positive stimuli, and measuring concurrent facial muscle activation via electromyography, we found that high power (vs. baseline) increased the correspondence between self-reported positive affect and smiling. There was also an indication that high power (vs. baseline) bolstered the association between self-reported negative affect and frowning but the effect did not pass more stringent criteria for significance (p ≤ .005) and was therefore deemed inconclusive. The prediction that low power (vs. baseline) decreases the correspondence between self-reported affect and smiling and frowning facial expressions was not supported. Taken together, it would appear that (high) power can impact the relationship between self-reported affect and facial expressions, but it remains to be seen whether this effect extends beyond smiling facial expressions.     

Do deaf individuals have better visual skills in the periphery? Evidence from processing facial attributes

ABSTRACT

Studies examining visual abilities in individuals with early auditory deprivation have reached mixed conclusions, with some finding congenital auditory deprivation and/or lifelong use of a visuospatial language improves specific visual skills and others failing to find substantial differences. A more consistent finding is enhanced peripheral vision and an increased ability to efficiently distribute attention to the visual periphery following auditory deprivation. However, the extent to which this applies to visual skills in general or to certain conspicuous stimuli, such as faces, in particular is unknown. We examined the perceptual resolution of peripheral vision in the deaf, testing various facial attributes typically associated with high-resolution scrutiny of foveal information processing. We compared performance in face-identification tasks to performance using non-face control stimuli. Although we found no enhanced perceptual representations in face identification, gender categorization, or eye gaze direction recognition tasks, fearful expressions showed greater resilience than happy or neutral ones to increasing eccentricities. In the absence of an alerting sound, the visual system of auditory deprived individuals may develop greater sensitivity to specific conspicuous stimuli as a compensatory mechanism. The results also suggest neural reorganization in the deaf in their opposite advantage of the right visual field in face identification tasks.     

空间频率影响恐惧面孔表情加工的神经通路

恐惧情绪由于其具有威胁性而优先得到有效的加工。其中空间频率作为处理面孔信息的基础成分, 通过不同的神经通路影响恐惧面孔表情的加工。双通路观点认为在皮层下通路上, 低空间频率的恐惧面孔表情存在优先传递性, 高空间频率则主要通过皮层通路对恐惧面孔表情进行精细化加工; 而多通路则能够更加灵活地处理空间频率对情绪加工的影响。未来研究应明确脑区及其子区域在多条通路上的作用, 从而进一步验证视觉信息是如何影响情绪加工的。     

疼痛背景下时距知觉的变化

时距知觉指对数百毫秒到数个小时时长的知觉, 是日常生活中许多活动的基础。时距知觉受到相当多因素的影响, 如唤醒、注意、动机等。疼痛是一种多维度的心理及生理现象, 包含有感觉分辨、情绪动机、认知评价三个成分。近期研究证明时距知觉会在疼痛背景下发生改变。疼痛背景下时距知觉的相关研究主要涉及三个方面：(1)健康被试对疼痛面孔的时距知觉; (2)实验室诱发疼痛对健康被试时距知觉的影响; (3)临床疼痛患者的时距知觉变化。探索疼痛背景下时距知觉的变化, 可以为理解疼痛的发生发展机制以及时间知觉的机制提供一个新视角。