Temporal aspects of facial displays

Krumhuber, Eva Gabriele 2007. Temporal aspects of facial displays. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

A limitation of much past research on facial expression of emotion is its focus on static facial images. The research reported in the present dissertation was designed to examine the role played by dynamic information in the interpretation of facial expressions, particularly with respect to their perceived authenticity. In a first set of studies, the dynamic properties (i.e., onset, apex, and offset durations) of smiles were manipulated in the context of two social settings. Using a simulated job interview situation, the studies reported in Chapter 2 show that temporal aspects of smiles significantly influenced judgements made about interviewees. Comparable effects were found for synthetic and human faces. In the studies reported in Chapter 3, the impact of dynamic aspects of smiles was investigated in the context of two trust games with financial stakes. Choice of counterpart and decisions to cooperate with another person in the game were influenced by the dynamic quality of counterparts' smiles. These effects of facial dynamics on cooperative behaviour were shown to be mediated by the perceived trustworthiness of the other player. Focusing on real smiles, the research in Chapter 4 explored the role of the Duchenne smile in the expression and perception of spontaneous and posed smiles. In comparison to dynamic aspects, the signal value of the Duchenne marker was found to be limited and significant only for ratings of the upper face and of static displays. The study reported in Chapter 5 examined the role of smiles with different temporal dynamics in moderating judgements of emotional utterances. Smiles significantly influenced perceptions of emotional state evoked by the utterances and led to different attributions depending on whether anger or disgust was conveyed verbally. In sum, the findings illustrate that dynamic properties convey important information that is detected accurately and decoded meaningfully by perceivers.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
ISBN:	9781303209659
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2017 15:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54624

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