群体信息对面部表情识别的影响

Influence of group information on facial expression recognition

本研究通过3个实验探讨群体信息对面部表情识别的影响。结果发现:(1)周围面孔的情绪状态影响个体对目标面孔情绪的识别,两者情绪一致时的反应时显著短于不一致时的反应时,且面部表情识别准确性更高。(2)群体信息会调节周围面孔情绪对目标面孔的影响,进而影响面部表情识别。具体而言,群体条件下,个体对目标面部表情的识别受到周围面孔情绪状态的影响,相比周围面孔情绪与目标面孔情绪不一致,两者情绪一致时,即符合个体基于知觉线索建立的群体成员情绪具有一致性的预期,面部表情识别的准确性更高、速度更快;而非群体条件下,个体则不受周围面孔情绪状态的影响。研究结果表明,个体能够基于互动人物之间的社会关系识别面孔情绪,群体存在时,会建立群体成员情绪具有一致性的预期,进而影响面部表情识别。

Emotions surface during interaction between individuals.Thus,an accurate recognition of facial expressions is essential in the realm of social interactions.In recent years,numerous studies have revealed that individuals not only depend on facial configuration information for identifying facial expressions but also place considerable emphasis on contextual information extracted from external cues beyond the face.People’s behavior frequently unfolds within intricate social group dynamics,wherein individuals often perceive and interpret the facial expressions of their fellow group members during interaction.However,the impact of group information on facial expression recognition,being an essential social contextual factor,remains somewhat unclear.Hence,three experiments were conducted to investigate the influence exerted by group information on the recognition of facial expressions.The stimuli used in the study were happy,fearful,and neutral face images selected from the NimStim set,including 15 pictures(seven females)of each of the aforementioned emotions.Group information was manipulated following the presentation of a fixation cross through perceptual cues.Subsequently,during the facial expression recognition phase,participants were instructed to recognize the facial expressions exhibited by target individuals.In the first experiment,participants were instructed to rate the intensity of target facial expressions on a sixemotion scale,and the surrounding facial expressions were always congruent with the target facial expressions.A total of 29 college students(16 females,mean age 20.00±1.80 years)were recruited to participate in this experiment.In Experiments 2 and 3,we manipulated the emotional congruency between the surrounding faces and the target faces during the facial expression recognition phase.Additionally,we controlled for variations in physical characteristics across different experimental conditions.The task requirement of Experiment 2 was the same as that of Experiment 1.However,in Experiment 3,participants were instructed to judge the target facial expressions by pressing corresponding keys on the keyboard as quickly and accurately as possible.A total of 26 college students(14 females,mean age 21.15±1.99 years)participated in Experiment 2,and 32 college students(15 females,mean age 21.20±1.60 years)participated in Experiment 3.Results revealed the following:(1)Compared with emotion-incongruent conditions,emotional congruency between target faces and surrounding faces resulted in shorter RTs and higher accuracy.(2)Group information regulated the influence of surrounding facial expressions on target facial expression recognition.Specifically,under group conditions,participants tended to recognize target facial expressions according to the emotional state of the surrounding faces.When the target facial expressions in line with the expectations established by the participants that group members have congruent emotional state,the recognition of target facial expressions was faster and more accurate than incongruent conditions.However,under nongroup conditions,participants recognized target facial expressions without reference to the emotional states of the surrounding faces.(3)Participants exhibited a faster and more accurate recognition of happy faces,indicating the recognition advantage effect for happy facial expressions.Results revealed that group information influenced facial expression recognition,individuals recognized facial expressions based on the social relationship between the interactions,and understanding social interaction plays an important role in the process of emotion perception.