Configural coding of facial expressions: The impact of inversion and photographic negative

Abstract

In previous research we used the composite paradigm (Young, Hellawell, & Hay, 1987) to demonstrate that configural cues are important for interpreting facial expressions. However, different configural cues in face perception have been identified, including holistic processing (i.e., perception of facial features as a single gestalt) and second‐order spatial relations (i.e., the spatial relationship between individual features). Previous research has suggested that the composite effect for facial identity operates at the level of holistic encoding. Here we show that the composite effect for facial expression has a similar perceptual basis by using different graphic manipulations (stimulus inversion and photographic negative) in conjunction with the composite paradigm. In relation to Bruce and Young's (1986) functional model of face recognition, a suitable level for the composite effect is a stage of front‐end processing referred to as structural encoding, that is common to both facial identity and facial expression perception.

Notes

Please address all correspondence to: Dr Andrew Calder, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, UK. Email: andy.calder@mrc‐cbu.cam.ac.uk

We are grateful to Professor P. Ekman for giving us permission to use pictures from the Ekman and Friesen (1976) Pictures of Facial Affect series. We would also like to thank Brian Cox for assistance in preparing figures.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jesse Jansen

Please address all correspondence to: Dr Andrew Calder, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, UK. Email: andy.calder@mrc‐cbu.cam.ac.uk We are grateful to Professor P. Ekman for giving us permission to use pictures from the Ekman and Friesen (1976) Pictures of Facial Affect series. We would also like to thank Brian Cox for assistance in preparing figures.