Issue 3/4 Vol. 33 1991

Facial motion and the recognition of emotions

DITTRICH, W.

The investigation presented in this paper concerns the relevance of motion information for the recognition of emotions. Facial expressions of the basic emotions (according to EKMAN) were shown to 48 subjects. The scenes were either dynamic or static under normal or light-point presentation conditions. The observers had to match facial expressions to emotional meaning. The results show that motion information alone is a relevant source for the recognition of emotions. Furthermore, the role of motion information in the recognition of specific emotions seems to vary for the different emotions. Evidence is presented for the differentiation of two independent channels of visual information processing.

Keywords: facial motion, recognition of emotions

Short Title: Dittrich, W. (1991) PsyBeit 3-4:366

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