Chapter 13. Facial Expressions of Emotion

Learning Objectives

amygdala
limbic system structure involved in strong emotions such as aggression and fear
emotion
a conscious mental state or feeling that arises spontaneously as a reaction to events
Context Influences Color
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true
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There are five images of the same woman with different facial expressions in each. The first woman is smiling with eyes slightly squinted. The second woman has her eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and mouth open in an O. The third woman has her mouth open slightly with one eyebrow raised. The fourth woman has her head tilted to the left, pursed lips, and eyes looking up and to the right. The fifth woman is squinting her eyes with lips tightly closed together.
Learning Objectives:

Recognize the basic emotions that can be displayed on the face.

Understand that facial expressions are more universal across cultures than other nonverbal cues to emotion.

Review

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There are various images of people using different hand gestures and body posture, such as hands on waist, outstretched hands, scrunched up shoulders, leaning against a wall, hugging another person, and pointing a finger to one's chin.

1. We can learn something about the emotion that another person is experiencing by paying attention to nonverbal cues such as body posture and hand gestures.

13.0.1 Review

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2. In most cases, facial expressions are an even better representation of a person’s emotional experience.

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A side image of a woman's head appears with a picture of a brain overlaying it. There is a horizontal U shaped structure in the middle of the brain with a small round area on one end. This almond shaped area is called the amygdala. The woman's eyes are wide and her mouth is open wide in an O shape. The woman can see a snake in front of her.

3. Facial expressions seem to be under the direct control of brain circuits that process emotion. For example, individuals with damage to the amygdala show reduced fear, and they have difficulty producing facial expressions of fear and anger and recognizing those emotions on other faces.

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There are nine pictures of people smiling. The pictures vary in gender, race, and age but all are smiling.
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4. As a result of this brain connection, facial expressions corresponding to the basic emotions—happiness, anger, sadness, fear, surprise, and disgust—are very similar across cultures, even in young infants and in blind children who have never seen another person's face.

Practice: Infant Facial Expressions

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Practice: Infant Facial Expressions

Roll over the photos to see which emotions the infants are displaying in their facial expressions.

The child is smiling. The child's eyes are squinted shut, nose is wrinkled, and mouth is open. The child's eyes are wide, eyebrows are raised, and mouth is open in an O shape.
The child's eyebrows are raised slightly, eyes are wide, brow is wrinkled, and mouth is open slightly. The child's lips are drawn down at the corners, and inner corner of eyebrows is drawn in and up. The child's eyebrows are lowered and drawn together, eyes are staring hard, and lips are pressed firmly together.

The child is smiling. Happiness

The child's eyes are squinted shut, nose is wrinkled, and mouth is open. Disgust

The child's eyes are wide, eyebrows are raised, and mouth is open in an O shape. Surprise

The child's eyebrows are raised slightly, eyes are wide, brow is wrinkled, and mouth is open slightly. Fear

The child's lips are drawn down at the corners, and inner corner of eyebrows is drawn in and up. Sadness

The child's eyebrows are lowered and drawn together, eyes are staring hard, and lips are pressed firmly together. Anger

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Tao Peng/Getty Images
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Quiz 1

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Quiz 1

Drag each emotion label to the appropriate photo. When all the labels have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.

Perhaps you should go back to review basic emotions displayed in facial expressions.
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The woman with eyebrows lowered and drawn together, eyes staring hard and slightly squinted, and lips pressed firmly together. The man with eyebrows raised slightly, eyes wide, brow wrinkled, and mouth open slightly. The man with eyes squinted and nose wrinkled.
The woman smiling with squinted eyes. The woman with eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and mouth open in an O shape. The man with lips drawn down at the corners, eyebrows drawn in and up.
Surprise
Disgust
Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Anger
Ekman & Matsumoto, Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotions

Quiz 2

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Quiz 2

Drag each child photo to the gray area below the matching adult photo. When all the photos have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.

Perhaps you should go back to review basic emotions displayed in facial expressions.
Select the NEXT button and move to the Conclusion.
The first image is a man with lips drawn down at the corners, eyebrows drawn in and up. The second image is a woman with eyebrows lowered and drawn together, eyes staring hard and slightly squinted, and lips pressed firmly together. The third image is a man with eyebrows raised slightly, eyes wide, brow wrinkled, and mouth open slightly. The fourth image is a woman with eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and mouth open in an O shape. The fifth image is a man with eyes squinted and nose wrinkled. The sixth image is a woman smiling with squinted eyes.
The first child's eyebrows are raised slightly, eyes are wide, brow is wrinkled, and mouth is open slightly.
The second child's eyes are squinted shut, nose is wrinkled, and mouth is open.
The third child's lips are drawn down at the corners, and inner corner of eyebrows is drawn in and up.
The fourth child's eyebrows are lowered and drawn together, eyes are staring hard, and lips are pressed firmly together.
The fifth child is smiling.
The sixth child's eyes are wide, eyebrows are raised, and mouth is open in an O shape.
Vladimir Godnik/Getty Images
lina aidukaite/Getty Images
Tao Peng/Getty Images
Kichigin/Shutterstock
Adrian Albritton/Getty Images
Ana Blazic Pavlovic/Shutterstock
Ekman & Matsumoto, Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotions

Conclusion

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