Mixed signals
Perceived Intelligence Is Associated with Measured Intelligence in Men but Not Women
Karel Kleisner, Veronika Chvátalová & Jaroslav Flegr
PLoS ONE, March 2014
Background: The ability to accurately assess the intelligence of other persons finds its place in everyday social interaction and should have important evolutionary consequences.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We used static facial photographs of 40 men and 40 women to test the relationship between measured IQ, perceived intelligence, and facial shape. Both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by viewing facial photographs. In addition to general intelligence, figural and fluid intelligence showed a significant relationship with perceived intelligence, but again, only in men. No relationship between perceived intelligence and IQ was found for women. We used geometric morphometrics to determine which facial traits are associated with the perception of intelligence, as well as with intelligence as measured by IQ testing. Faces that are perceived as highly intelligent are rather prolonged with a broader distance between the eyes, a larger nose, a slight upturn to the corners of the mouth, and a sharper, pointing, less rounded chin. By contrast, the perception of lower intelligence is associated with broader, more rounded faces with eyes closer to each other, a shorter nose, declining corners of the mouth, and a rounded and massive chin. By contrast, we found no correlation between morphological traits and real intelligence measured with IQ test, either in men or women.
Conclusions: These results suggest that a perceiver can accurately gauge the real intelligence of men, but not women, by viewing their faces in photographs; however, this estimation is possibly not based on facial shape. Our study revealed no relation between intelligence and either attractiveness or face shape.
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Mood is linked to vowel type: The role of articulatory movements
Ralf Rummer et al.
Emotion, April 2014, Pages 246-250
Abstract:
This study investigates the relation between vowel identity and emotional state. In Experiment 1, (pseudo)words were invented and articulated in a positive or negative mood condition. Subjects in a positive mood produced more words containing /i:/, a vowel involving the same muscle that is used in smiling — the zygomaticus major muscle (ZMM). Subjects in a negative mood produced more words containing /o:/, involving an antagonist of the ZMM — the orbicularis orbis muscle (OOM). We argue that the link between mood and vowel identity is related to orofacial muscle activity, which provides articulatory feedback to speakers on their emotional state. Experiment 2 tests this hypothesis more specifically. Participants rated the funniness of cartoons while repeatedly articulating either /i:/ (ZMM) or /o:/ (OOM). In line with our hypothesis, the cartoons were rated as funnier by subjects articulating /i:/ than by those articulating /o:/.
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Automatic Decoding of Facial Movements Reveals Deceptive Pain Expressions
Marian Stewart Bartlett et al.
Current Biology, 31 March 2014, Pages 738–743
Abstract:
In highly social species such as humans, faces have evolved to convey rich information for social interaction, including expressions of emotions and pain. Two motor pathways control facial movement: a subcortical extrapyramidal motor system drives spontaneous facial expressions of felt emotions, and a cortical pyramidal motor system controls voluntary facial expressions. The pyramidal system enables humans to simulate facial expressions of emotions not actually experienced. Their simulation is so successful that they can deceive most observers. However, machine vision may be able to distinguish deceptive facial signals from genuine facial signals by identifying the subtle differences between pyramidally and extrapyramidally driven movements. Here, we show that human observers could not discriminate real expressions of pain from faked expressions of pain better than chance, and after training human observers, we improved accuracy to a modest 55%. However, a computer vision system that automatically measures facial movements and performs pattern recognition on those movements attained 85% accuracy. The machine system’s superiority is attributable to its ability to differentiate the dynamics of genuine expressions from faked expressions. Thus, by revealing the dynamics of facial action through machine vision systems, our approach has the potential to elucidate behavioral fingerprints of neural control systems involved in emotional signaling.
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Pitch Sajjacholapunt & Linden Ball
Frontiers in Psychology, March 2014
Abstract:
Research suggests that banner advertisements used in online marketing are often overlooked, especially when positioned horizontally on webpages. Such inattention invariably gives rise to an inability to remember advertising brands and messages, undermining the effectiveness of this marketing method. Recent interest has focused on whether human faces within banner advertisements can increase attention to the information they contain, since the gaze cues conveyed by faces can influence where observers look. We report an experiment that investigated the efficacy of faces located in banner advertisements to enhance the attentional processing and memorability of banner contents. We tracked participants' eye movements when they examined webpages containing either bottom-right vertical banners or bottom-center horizontal banners. We also manipulated facial information such that banners either contained no face, a face with mutual gaze or a face with averted gaze. We additionally assessed people's memories for brands and advertising messages. Results indicated that relative to other conditions, the condition involving faces with averted gaze increased attention to the banner overall, as well as to the advertising text and product. Memorability of the brand and advertising message was also enhanced. Conversely, in the condition involving faces with mutual gaze, the focus of attention was localized more on the face region rather than on the text or product, weakening any memory benefits for the brand and advertising message. This detrimental impact of mutual gaze on attention to advertised products was especially marked for vertical banners. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of human faces with averted gaze in banner advertisements provides a promising means for marketers to increase the attention paid to such adverts, thereby enhancing memory for advertising information.
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Blocking Mimicry Makes True and False Smiles Look the Same
Magdalena Rychlowska et al.
PLoS ONE, March 2014
Abstract:
Recent research suggests that facial mimicry underlies accurate interpretation of subtle facial expressions. In three experiments, we manipulated mimicry and tested its role in judgments of the genuineness of true and false smiles. Experiment 1 used facial EMG to show that a new mouthguard technique for blocking mimicry modifies both the amount and the time course of facial reactions. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants rated true and false smiles either while wearing mouthguards or when allowed to freely mimic the smiles with or without additional distraction, namely holding a squeeze ball or wearing a finger-cuff heart rate monitor. Results showed that blocking mimicry compromised the decoding of true and false smiles such that they were judged as equally genuine. Together the experiments highlight the role of facial mimicry in judging subtle meanings of facial expressions.
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Spatial orientation shrinks and expands psychological distance
Sam Maglio & Evan Polman
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Being objectively close to or far from a place changes where that place feels in a subjective, psychological sense. In this paper, we investigate whether people’s spatial orientation (defined as moving toward or away from someplace) will produce similar effects — by specifically influencing psychological closeness in each of its forms (viz. spatial, temporal, probabilistic, and social distance). In six studies, orientation influenced subjective spatial distance at various levels of objective distance (Study 1), irrespective of the direction people face (Study 2). In addition, when spatially oriented toward someplace, participants felt that events there had occurred more recently (Studies 3a and 3b) and that events there would be more likely to occur (Study 4). Finally, participants felt that persons spatially oriented toward them were more similar to themselves (Study 5). Our investigation broadens the study of psychological distance from static spatial locations to dynamically moving points in space.
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Philipp Spachtholz, Christof Kuhbandner & Reinhard Pekrun
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research has shown that negative affect reduces working memory capacity. Commonly, this effect has been attributed to an allocation of resources to task-irrelevant thoughts, suggesting that negative affect has detrimental consequences for working memory performance. However, rather than simply being a detrimental effect, the affect-induced capacity reduction may reflect a trading of capacity for precision of stored representations. To test this hypothesis, we induced neutral or negative affect and concurrently measured the number and precision of representations stored in sensory and working memory. Compared with neutral affect, negative affect reduced the capacity of both sensory and working memory. However, in both memory systems, this decrease in capacity was accompanied by an increase in precision. These findings demonstrate that observers unintentionally trade capacity for precision as a function of affective state and indicate that negative affect can be beneficial for the quality of memories.
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Affective and cognitive reactions to subliminal flicker from fluorescent lighting
Igor Knez
Consciousness and Cognition, May 2014, Pages 97–104
Abstract:
This study renews the classical concept of subliminal perception (Peirce & Jastrow, 1884) by investigating the impact of subliminal flicker from fluorescent lighting on affect and cognitive performance. It was predicted that low compared to high frequency lighting (latter compared to former emits non-flickering light) would evoke larger changes in affective states and also impair cognitive performance. Subjects reported high rather than low frequency lighting to be more pleasant, which, in turn, enhanced their problem solving performance. This suggests that sensory processing can take place outside of conscious awareness resulting in conscious emotional consequences; indicating a role of affect in subliminal/implicit perception, and that positive affect may facilitate cognitive task performance.
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Effects of new light sources on task switching and mental rotation performance
F. Ferlazzo et al.
Journal of Environmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Recent studies investigated the non-visual effects of light on cognitive processes and mood regulation and showed that light exposure has positive effects on circadian rhythms and alertness, vigilance and mood states and also increases work productivity. However, the effects of light exposure on visuo-spatial abilities and executive functions have only been partially explored. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of new LED light sources on healthy participants’ performance on some components of visuo-spatial abilities and executive functions in a specifically-designed and fully-controlled luminous environment. Participants had to mentally rotate 3-D objects and perform a switching task in which inhibitory processes and switch cost were measured. Results suggest that cooler light exposure improves the cognitive system’s capacity to deal with multiple task representations, which might remain active simultaneously without interfering with each other, and visuo-spatial ability, producing fewer errors in the mental rotation of 3-D objects.
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On the Other Hand: Nondominant Hand Use Increases Sense of Agency
Tom Damen & Ap Dijksterhuis
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
In two studies, we investigated the influence of hand dominance on the sense of self-causation or agency. Participants alternately used their dominant or nondominant hand to cause the occurrence of an effect (a tone) in a task in which agency was made ambiguous. Participants were subsequently asked to indicate the degree to which they felt they had caused that tone to occur. Results showed that the sense of agency was increased when individuals used their nondominant hand prior to the onset of the tone, compared to when they used their dominant hand. Furthermore, the degree of experienced agency was moderated by perceived effort. The difference in agency levels occurred independently of experimentally induced or naturally occurring differences in response latencies and even occurred in the absence of (major) arm movement.
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Anselm Fuermaier et al.
PLoS ONE, February 2014
Objectives: Most of the current treatment strategies of ADHD are associated with a number of disadvantages which strengthen the need for alternative or additional approaches for the treatment of ADHD. In this respect, Whole Body Vibration (WBV) might be interesting as it was found to have beneficial effects on a variety of physiological measures. The present study explored the effects of WBV on attention of healthy individuals and adults diagnosed with ADHD.
Methods: Eighty-three healthy individuals and seventeen adults diagnosed with ADHD participated in the study. WBV treatment was applied passively, while participants were sitting on a chair which was mounted on a vibrating platform. A repeated measure design was employed in order to explore potential effects of WBV treatment on attention within subjects. Attention (i.e. inhibitory control) was measured with a color-word interference paradigm.
Results: A period of two minutes of WBV treatment had significant beneficial effects of small to medium size on attention of both healthy individuals and adults with ADHD. The effect of WBV treatment on attention did not differ significantly between groups.
Conclusions: WBV was demonstrated to improve cognitive performance of healthy individuals as well as of individuals with ADHD. WBV treatment is relatively inexpensive and easy to apply and might therefore be of potential relevance for clinical use. The application of WBV treatment as a cognitive enhancement strategy and as a potential treatment of cognitive impairments is discussed.
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C. McGettigan et al.
Cerebral Cortex, forthcoming
Abstract:
Humans express laughter differently depending on the context: polite titters of agreement are very different from explosions of mirth. Using functional MRI, we explored the neural responses during passive listening to authentic amusement laughter and controlled, voluntary laughter. We found greater activity in anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC) to the deliberate, Emitted Laughs, suggesting an obligatory attempt to determine others' mental states when laughter is perceived as less genuine. In contrast, passive perception of authentic Evoked Laughs was associated with greater activity in bilateral superior temporal gyri. An individual differences analysis found that greater accuracy on a post hoc test of authenticity judgments of laughter predicted the magnitude of passive listening responses to laughter in amPFC, as well as several regions in sensorimotor cortex (in line with simulation accounts of emotion perception). These medial prefrontal and sensorimotor sites showed enhanced positive connectivity with cortical and subcortical regions during listening to involuntary laughter, indicating a complex set of interacting systems supporting the automatic emotional evaluation of heard vocalizations.