What makes an angry face look so … angry? Examining visual attention to the shape of threat in children and adults
- 12 July 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Visual Cognition
- Vol. 18 (8), 1165-1178
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13506281003783675
Abstract
Threatening facial expressions like anger can signal potential danger. Past research has established that both adults and children have an attentional bias for angry faces, visually detecting their presence more quickly than happy or neutral faces. More recent research has suggested that specific features of angry faces (such as the downward-pointing “V” shaped brow) are the effective stimulus in their rapid detection. However, research examining this issue has only been done with adults. In the current research, we examine the detection of the features of the downward-pointing “V” in both adults and preschool children using a touchscreen visual search procedure. In two experiments, both adults and children detected the downward-pointing “V” more quickly than an upward-pointing “V”. As the first evidence that young children exhibit the same superior detection of the features of threatening facial expressions that adults do, this research provides important support for the existence of an evolved attentional bias for threatening stimuli.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recognizing Threat: A Simple Geometric Shape Activates Neural Circuitry for Threat DetectionJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2009
- Detecting the Snake in the GrassPsychological Science, 2008
- The shape of threat: Simple geometric forms evoke rapid and sustained capture of attention.Emotion, 2007
- Look at me, I'm smiling: Visual search for threatening and nonthreatening facial expressionsVisual Cognition, 2005
- Individuals with social phobia are biased to become aware of negative facesVisual Cognition, 2005
- Emotion regulates attention: The relation between facial configurations, facial emotion, and visual attentionVisual Cognition, 2005
- Facial Expressions of Emotion: Are Angry Faces Detected More Efficiently?Cognition and Emotion, 2000
- Attentional Biases for Facial Expressions in Social Phobia: The Face-in-the-Crowd ParadigmCognition and Emotion, 1999
- Which are the stimuli in facial displays of anger and happiness? Configurational bases of emotion recognition.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1992
- Finding the face in the crowd: An anger superiority effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988