Gauging response time distributions to examine the effect of facial expression inversion.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

We used images of facial expressions (FEs) of emotion in a speeded Same/Different task to examine (i) distributional characteristics of response times (RTs) in relation to inter-stimulus similarity and (ii) the impact of inversion on FE processing.

Methods

Stimuli were seven emotion prototypes, posed by one male and one female, and eight intermediate morphs. Image pairs (N = 225) were presented for 500 ms, upright or inverted, in a block design, each 100 times.

Results

For both upright and inverted FEs, RTs were a non-monotonic function: median values were longest for stimulus pairs of intermediate similarity, decreasing for both more-dissimilar and more-similar pairs. RTs of "Same" and "Different" judgments followed ex-Gaussian distribution

SUBMITTER: Bimler DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10000311 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature