Faces in the wild: A naturalistic study of children's facial expressions in response to an Internet prank.

ABSTRACT: There is surprisingly little empirical evidence supporting theoretical and anecdotal claims regarding the spontaneous production of prototypic facial expressions used in numerous emotion recognition studies. Proponents of innate prototypic expressions believe that this lack of evidence may be due to ethical restrictions against presenting powerful elicitors in the lab. The current popularity of internet platforms designed for public sharing of videos allows investigators to shed light on this debate by examining naturally-occurring facial expressions outside the laboratory. An Internet prank ("Scary Maze") has provided a unique opportunity to observe children reacting to a consistent fear- and surprise-inducing stimulus: The unexpected presentation of a "scary face" during an online maze g

SUBMITTER: Shuster MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7528222 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature