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Learning of Facial Responses to Faces Associated with Positive or Negative Emotional Expressions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2013

Luis Aguado ,
Francisco J. Román ,
Sonia Rodríguez ,
Teresa Diéguez-Risco ,
Verónica Romero-Ferreiro  and
María Fernández-Cahill
Luis Aguado*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Francisco J. Román
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Sonia Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Teresa Diéguez-Risco
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Verónica Romero-Ferreiro
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
María Fernández-Cahill
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Luis Aguado. Facultad de Psicología. Campus de Somosaguas. 28223 Madrid. (Spain). Phone: +34-913943161. E-mail: laguado@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

The possibility that facial expressions of emotion change the affective valence of faces through associative learning was explored using facial electromyography (EMG). In Experiment 1, EMG activity was registered while the participants (N = 57) viewed sequences of neutral faces (Stimulus 1 or S1) changing to either a happy or an angry expression (Stimulus 2 or S2). As a consequence of learning, participants who showed patterning of facial responses in the presence of angry and happy faces, that is, higher Corrugator Supercilii (CS) activity in the presence of angry faces and higher Zygomaticus Major (ZM) activity in the presence of happy faces, showed also a similar pattern when viewing the corresponding S1 faces. Explicit evaluations made by an independent sample of participants (Experiment 2) showed that evaluation of S1 faces was changed according to the emotional expression with which they had been associated. These results are consistent with an interpretation of rapid facial reactions to faces as affective responses that reflect the valence of the stimulus and that are sensitive to learned changes in the affective meaning of faces.

Keywords

associative learningfacial expressions of emotionhappy facesangry facesEMG
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 16 , 2013 , E24
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2013 

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Footnotes

This work was supported by Project SEJ2006-01576/PSIC, from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología. The participation of Francisco J. Román has been possible thanks to a FPI Grant (PSI2010-20364) from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología.

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