a School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
Cogn Emot. 2018 Jun;32(4):719-728. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1345720. Epub 2017 Jun 30.
Previous research has shown that angry and happy faces are perceived as less emotionally intense when shown with averted versus direct gaze. Other work reports that long-term memory (LTM) for angry (but not happy) faces was poorer when they were encoded with averted versus direct gaze, suggesting that threat signals are diluted when eye contact is not engaged. The current study examined whether gaze modulates working memory (WM) for angry and happy faces. In stark contrast to LTM effects, WM for angry faces was not significantly modulated by gaze direction. However, WM for happy faces was significantly enhanced when gaze was averted versus direct. These findings suggest that in WM - when rapid processing and an immediate response is required - averted gaze may alter the meaning behind a smile, and make this kind of expression particularly salient for short-term processing.
先前的研究表明，与正视相比，呈现斜视的愤怒和快乐的面孔被感知为情绪强度较低。其他研究报告称，当用斜视而不是正视来编码愤怒（而不是快乐）的面孔时，对愤怒面孔的长期记忆（LTM）较差，这表明当没有眼神接触时，威胁信号会被淡化。本研究探讨了注视是否调节了愤怒和快乐的面孔的工作记忆（WM）。与 LTM 效应形成鲜明对比的是，注视方向并没有显著调节对愤怒面孔的 WM。然而，当注视斜视时，对快乐的面孔的 WM 显著增强。这些发现表明，在 WM 中——当需要快速处理和立即反应时——斜视可能会改变微笑背后的含义，并使这种表情在短期处理中特别突出。
