SPEECH GESTURES AND FACIAL EXPRESSION IN SPEECHREADING

Two experiments investigated the role of facial expression in speechre ading. In Experiment 1 sentences were presented either with only the a ctor's face shown or with the actor shown in half-size. One happy scri pt with happy, sad and neutral sentences was used, and either a conten t cue or an emotional cue was presented prior to each sentence. In Exp eriment 2 happy and sad sentences from one happy and one sad script we re first recorded by the actor with a neutral face (face and shoulder shown) and then with a congruent facial expression. The results reveal ed that there was no difference in performance between half-size and f ace presentation, but content cues increased performance compared to e motional cues. As expected (Abelson, 1981), happy sentences were easie r to speechread than sad in the happy script and vice versa. Also, fac ial expression raised performance for happy sentences in the happy scr ipt. Positive emotions are suggested to be associated with approach be havior in part relying on increased non-pantomimic speech gestures and articulation of the speaker (e.g., Davidson ct al., 1990).