FACIAL INTERPRETATION AND COMPONENT CONSISTENCY

The issue of consistency, without regard to accuracy, of the facial co mponent of focus (upper/eyebrows, middle/eyes, lower/nose and mouth) w hen interpreting facial expressions of emotion was examined. Eighty gi rls (average age, 7 years) chose, from an array of schematic faces, wh ich face best represented various emotional scenarios (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise). The findings indicate that t hese children were remarkably consistent in facial area of focus. Acro ss six trials for each emotion, children focused on the mouth (lower c omponent) for happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust, and on the ey ebrows (the upper component) for anger and fear.