Emotional state and the detection of change in facial expression of emotion

A new method is presented for examining effects of emotion in the detection of change in facial expression of emotion. The method was used in one expe riment, reported here. Participants who were induced to feel happiness, sad ness, or neutral emotion, saw computerized 100-frame movies in which the fi rst frame always showed a face expressing a specific emotion (e.g. happines s). The facial expression gradually became neutral over the course of the m ovie. Participants placed the movie, changing the facial expression, and in dicated the frame at which the initial expression as no longer present on t he face. Emotion congruent expressions were perceived to persist longer tha n were emotion incongruent expressions. The findings are consistent with pr evious findings documenting enhanced perceptual processing of emotion congr uent information. The value of the current technique, and the types of ever yday, situations that it might model are discussed. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.