Multiple messages: Facial recognition advantage for compound expressions

The impact of singular (e.g. sadness alone) and compound (e.g. sadness and anger together) facial expressions on individuals' recognition of faces was investigated. In three studies, a face recognition paradigm was used as a measure of the proficiency with which participants processed compound and s ingular facial expressions. For both positive and negative facial expressio ns, participants displayed greater proficiency in processing compound expre ssions relative to singular expressions. Specifically, the accuracy with wh ich faces displaying compound expressions were recognized was significantly higher than the accuracy with which faces displaying singular expressions were recognized. Possible explanations involving the familiarity, distincti veness, and salience of the facial expressions are discussed.