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Why are you looking like that? How the context influences evaluation and processing of human faces
(2013)
Perception and evaluation of facial expressions are known to be heavily modulated by emotional features of contextual information. Such contextual effects, however, might also be driven by non-emotional aspects of contextual information, an interaction of emotional and non-emotional factors, and by the observers’ inherent traits. Therefore, we sought to assess whether contextual information about self-reference in addition to information about valence influences the evaluation and neural processing of neutral faces. Furthermore, we investigated whether social anxiety moderates these effects. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants viewed neutral facial expressions preceded by a contextual sentence conveying either positive or negative evaluations about the participant or about somebody else. Contextual influences were reflected in rating and fMRI measures, with strong effects of self-reference on brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and right fusiform gyrus. Additionally, social anxiety strongly affected the response to faces conveying negative, self-related evaluations as revealed by the participants’ rating patterns and brain activity in cortical midline structures and regions of interest in the left and right middle frontal gyrus. These results suggest that face perception and processing are highly individual processes influenced by emotional and non-emotional aspects of contextual information and further modulated by individual personality traits.
Background
Physical activity (PA) guidelines acknowledge the health benefits of regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) regardless of bout duration. However, little knowledge exists concerning the type and intensity distribution of structured and incidental lifestyle PA of students and office workers. The present study aimed to i) assess the duration and distribution of intensity of MVPAs during waking hours ≥50% of heart rate reserve (HRR), ii) to identify the type of PA through diary assessment, iii) to assign these activities into structured and lifestyle incidental PA, and iv) to compare this information between students and office workers.
Methods
Twenty-three healthy participants (11 students, 12 office workers) recorded heart rate (HR) with a wrist-worn HR monitor (Polar M600) and filled out a PA diary throughout seven consecutive days (i.e. ≥ 8 waking h/day). Relative HR zones were calculated, and PA diary information was coded using the Compendium of PA. We matched HR data with the reported PA and identified PA bouts during waking time ≥ 50% HRR concerning duration, HRR zone, type of PA, and assigned each activity to incidental and structured PA. Descriptive measures for time spend in different HRR zones and differences between students and office workers were calculated.
Results
In total, we analyzed 276.894 s (76 h 54 min 54 s) of waking time in HRR zones ≥50% and identified 169 different types of PA. The participants spend 31.9 ± 27.1 min/day or 3.9 ± 3.2% of their waking time in zones of ≥50% HRR with no difference between students and office workers (p > 0.01). The proportion of assigned incidental lifestyle PA was 76.9 ± 22.5%.
Conclusions
The present study provides initial insights regarding the type, amount, and distribution of intensity of structured and incidental lifestyle PA ≥ 50% HRR. Findings show a substantial amount of incidental lifestyle PA during waking hours and display the importance of promoting a physically active lifestyle. Future research could employ ambulatory assessments with integrated electronic diaries to detect information on the type and context of MVPA during the day.
Bei der Lautheitsskalierung nach dem Würzburger Hörfeld existieren potentiell Kontexteffekte bei sequentiell angebotenen Schallpegeln. Um solche Effekte zu untersuchen, wurden 26 Normalhörende, zur Hälfte aufgeteilt in männliches und weibliches Geschlecht, mit der Lautheitsskalierungsmethode nach Heller getestet. Alle Probanden wurden auf ihre Normalhörigkeit untersucht und aus der Altersgruppe zwischen 20 und 30 Jahren rekrutiert. Es wurde in vier Versuchen jeweils einer von vier Stimulustypen im Freifeld angeboten. Die Pegel (30 dB bis 90 dB in Fünferschritten) wurden in spezieller Reihenfolge präsentiert. Diese wurde so festgelegt, dass jeder Pegel jedem anderen möglichen Pegel als Vorgänger diente. So konnten sowohl die Beurteilung in Abhängigkeit vom Stimulustyp, als auch Einflüsse des Vorgängerpegels und des Vorgängerurteils auf das Lautheitsurteil untersucht werden. Bei den Stimulustypen handelte es sich um zwei schmalbandige (Sinus-Ton, Wobbel-Ton), und zwei breitbandige (CCITT-Rauschen, Sprachsignal) Reize. Die Stimuluspräsentation dauerte eine Sekunde. Die Beurteilung wurde in einem festen Zeitfenster von vier Sekunden abgefragt. Es zeigte sich, dass die Lautheitsurteile individuell von Proband zu Proband in Lage und Streuung schwankten. Zwischen weiblichen und männlichen Probanden bestanden in den Lautheitsurteilen und in den Vorgängerabhängigkeiten keine Unterschiede. Es ergab sich ein streng monotoner Anstieg der Lautheitsbeurteilung mit zunehmendem Pegel, wobei mit jeder Erhöhung um 5 dB eine statistisch signifikante Erhöhung des Lautheitsurteils einherging. Breitbandige Stimuli wurden mit ca. 3,5 hel signifikant lauter beurteilt als schmalbandige. Es bestand eine positive Abhängigkeit des Urteils sowohl vom Vorgängerpegel, als auch vom Vorgängerurteil. Die Abhängigkeit vom Vorgängerurteil war mit 0,08 hel/hel stärker als die vom Vorgängerpegel mit 0,03 dB/hel (normiert 0,036 hel/hel). Sie war probandenspezifisch, nicht geschlechtsspezifisch, aber je nach Pegel unterschiedlich. Bei den Extrempegeln 30 dB und 90 dB sowie im Bereich 50 dB und 55 dB zeigte sich nur eine schwache Vorgängerabhängigkeit. Bei den breitbandigen Reizen war sie stärker als bei den schmalbandigen.
Faces in context: A review and systematization of contextual influences on affective face processing
(2012)
Facial expressions are of eminent importance for social interaction as they convey information about other individuals’ emotions and social intentions. According to the predominant “basic emotion” approach, the perception of emotion in faces is based on the rapid, auto- matic categorization of prototypical, universal expressions. Consequently, the perception of facial expressions has typically been investigated using isolated, de-contextualized, static pictures of facial expressions that maximize the distinction between categories. However, in everyday life, an individual’s face is not perceived in isolation, but almost always appears within a situational context, which may arise from other people, the physical environment surrounding the face, as well as multichannel information from the sender. Furthermore, situational context may be provided by the perceiver, including already present social infor- mation gained from affective learning and implicit processing biases such as race bias.Thus, the perception of facial expressions is presumably always influenced by contextual vari- ables. In this comprehensive review, we aim at (1) systematizing the contextual variables that may influence the perception of facial expressions and (2) summarizing experimental paradigms and findings that have been used to investigate these influences. The studies reviewed here demonstrate that perception and neural processing of facial expressions are substantially modified by contextual information, including verbal, visual, and auditory information presented together with the face as well as knowledge or processing biases already present in the observer. These findings further challenge the assumption of auto- matic, hardwired categorical emotion extraction mechanisms predicted by basic emotion theories. Taking into account a recent model on face processing, we discuss where and when these different contextual influences may take place, thus outlining potential avenues in future research.