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Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly. / Mulder, Martijn J.; Prummer, Franziska; Terburg, David et al.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 13, No. 1, 16982, 09.10.2023.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Mulder, MJ, Prummer, F, Terburg, D & Kenemans, JL 2023, 'Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, no. 1, 16982. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y

APA

Mulder, M. J., Prummer, F., Terburg, D., & Kenemans, J. L. (2023). Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly. Scientific Reports, 13(1), Article 16982. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y

Vancouver

Mulder MJ, Prummer F, Terburg D, Kenemans JL. Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly. Scientific Reports. 2023 Oct 9;13(1):16982. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y

Author

Mulder, Martijn J. ; Prummer, Franziska ; Terburg, David et al. / Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly. In: Scientific Reports. 2023 ; Vol. 13, No. 1.

Bibtex

@article{ab00320bfc524c0f9a24d5dd37837ef2,
title = "Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly",
abstract = "During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks has become a daily routine. Studies have shown that face masks increase the ambiguity of facial expressions which not only affects (the development of) emotion recognition, but also interferes with social interaction and judgement. To disambiguate facial expressions, we rely on perceptual (stimulus-driven) as well as preconceptual (top-down) processes. However, it is unknown which of these two mechanisms accounts for the misinterpretation of masked expressions. To investigate this, we asked participants (N = 136) to decide whether ambiguous (morphed) facial expressions, with or without a mask, were perceived as friendly or unfriendly. To test for the independent effects of perceptual and preconceptual biases we fitted a drift–diffusion model (DDM) to the behavioral data of each participant. Results show that face masks induce a clear loss of information leading to a slight perceptual bias towards friendly choices, but also a clear preconceptual bias towards unfriendly choices for masked faces. These results suggest that, although face masks can increase the perceptual friendliness of faces, people have the prior preconception to interpret masked faces as unfriendly.",
author = "Mulder, {Martijn J.} and Franziska Prummer and David Terburg and Kenemans, {J. Leon}",
year = "2023",
month = oct,
day = "9",
doi = "10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y",
language = "English",
volume = "13",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Drift–diffusion modeling reveals that masked faces are preconceived as unfriendly

AU - Mulder, Martijn J.

AU - Prummer, Franziska

AU - Terburg, David

AU - Kenemans, J. Leon

PY - 2023/10/9

Y1 - 2023/10/9

N2 - During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks has become a daily routine. Studies have shown that face masks increase the ambiguity of facial expressions which not only affects (the development of) emotion recognition, but also interferes with social interaction and judgement. To disambiguate facial expressions, we rely on perceptual (stimulus-driven) as well as preconceptual (top-down) processes. However, it is unknown which of these two mechanisms accounts for the misinterpretation of masked expressions. To investigate this, we asked participants (N = 136) to decide whether ambiguous (morphed) facial expressions, with or without a mask, were perceived as friendly or unfriendly. To test for the independent effects of perceptual and preconceptual biases we fitted a drift–diffusion model (DDM) to the behavioral data of each participant. Results show that face masks induce a clear loss of information leading to a slight perceptual bias towards friendly choices, but also a clear preconceptual bias towards unfriendly choices for masked faces. These results suggest that, although face masks can increase the perceptual friendliness of faces, people have the prior preconception to interpret masked faces as unfriendly.

AB - During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks has become a daily routine. Studies have shown that face masks increase the ambiguity of facial expressions which not only affects (the development of) emotion recognition, but also interferes with social interaction and judgement. To disambiguate facial expressions, we rely on perceptual (stimulus-driven) as well as preconceptual (top-down) processes. However, it is unknown which of these two mechanisms accounts for the misinterpretation of masked expressions. To investigate this, we asked participants (N = 136) to decide whether ambiguous (morphed) facial expressions, with or without a mask, were perceived as friendly or unfriendly. To test for the independent effects of perceptual and preconceptual biases we fitted a drift–diffusion model (DDM) to the behavioral data of each participant. Results show that face masks induce a clear loss of information leading to a slight perceptual bias towards friendly choices, but also a clear preconceptual bias towards unfriendly choices for masked faces. These results suggest that, although face masks can increase the perceptual friendliness of faces, people have the prior preconception to interpret masked faces as unfriendly.

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y

DO - 10.1038/s41598-023-44162-y

M3 - Journal article

VL - 13

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

IS - 1

M1 - 16982

ER -