Effects of Facial Expressions on Recognizing Emotions in Dance Movements
Last modified: 2011-09-02
Abstract
Effects of facial expressions on recognizing emotions expressed in dance movements were investigated. Dancers expressed three emotions: joy, sadness, and anger through dance movements. We used digital video cameras and 3D motion capturing system to record and capture the movements. We then created full-video displays with an expressive face, full-video displays with an unexpressive face, stick figure displays (no face), or point-light displays (no face), from these data using 3D animation software. To make point-light displays, 13 markers were attached to the body of each dancer. We examined how accurately observers were able to identify the expression that the dancers intended to create through their dance movements. Dance experienced and inexperienced observers participated in the experiment. They watched the movements and rated the compatibility of each emotion with each movement on a 5-point Likert scale. The results indicated that both experienced and inexperienced observers could identify all the emotions that dancers intended to express. Identification scores for dance movements with an expressive face were higher than for other expressions. This finding indicates that facial expressions affect the identification of emotions in dance movements, whereas only bodily expressions provide sufficient information to recognize emotions.
References
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de Meijer, M. (1989). The contribution of general features of body movement to the attribution of emotions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 13, 247-268.
Dittrich, W.H., Troscianko, T., Lea, S.E.G., & Morcan, D. (1996). Perception of emotion from dynamic point-light displays represented in dance. Perception, 25, 727-738.
Pollick, F.E., Paterson, H.M., Bruderlin, A., & Sanford, A.J. (2001). Perceiving affect from arm movement. Cognition, 82, 51-61.
Sawada, M., Suda, K., & Ishii, M. (2003). Expression of emotions in dance: relation between arm movement characteristics and emotion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97, 697-708.
Troje, N.F. (2002). Decomposing biological motion: a framework for analysis and synthesis of human gait patterns. Journal of Vision, 2, 371-387.
van den Stock, J., Righart, R., & de Gelder, B. (2007). Body expressions influence recognition of emotions in the face and voice. Emotion, 7, 487-494.
Vroomen, J., Driver, J., & de Gelder, B. (2001). Is cross-modal integration of emotional expressions independent of attentional resources? Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 1, 382–387.
Wallbott, H.G. (1998). Bodily expressions of emotion. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 879-896.