Grzegorz Pochwatko

Warsaw set of emotional facial expression pictures: a validation study of facial display photographs

Emotional facial expressions play a critical role in theories of emotion and figure prominently in research on almost every aspect of emotion. This article provides a background for a new database of basic emotional expressions. The goal in creating this set was to provide high quality photographs of genuine facial expressions. Thus, after proper training, participants were inclined to express “felt” emotions. The novel approach taken in this study was also used to establish whether a given expression was perceived as intended by untrained judges. The judgment task for perceivers was designed to be sensitive to subtle changes in meaning caused by the way an emotional display was evoked and expressed. Consequently, this allowed us to measure the purity and intensity of emotional displays, which are parameters that validation methods used by other researchers do not capture. The final set is comprised of those pictures that received the highest recognition marks (e.g., accuracy with intended display) from independent judges, totaling 210 high quality photographs of 30 individuals. Descriptions of the accuracy, intensity, and purity of displayed emotion as well as FACS AUs codes are provided for each picture. Given the unique methodology applied to gathering and validating this set of pictures, it may be a useful tool for research using face stimuli. The Warsaw Set of Emotional Facial Expression Pictures (WSEFEP) is freely accessible to the scientific community for non-commercial use by request at http://www.emotional-face.org.

From demonstration to theory in embodied language comprehension: A review

Abstract Recent findings in psychology, psycholinguistics, and neuroscience present a challenge to current amodal theories by suggesting that cognitive states are not disembodied in language comprehension. Accumulating behavioral evidence supporting this view is reviewed from research on processing of language describing concrete and abstract concepts. The extant embodied theories that support either a strong or a moderate embodied view are then presented, as are the perspectives that define how the researchers discuss the role of sensory-motor grounding in language processing. The article concludes by discussing several lines of research that might help distinguish between various theoretical approaches and resolve some of the fundamental issues that fuel much of the debate in the field.

On the influence of affective states on intuitive coherence judgements.

Recent research has shown that coherence judgements of semantically related word triads are facilitated by a subtle positive response triggered by their increased fluency of processing. Such positive affective response serves as a cue indicating semantic coherence. However, we argue that the fluency of processing is not the only source of affective response that can influence intuitive judgements. The present study investigated differential influences of mood and affective valence of solution words on intuitive coherence judgements. We show that affective cues resulting from processing fluency can be strengthened or weakened by inducing positive or negative affective response through the activation of solutions to semantically coherent triads. Also, mood is shown to impact the breadth of activated associations therefore affecting not only judgements of semantic coherence but also solvability of word triads. We discuss the implications of our findings for how people might form intuitive judgements of semantic coherence.

Intuitive (in)coherence judgments are guided by processing fluency, mood and affect.

Recently proposed accounts of intuitive judgments of semantic coherence assume that processing fluency results in a positive affective response leading to successful assessment of semantic coherence. The present paper investigates whether processing fluency may indicate semantic incoherence as well. In two studies, we employ a new paradigm in which participants have to detect an incoherent item among semantically coherent words. In Study 1, we show participants accurately indicating an incoherent item despite not being able to provide an accurate solution to coherent words. Further, this effect is modified by affective valence of solution words that are not retrieved from memory. Study 2 replicates those results and extend them by showing that mood moderates incoherence judgments independently of affective valence of solutions. The results support processing fluency account of intuitive semantic coherence judgments and show that it is not fluency per se but fluency variations that drive judgments.

Simulation of Metaphorical Actions and Discourse Comprehension

Recent findings indicate that comprehension of sentences describing metaphorical abstract concepts arises from simulation of motor experience of the described event. Two experiments investigated whether action simulation influences “offline” comprehension at a more global discourse level. Participants read a text describing a protagonist making metaphorical forward movements while their body movement (Experiment 1) and body posture (Experiment 2) were manipulated to be either prepared or not prepared for processing of action-congruent information. “Offline” explicit and implicit processing of discourse were measured on accuracy to comprehension questions and the time it took participants to recognize words from discourse as well as judge sentences as correct or incorrect with respect to the content of text. Results revealed that action simulation affected recognition (Experiments 1 and 2) and judgment times (Experiment 1) regarding explicit comprehension measures, and accuracy and judgment times regarding implicit comprehension measures (Experiments 1 and 2). Findings support the conclusion that a simulation system might affect to a greater extent comprehensive processing of information based on deduction and interpretation than shallow processing based on information explicitly provided in the text.

Designing Social Robots for Interaction at Work: Socio-Cognitive Factors Underlying Intention to Work with Social Robots

This paper discusses the effects of robot design (machine-like, humanoid, android) and users’ gender on the intention to work with social robots in the near future. For that purpose, the theoretical framework afforded by the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used. Results showed effects for robot design and users’ gender. As the robot got more human-like the lower the intention to work with it. Female participants showed lower intention to work with social robots. These effects are mediated by the variables of the TPB. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm are the main predictors of the intention to work with social robots in the near future.