Visual search for emotional expressions: Effect of stimulus set on anger and happiness superiority

Prior reports of preferential detection of emotional expressions in visual search have yielded inconsistent results, even for face stimuli that avoid obvious expression-related perceptual confounds. The current study investigated inconsistent reports of anger and happiness superiority effects using face stimuli drawn from the same database. Experiment 1 excluded procedural differences as a potential factor, replicating a happiness superiority effect in a procedure that previously yielded an anger superiority effect. Experiments 2a and 2b confirmed that image colour or poser gender did not account for prior inconsistent findings. Experiments 3a and 3b identified stimulus set as the critical variable, revealing happiness or anger superiority effects for two partially overlapping sets of face stimuli. The current results highlight the critical role of stimulus selection for the observation of happiness or anger superiority effects in visual search even for face stimuli that avoid obvious expression related perceptual confounds and are drawn from a single database

Different Faces in the Crowd: A Happiness Superiority Effect for Schematic Faces in Heterogeneous Backgrounds

Recently, D.V. Becker, Anderson, Mortensen, Neufeld, and Neel (2011) proposed recommendations to avoid methodological confounds in visual search studies using emotional photographic faces. These confounds were argued to cause the frequently observed Anger Superiority Effect (ASE), the faster detection of angry than happy expressions, and conceal a true Happiness Superiority Effect (HSE). In Experiment 1, we applied these recommendations (for the first time) to visual search among schematic faces that previously had consistently yielded a robust ASE. Contrary to the prevailing literature, but consistent with D.V. Becker et al. (2011), we observed a HSE with schematic faces. The HSE with schematic faces was replicated in Experiments 2 and 3 using a similar method in discrimination tasks rather than fixed target searches. Experiment 4 isolated background heterogeneity as the key determinant leading to the HSE

FeynGame

A java-based graphical tool for drawing Feynman diagrams is presented. It differs from similar existing tools in various respects. For example, it is based on models, consisting of particles (lines) and (optionally) vertices, each of which can be given their individual properties (line style, color, arrows, label, etc.). The diagrams can be exported in any standard image format, or as PDF. Aside from its plain graphical aspect, the goal of FeynGame is also educative, as it can check a Feynman diagrams validity. This provides the basis to play games with diagrams, for example. Here we describe on such game where a given set of initial and final states must be connected through a Feynman diagram within a given interaction model.Comment: 26 pages, several figures and screenshots. FeynGame is available from https://gitlab.com/feyngame/FeynGam