António M. Marques

Cristina Queirós

Mónica Q. Oliveira

Samanta Alves

Verónica Orvalho

Open Repository of the University of Porto

EVALUATING A SET OF FACIAL EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS IN A SAMPLE  
OF PORTUGUESE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS 
Mónica Q. Oliveira1,2, Cristina Queirós1,2, António Marques1,3, Samanta Alves1,2 & Verónica Orvalho4,5 
1. Introduction 
2. Aims 
3. Method 
4. Results 
5. Conclusions 
6. References 
Emotions and facial emotion recognition have been increasingly studied over the past years, reflecting their importance on human development and adjustment to 
the social environment. Individuals with deficits in the ability to accurately recognize emotions conveyed by the face experience several difficulties in 
communication and in social interaction which affect their daily living. As an example of this we can mention individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Hughes, 
2008; Lacava et al., 2007).  
This study aims to test six stimuli representing the six primary cross-cultural emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise) defined by Ekman and 
Friesen (1975) using four adult models, of both sexes, selected from de Radboud Faces Database (RaFD, from Langner et al., 2010) on a group of typically 
developing Portuguese children and adolescents of both sexes. The need to use validated emotional stimuli in ongoing and future research with individuals with 
deficits on facial emotion recognition guided this study. 
Participants: we used a convenient sampling procedure, with 406 students aged between 7 and 18 years (M = 12.39, DP = 2.91) , 46% male and 54% female, from 
elementary and high schools from Porto District.   
Materials: task of facial emotion recognition using Microsoft® Office Powerpoint® 2007 presenting models selected from the Radboud Faces Database (Table 1). A 
self-administered (confidential and anonymous) facial expressions questionnaire was used to assess emotional recognition. 
Procedure: inter-judge agreement was performed to select the best 4 adult models (2 male and 2 female) from the Radboud Faces Database. The stimuli were 
administered in groups using a data-show. Each slide displayed two models of the same gender simultaneously presenting the same emotion. Participants were 
asked to recognize the emotion presented by the models and register the answer in the questionnaire. A forced-choice method based on six categories of response 
(the six basic emotions) was used for the recognition of the facial expressions. Before beginning the task, participants had three slides to practice in order to 
become familiar with the materials. Each emotion appeared two times during the task totalizing 12 stimuli. 
The results show that the stimuli were accurately recognized by the Portuguese participants and can be used to support several studies, particularly ongoing 
research with population with deficits on facial emotion recognition. 
- Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. (1975). Unmasking the face. A guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 
- Hughes, J.R. (2008). A review of recent reports on autism: 1000 studies published in 2007. Epilepsy & Behavior, 13, 425-437. 
- Lacava, P.G., Golan, O., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2007). Using Assistive Technology to Teach Emotion Recognition to Students With Asperger Syndrome. A Pilot Study. Remedial and Special Education, 28(3), 174-181. 
- Langner, O., Dotsch, R., Bijlstra, G., Wigboldus, D. H. J., Hawk, S., & Van Knippenberg, A. (2010). Presentation and validation of the Radboud Face Database. Cognition and Emotion, 24(8), 1377-1388.   
1 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory (FPCEUP / ESTSPIPP), Porto, Portugal 
2 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal 
3 School of Allied Health Sciences, Porto Polytechnic Institute, Portugal 
4 Porto Interactive Center, Portugal 
5 Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal  
monicaqoliveira@gmail.com           cqueiros@fpce.up.pt 
The results show that all emotions were highly recognized by the participants. Happiness was the most 
easily recognized emotion (girls and boys equally recognized it). Fear was the least recognized. The 
majority of participants recognized each emotion on the two stimuli conveying it, and a small percentage 
only recognized one of the two stimuli (Table 1). There were gender differences statistically significant with 
girls better at recognizing Surprise, Sadness and Disgust and boys better at identifying Fear (Table 2, Fig. 1). 
 
 
Emotions 
Percentage of 
Agreement 
Models selected from the RaFD 
0 
correct 
1 
correct 
2 
correct 
Female Models Male Models 
Happiness 0% 0.7% 99.3% 
    
Sadness 3.7% 23.6% 72.7% 
    
Anger 4.4% 21.9% 73.6% 
    
Fear 7.1% 28.1% 64.8% 
    
Surprise 1.5% 7.9% 90.6% 
    
Disgust 6.9% 20.2% 72.9% 
    
 
 
 
 
 
Table 1. Percentage of agreement between the chosen emotion and the 
correct emotion 
Emotions Female Male Sig. 
Happiness 100% 99.5% .146 
Sadness 96% 93% .012 
Anger 85% 84% .533 
Fear 76% 77% .000 
Surprise 96% 93% .001 
Disgust 87% 78% .000 
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Happiness Sadness Anger Fear Surprise Disgust
Female Male
Table 2. Comparison of emotional recognition according 
to gender 
Figure 1 . Graphic comparison of emotional recognition  according to gender 
Acknowledgments: This work was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia FCT Grant nr. SFRH/BD/61054/2009 


English

Evaluating a set of facial emotional expressions in a sample of portuguese children and adolescents

Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto

EVALUATING A SET OF FACIAL EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS IN A SAMPLE  OF PORTUGUESE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS Mónica Q. Oliveira1,2, Cristina Queirós1,2, António Marques1,3, Samanta Alves1,2 & Verónica Orvalho4,5 1. Introduction 2. Aims 3. Method 4. Results 5. Conclusions 6. References Emotions and facial emotion recognition have been increasingly studied over the past years, reflecting their importance on human development and adjustment to the social environment. Individuals with deficits in the ability to accurately recognize emotions conveyed by the face experience several difficulties in communication and in social interaction which affect their daily living. As an example of this we can mention individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Hughes, 2008; Lacava et al., 2007).  This study aims to test six stimuli representing the six primary cross-cultural emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise) defined by Ekman and Friesen (1975) using four adult models, of both sexes, selected from de Radboud Faces Database (RaFD, from Langner et al., 2010) on a group of typically developing Portuguese children and adolescents of both sexes. The need to use validated emotional stimuli in ongoing and future research with individuals with deficits on facial emotion recognition guided this study. Participants: we used a convenient sampling procedure, with 406 students aged between 7 and 18 years (M = 12.39, DP = 2.91) , 46% male and 54% female, from elementary and high schools from Porto District.   Materials: task of facial emotion recognition using Microsoft® Office Powerpoint® 2007 presenting models selected from the Radboud Faces Database (Table 1). A self-administered (confidential and anonymous) facial expressions questionnaire was used to assess emotional recognition. Procedure: inter-judge agreement was performed to select the best 4 adult models (2 male and 2 female) from the Radboud Faces Database. The stimuli were administered in groups using a data-show. Each slide displayed two models of the same gender simultaneously presenting the same emotion. Participants were asked to recognize the emotion presented by the models and register the answer in the questionnaire. A forced-choice method based on six categories of response (the six basic emotions) was used for the recognition of the facial expressions. Before beginning the task, participants had three slides to practice in order to become familiar with the materials. Each emotion appeared two times during the task totalizing 12 stimuli. The results show that the stimuli were accurately recognized by the Portuguese participants and can be used to support several studies, particularly ongoing research with population with deficits on facial emotion recognition. - Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. (1975). Unmasking the face. A guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. - Hughes, J.R. (2008). A review of recent reports on autism: 1000 studies published in 2007. Epilepsy & Behavior, 13, 425-437. - Lacava, P.G., Golan, O., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2007). Using Assistive Technology to Teach Emotion Recognition to Students With Asperger Syndrome. A Pilot Study. Remedial and Special Education, 28(3), 174-181. - Langner, O., Dotsch, R., Bijlstra, G., Wigboldus, D. H. J., Hawk, S., & Van Knippenberg, A. (2010). Presentation and validation of the Radboud Face Database. Cognition and Emotion, 24(8), 1377-1388.   1 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory (FPCEUP / ESTSPIPP), Porto, Portugal 2 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal 3 School of Allied Health Sciences, Porto Polytechnic Institute, Portugal 4 Porto Interactive Center, Portugal 5 Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal  monicaqoliveira@gmail.com           cqueiros@fpce.up.pt The results show that all emotions were highly recognized by the participants. Happiness was the most easily recognized emotion (girls and boys equally recognized it). Fear was the least recognized. The majority of participants recognized each emotion on the two stimuli conveying it, and a small percentage only recognized one of the two stimuli (Table 1). There were gender differences statistically significant with girls better at recognizing Surprise, Sadness and Disgust and boys better at identifying Fear (Table 2, Fig. 1).   Emotions Percentage of Agreement Models selected from the RaFD 0 correct 1 correct 2 correct Female Models Male Models Happiness 0% 0.7% 99.3%     Sadness 3.7% 23.6% 72.7%     Anger 4.4% 21.9% 73.6%     Fear 7.1% 28.1% 64.8%     Surprise 1.5% 7.9% 90.6%     Disgust 6.9% 20.2% 72.9%          Table 1. Percentage of agreement between the chosen emotion and the correct emotion Emotions Female Male Sig. Happiness 100% 99.5% .146 Sadness 96% 93% .012 Anger 85% 84% .533 Fear 76% 77% .000 Surprise 96% 93% .001 Disgust 87% 78% .000 0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%Happiness Sadness Anger Fear Surprise DisgustFemale MaleTable 2. Comparison of emotional recognition according to gender Figure 1 . Graphic comparison of emotional recognition  according to gender Acknowledgments: This work was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia FCT Grant nr. SFRH/BD/61054/2009 

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Evaluating a set of facial emotional expressions in a sample of portuguese children and adolescents

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