A Facial Expression Is Worth a Thousand Words

A Facial Expression Is Worth a Thousand Words
People exchange information, not only with words, but also using their face and body. A facial expression can state a lot. A nod indicates understanding, a frown may say: "Please explain that again!"
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics discovered that we are able to classify an expression much better when it moves naturally rather than when it is "frozen" in a photograph. We need to see the expression moving for at least 100 milliseconds. If the video sequence is shorter, our brain is less capable of interpreting the facial motion. Some expressions rely on changes in head orientation, for example, a nod or a shake of the head, others depend on the complex deformation of facial parts, such as wrinkling our nose to signalize disgust or a frown.
The scientists showed participants pictures of humans with various different expressions. Among them were simple, emotional expressions, such as "happy" and "sad," but also more complex ones such as agreement, confusion, or surprise. In order to investigate whether these expressions are recognized more easily in motion or in static pictures, a short video sequence was shown to the participants. The frame used in the static conditions was the last frame of each dynamic sequence. The participants were asked to identify the expressions based on the sequence or single frame.
In further experiments, the video sequences were converted to a series of photographs. In order to figure the degree to which facial expression recognition relies on natural movement, the frames were presented as a movie, but in a random order. Comparisons of the performance in this scrambled condition to the original video sequence shows that the recognition rates were still higher in the original than in the scrambled version.
Dr. Christian Wallraven, co-author of the study, stated: "Our results also have implications for the area of computer animation, since its goal is to create facial animations that are able to communicate realistically and believably", says the physicist and perception scientist.

Question 1 (2 points)
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) People need to see facial expressions in action for 100 milliseconds or more to be sure of what they mean.
b) Participants in the study were shown a variety of positive and negative expressions.
c) The people who saw photos saw the first picture from the video sequence.
d) Changing the order of the different stages of the expression does not affect people’s ability to understand them.

Question 2 (2 points)
Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What different emotions were participants asked to recognise?
b) How will the results of the research help the computer animation industry?

Question 3 (1.5 points)
Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a) indicate (paragraph 2)
b) extent (paragraph 4 )
c) objective (paragraph 5 )

Question 4 (1.5 points)
Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) We are able to classify an expression much better when it moves naturally than when we only see a photograph.
If we only see a photograph,
b) The scientists showed participants pictures of humans with various different expressions.
Participants
c) Dr Wallraven stated “Our results also have implications for the area of computer animation, since its goal is to create facial animations that are able to communicate realistically.”
Dr Wallraven stated that

Question 5 (5 points)
Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
Not everyone shows their feelings in the same way. Do you agree?

Self-Access Group. CEP Santander