The effects of identity on facial expression recognition

This study investigated whether consistency of facial identity in two pictures of faces influences facial expression recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were asked to view a first face and then judge the expression of a second face. The results showed that consistency of facial identity between the two faces did not affect reaction times (RTs) for expression judgment. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to judge the expression two faces shown in succession. There were two conditions: in one, the two faces had the same expression; in the other, the two expressions differed. The results showed that consistency of facial identity did not affect the RTs for expressions judgment of the second face when the expressions were identical. By contrast, when the expressions were not identical, RTs were shorter when the identity of the faces shown was not consistent than when it was consistent