The Effect of Facial Expressions on Memory

of Facial Features

Jessica L. Sudlow and M. Martha Ullman

Background• Rashmi and Srinivasan (2009)• Emotional faces vs. neutral faces• Holistic face views and short term memory

• D’Argembeau and Van der Linden (2011) • Emotions and information processing

• Tsukiura and Cabeza (2008) • Happy facial expressions and accurate recollection

• Frowd, Skelton, Atherton, Pitchford, Hepton, Holden, McIntyre, Hancock, and Peter (2012) • Accuracy of recall and picture size

Demographics• Total Participants: 66• Males: 15• Females: 51

• Class Ranks• Freshmen: 25• Sophomores: 15• Juniors: 18• Seniors: 8

• Age: 17 – 24, (M = 19.3, SD = 1.48)

Method• Deceptive title “The Effect of Facial

Expressions on Math Ability”• Participants assigned to one of three groups• neutral facial expression• smile showing no teeth• smile showing teeth

• Picture of face shown for 20 s

Please study the picture.

Method(cont.)• Distractor task for 60 s• Completed Likert scale survey with

statements about facial features• Measured memory of photograph

Please complete the following math problems. You have 60 seconds to complete as many as you can. 2 + 15= _____ 4 + 16 = _____ 12 + 7 = _____  

50 - 25= _____ 17 – 4 = _____ 18 – 11 = _____

  3 x 7= ______ 4 x 6 = _____ 8 x 5 = _____

  27 ÷ 3 = _____ 25 ÷ 5 = _____ 42 ÷ 7 = ______ 

 2 + 4 = ______ 9 + 4 = ______ 10 + 17 = _____  

1. The person in the photograph had brown eyes.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------52. The person in the photograph had moles.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------5 3. The person in the photograph had dimples on her cheeks.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------5 4. The person in the photograph was wearing glasses.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------55. The person in the photograph had blonde hair.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------56. The person in the photograph was smiling.Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1--------------------------2--------------------------3--------------------------4--------------------------5

Results

Neutral Expression Smile Without Teeth

Smile With Teeth1

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.55The person in the photograph had moles.

Facial Expression

Mea

n Sc

ore *

F(2, 63) = 5.43, p = .007

Results

Neutral Expression Smile Without Teeth

Smile With Teeth1

2

3

4

5

The person in the photograph was smil-ing.

Facial Expression

Mea

n Sc

ore

F(2, 63) = 128.33, p < .001.

Results

Females Males1

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.55

The person in the photograph had brown eyes.

Sex

Mea

n Sc

ore

t(64) = -2.11, p = .039

Results

Females Males1

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.55

The person in the photograph had moles.

Sex

Mea

n Sc

ore

t(64) = 2.52, p = .014

Discussion• Sex differences• Quality of photograph used • Teeth showing may have been distraction• Limitation: distractor task• Only one accurate observation

ReferencesD’Argembeau, A., & Van der Linden, M. (2011). Influence of facial expression on memory for facial identity:

Effects of visual features or emotional meaning? Emotion, 11(1), 199-202. doi: 10.1037/a0022592

Frowd, C. D., Skelton, F., Atherton, C., Pitchford, M., Hepton, G., Holden, L., McIntyre, A. H., Hancock, & Peter J.

B. (2012). Recovering faces from memory: The distracting influence of external facial features. Journal of

Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(2), 224-238. doi: 10.1037/a0027393

Rashmi, G., & Srinivasan, N. (2009). Emotions help memory for faces: Role of whole and parts. Cognition and

Emotion, 23(4), 807-816. doi:10.1080/02699930802193425

Tsukiura, T. & Cabeza, R. (2008). Orbitofrontal and hippocampal contributions to memory for face-name

associations: The rewarding power of a smile. Neuropsychologia, 46(9), 2310-2319.

doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.03.013 

Questions?