Cited by 55Human-Animal Interaction StudiesFace Recognition and PerceptionPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion between dogs and humans

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Correia-Caeiro, Catia, Guo, Kun, Mills, Daniel S.·2020·Animal Cognition

Abstract

Facial expressions are a core component of the emotional response of social mammals. In contrast to Darwin's original proposition, expressive facial cues of emotion appear to have evolved to be species-specific. Faces trigger an automatic perceptual process, and so, inter-specific emotion perception is potentially a challenge; since observers should not try to "read" heterospecific facial expressions in the same way that they do conspecific ones. Using dynamic spontaneous facial expression stimuli, we report the first inter-species eye-tracking study on fully unrestrained participants and without pre-experiment training to maintain attention to stimuli, to compare how two different species living in the same ecological niche, humans and dogs, perceive each other's facial expressions of emotion. Humans and dogs showed different gaze distributions when viewing the same facial expressions of either humans or dogs. Humans modulated their gaze depending on the area of interest (AOI) being examined, emotion, and species observed, but dogs modulated their gaze depending on AOI only. We also analysed if the gaze distribution was random across AOIs in both species: in humans, eye movements were not correlated with the diagnostic facial movements occurring in the emotional expression, and in dogs, there was only a partial relationship. This suggests that the scanning of facial expressions is a relatively automatic process. Thus, to read other species' facial emotions successfully, individuals must overcome these automatic perceptual processes and employ learning strategies to appreciate the inter-species emotional repertoire.

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  • The use of face masks may affect comfort and communication between patients and between the patient and staff, and may influence the relationship between participants and dogs.

    “Furthermore, the use of the mask is always mandatory (at least at the beginning of the study), which may affect the comfort and the communication between patients and between the patient and the staff.”

    From Effects of dog-assisted therapy in adolescents with eating disorders: A study protocol for a pilot controlled trial (2021) · cites this paper as [69]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) describes faces as a channel for emotional communication in humans and discusses dogs’ perception of human facial expressions. It does not address face masks or their effects on patients’ comfort, patient–staff communication, or relationships with dogs; those applications go beyond the paper. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Bruce V Young AW Face perception 2012 New York Psychology Press
  2. Eibl-Eibesfeldt I (1972) Similarities and differences between cultures in expressive movements. In: Hinde RA (ed) Non-verbal communication. Cambridge University Press, Oxford
  3. Ekman P Friesen WV Facial coding action system (FACS): A technique for the measurement of facial actions 1978 Palo Alto Consulting Psychologists Press
  4. Frijda NH (1986) The emotions. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052131600

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Authors
Correia-Caeiro, C., Guo, K., & Mills, D. S.
Affiliations
University of Lincoln (GB)
Venue
Animal Cognition
Published
2020-02-12
Volume
23
Issue
3
Pages
465-476
ISSN
  • 1435-9448 (ISSN-L)
  • 1435-9456
OpenAlex
W3006129632
Cited by
55
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 5
FWCI
4.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Animal Cognition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lincoln Repository (University of Lincoln) (acceptedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
  • University of Lincoln RIF
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
emotional facial expressions, dogs, human, gaze distribution, eye movements, spontaneous facial expressions, areas of interest, social mammals
MeSH terms
Animals, Cues, Dogs, Emotions, Eye Movements, Facial Expression, Humans, Photic Stimulation

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