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Cited by 75Face Recognition and PerceptionCategorization, perception, and languagePrimate Behavior and Ecology

Reading chimpanzee faces: Evidence for the role of verbal labels in categorical perception of emotion.

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Fugate, Jennifer M. B., Gouzoules, Harold, Barrett, Lisa Feldman·2010·Emotion
DOI 10.1037/a0019017PMC PMC2949420
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Abstract

Categorical perception (CP) occurs when continuously varying stimuli are perceived as belonging to discrete categories. Thereby, perceivers are more accurate at discriminating between stimuli of different categories than between stimuli within the same category (Harnad, 1987; Goldstone, 1994). The current experiments investigated whether the structural information in the face is sufficient for CP to occur. Alternatively, a perceiver's conceptual knowledge, by virtue of expertise or verbal labeling, might contribute. In two experiments, people who differed in their conceptual knowledge (in the form of expertise, Experiment 1; or verbal label learning, Experiment 2) categorized chimpanzee facial expressions. Expertise alone did not facilitate CP. Only when perceivers first explicitly learned facial expression categories with a label were they more likely to show CP. Overall, the results suggest that the structural information in the face alone is often insufficient for CP; CP is facilitated by verbal labeling.

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  • Recent behavioral studies show that categorical perception of discrete emotion is supported by language.

    “In locationist accounts, language is thought to be epiphenomenal to discrete emotion (Ekman & Cordano, in press), although recent behavioral studies show that categorical perception of discrete emotion is supported by language (Fugate et al. 2010; Roberson & Davidoff 2000; Roberson et al. 2007).”

    From The brain basis of emotion: a meta-analytic review (2012) · cites this paper as Fugate et al. 2010

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Authors
Fugate, J. M. B., Gouzoules, H., & Barrett, L. F.
Affiliations
  • Boston College (US)
  • Emory University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Emotion
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2010-08
Volume
10
Issue
4
Pages
544-554
ISSN
  • 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
  • 1931-1516
DOI
10.1037/a0019017
PMC
PMC2949420
OpenAlex
W2058296271
Cited by
75
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 8
FWCI
2.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Emotion (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DP1OD003312)
  • National Science Foundation (BCS 0721260)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
categorical perception, emotion perception, verbal labeling, conceptual knowledge, facial structure, label learning
MeSH terms
Animals, Pan troglodytes, Discrimination, Psychological, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Perception, Speech, Knowledge

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