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- Title
Age-dependent changes in the anger superiority effect: Evidence from a visual search task.
- Authors
Ceccarini, Francesco; Colpizzi, Ilaria; Caudek, Corrado
- Abstract
The perception of threatening facial expressions is a critical skill necessary for detecting the emotional states of others and responding appropriately. The anger superiority effect hypothesis suggests that individuals are better at processing and identifying angry faces compared with other nonthreatening facial expressions. In adults, the anger superiority effect is present even after controlling for the bottom-up visual saliency, and when ecologically valid stimuli are used. However, it is as yet unclear whether this effect is present in children. To fill this gap, we tested the anger superiority effect in children ages 6–14 years in a visual search task by using emotional dynamic stimuli and equating the visual salience of target and distractors. The results suggest that in childhood, the angry superiority effect consists of improved accuracy in detecting angry faces, while in adolescence, the ability to discriminate angry faces undergoes further development, enabling faster and more accurate threat detection.
- Subjects
VISUAL perception; EMOTIONAL state; EMOTIONS; ANGER; ADOLESCENCE; FACIAL expression
- Publication
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2024, Vol 31, Issue 4, p1704
- ISSN
1069-9384
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3758/s13423-023-02401-3