The Science of Facial Expression

The importance of facial expressions has led to a steadily growing body of empirical findings and theoretical analyses. Every decade has seen work that extends or challenges previous thinking on facial expression. The Science of Facial Expression provides an updated review of the current psychology of facial expression . This book summarizes current conclusions and conceptual frameworks from leading figures who have shaped the field in their various subfields, and will therefore be of interest to practitioners, students, and researchers of emotion in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology, linguistics, affective computing, and homeland security. Organized in eleven thematic sections, The Science of Facial Expression offers a broad perspective of the "geography" of the science of facial expression. It reviews the scientific history of emotion perception and the evolutionary origins and functions of facial expression. It includes an updated compilation on the great debate around Basic Emotion Theory versus Behavioral Ecology and Psychological constructionism. The developmental psychology and social psychology of facial expressions is explored in the role of facial expressions in child development, social interactions, and culture. The book also covers appraisal theory, concepts, neural and behavioral processes, and lesser-known facial behaviors such as yawing, vocal crying, and vomiting. In addition, the book reflects that research on the "expression of emotion" is moving towards a significance of context in the production and interpretation of facial expression The authors expose various fundamental questions and controversies yet to be resolved, but in doing so, open many sources of inspiration to pursue in the scientific study of facial expression.

About the Author

José-Miguel Fernández-Dols is Professor of Psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. His current research, developed in the framework of the Affective Sciences Lab, focuses on spontaneous expressions of emotion, as well as and everyday conceptions of emotion in culture and its interaction with social norms and motives. James A. Russell is Professor of Psychology at Boston College. His current research integrates various strands of human emotion research into a broad framework called the psychological construction of emotion. They have edited two books together: The Psychology of Facial Expression (1997) and Everyday Conceptions of Emotion (1995).