The scared glare unveiled
Posted by staff / May 8, 2013 Daniel LeeEmotional expressionsJoshua SusskindSan Diegothe University of TorontoUniversity of California
We go wide-eyed with fear because a larger visual field makes it easier to see threats, and the expression can help others spot the source of danger.
“Emotional expressions look the way they do for a reason,” says Daniel Lee, a graduate student at the University of Toronto. “They are socially useful for communicating emotional states, but they are also useful as raw physical signals. In the case of widened eyes, they help send a clearer gaze signal that tells observers to ‘look there.’”
Straight from the Source
Lee, his supervisor Adam Anderson, and Joshua Susskind of University of California, San Diego, first found that participants who made wide-eyed fear expressions could literally see more: they were able to discriminate visual patterns farther out in their peripheral vision than participants who made neutral expressions or expressions of disgust.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Robbie Grubbs/Flickr
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