2006/12/15 by Karen Lander, Sofie Metcalfe · 1 citation
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Face Recognition and Perception #Face recognition and analysis
paper · doi:10.1080/09658210601108732
openalex publication_date 2006/12/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Recent studies have shown that smiling faces are judged as more familiar than those showing a neutral expression (Baudouin, Gilibert, Sansone, & Tiberghien, 2000 Baudouin, J. Y., Gilibert, D., Sansone, S. and Tiberghien, G. 2000. When a smile is a cue to familiarity. Memory, 8: 285–292. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Here we compare judged familiarity of unknown and famous faces when displaying a positive, neutral, or negative expression. Our results confirm a smiling familiarity bias, with positive-expression faces judged as being more familiar. Importantly, we also show significantly reduced familiarity for negative-expression faces, compared with neutral- or positive-expression faces. This difference in judged familiarity is not due to differences in expression intensity, but instead related to expression valence. Results are discussed with regard to the independence of facial identity and expression processing, and in terms of factors that influence face familiarity and memory.