The Role of Exposure Time and Emotional Scene on the Perception of the Six Basic Facial Expressions

Numerous studies have demonstrated the impact of emotional scenes on the interpretation of facial expressions. Nevertheless, limited research has explored the extent to which the exposure time of facial expressions influences the effect of emotional scenes on the categorization of facial expressions that convey congruent or incongruent emotional valence with the scene. To address this gap, the current study employed the Micro Expression Training Tool (METT) to examine the influence of emotional scenes on the perception of facial expressions presented for varying durations, including 120 ms or 200 ms (i.e., microexpressions) and 600 ms or 1000 ms (i.e., macroexpressions). Forty-seven participants were asked to categorize facial expressions displayed on the scene. The results showed that recognition of fear was more accurate in negative scenes than in positive scenes, while recognition of surprise was more accurate in positive scenes than in negative scenes. Nevertheless, the exposure time of facial expression did not impact the effect of emotional scenes. Therefore, this study indicates that the perception of both microexpressions and macroexpressions of fear and surprise are influenced by emotional scenes, and the minimal condition under which the effect of emotional scenes manifests is 120 ms of exposure.