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. 2003 Dec;65(1):49-66.
doi: 10.1016/s0301-0511(03)00098-x.

Signal characteristics of spontaneous facial expressions: automatic movement in solitary and social smiles

Karen L Schmidt  1 , Jeffrey F Cohn, Yingli Tian
Affiliations

Signal characteristics of spontaneous facial expressions: automatic movement in solitary and social smiles

Karen L Schmidt et al. Biol Psychol. 2003 Dec.

Abstract

The assumption that the smile is an evolved facial display suggests that there may be universal features of smiling in addition to the basic facial configuration. We show that smiles include not only a stable configuration of features, but also temporally consistent movement patterns. In spontaneous smiles from two social contexts, duration of lip corner movement during the onset phase was independent of social context and the presence of other facial movements, including dampening. These additional movements produced variation in both peak and offset duration. Both onsets and offsets had dynamic properties similar to automatically controlled movements, with a consistent relation between maximum velocity and amplitude of lip corner movement in smiles from two distinct contexts. Despite the effects of individual and social factors on facial expression timing overall, consistency in onset and offset phases suggests that portions of the smile display are relatively stereotyped and may be automatically produced.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Measurement of Right Lip Corner Movement (r) a. Initial center point, located midway between lip corners in the initial frame, is used to anchor the radius (r). This initial center point is recalculated automatically in each frame, relative to the stable inner eye corner feature points, allowing for accurate measure in the case of small head movements. b-c. r is the distance (in pixels) between the initial center point and the right lip corner in each frame
Figure 2
Figure 2
Computerized facial feature tracking of lip corner movement in the Social (Interview) Context a. beginning of smile onset b. end of smile onset, beginning of smile offset c. end of smile offset (see definition of offset phase in methods section) d. Right lip corner movement during smile (change in radius)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Computerized facial feature tracking of lip corner movement in the Solitary (Laboratory elicited) context a. beginning of smile onset b. end of smile onset c. beginning of smile offset (see definition of offset phase in methods section) d. end of smile offset e. right lip corner movement during smile (change in radius)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relation Between Maximum Velocity and Amplitude of Spontaneous Smile Onsets
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relation Between Maximum Velocity and Amplitude of Spontaneous Smile Offsets
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