Abstract
Facial expressions of emotion can convey information about the world and disambiguate elements of the environment, thus providing direction to other people’s behavior. However, the functions of facial expressions from the perspective of learning patterns over time remain elusive. This study investigated how the feedback of facial expressions influences learning tasks in a context of ambiguity using the Iowa Gambling Task. The results revealed that the learning rate for facial expression feedback was slower in the middle of the learning period than it was for symbolic feedback. No difference was observed in deck selection or computational model parameters between the conditions, and no correlation was observed between task indicators and the results of depressive questionnaires.
Highlights
Our daily interactions are often ambiguous, and facial expressions of emotion can help disambiguate social situations by providing social information (Van Kleef, 2009, 2017)
This study investigated the communicative effects of facial expressions in learning patterns over time, namely whether facial expressions affect performance in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)
This result was not consistent with the hypothesis that feedback of facial expressions contributes to the credibility of monetary feedback in the IGT and promotes learning
Summary
Our daily interactions are often ambiguous, and facial expressions of emotion can help disambiguate social situations by providing social information (Van Kleef, 2009, 2017). We can consider that a facial expression of fear can lead others to believe in a warning of danger and lead them to engage in safer behavior (Reed and DeScioli, 2017a). Facial expressions of sadness elevate the credibility of a loss message, which can lead observers to seek to aid an expresser if the loss remains uncertain (Reed and DeScioli, 2017b). Facial expressions related to emotional meaning can establish the credibility of certain facts and convey information that is capable of directing other people’s behavior
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