Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions
Abstract By observing dynamically changing facial expressions, humans can use a specialized capacity known as ensemble coding to effortlessly obtain a summary representation of an individual’s emotional state. However, few studies have examined whether the missing expression informed by the statisti...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87936-2 |
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| author | Jiahao Lu Jun Wang |
| author_facet | Jiahao Lu Jun Wang |
| author_sort | Jiahao Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract By observing dynamically changing facial expressions, humans can use a specialized capacity known as ensemble coding to effortlessly obtain a summary representation of an individual’s emotional state. However, few studies have examined whether the missing expression informed by the statistical regularity in the changing facial expressions can be sampled and then influence the perceptual averaging process. In Experiment 1a and 1b, we manipulated the amount of prior information from local regularity by varying the position of the missing expression in the temporal sequence (1a: Neutral to Disgust and/or Disgust to Neutral,1b: Neutral to Happy and/or Happy to Neutral) within a trial. Results showed that ensemble estimates were towards the mean of expressions including both the presented and the missing faces, only when sufficient predictability (e.g. a missing expression in the late position) informed by local regularity. In Experiment 2, we added prior information from global regularities to help boost the predictability of an early missing expression by keeping the emotional direction consistent in a block. However, estimates were not towards the mean of expressions including both the presented and the missing expressions as expected. Although the generalizability may be limited, these findings suggest that prior information at different levels of hierarchical predictive coding may exert qualitatively different influences on the perceptual averaging of temporally ordered facial expressions with missing items. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-68b0343e02504db185aa10751635ff8f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-68b0343e02504db185aa10751635ff8f2025-02-02T12:18:28ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-02-0115111410.1038/s41598-025-87936-2Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressionsJiahao Lu0Jun Wang1School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal UniversitySchool of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal UniversityAbstract By observing dynamically changing facial expressions, humans can use a specialized capacity known as ensemble coding to effortlessly obtain a summary representation of an individual’s emotional state. However, few studies have examined whether the missing expression informed by the statistical regularity in the changing facial expressions can be sampled and then influence the perceptual averaging process. In Experiment 1a and 1b, we manipulated the amount of prior information from local regularity by varying the position of the missing expression in the temporal sequence (1a: Neutral to Disgust and/or Disgust to Neutral,1b: Neutral to Happy and/or Happy to Neutral) within a trial. Results showed that ensemble estimates were towards the mean of expressions including both the presented and the missing faces, only when sufficient predictability (e.g. a missing expression in the late position) informed by local regularity. In Experiment 2, we added prior information from global regularities to help boost the predictability of an early missing expression by keeping the emotional direction consistent in a block. However, estimates were not towards the mean of expressions including both the presented and the missing expressions as expected. Although the generalizability may be limited, these findings suggest that prior information at different levels of hierarchical predictive coding may exert qualitatively different influences on the perceptual averaging of temporally ordered facial expressions with missing items.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87936-2Missing informationEnsemble codingHierarchical predictive coding |
| spellingShingle | Jiahao Lu Jun Wang Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions Scientific Reports Missing information Ensemble coding Hierarchical predictive coding |
| title | Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| title_full | Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| title_fullStr | Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| title_short | Predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| title_sort | predicted missing information biases ensemble perception of temporally ordered facial expressions |
| topic | Missing information Ensemble coding Hierarchical predictive coding |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87936-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jiahaolu predictedmissinginformationbiasesensembleperceptionoftemporallyorderedfacialexpressions AT junwang predictedmissinginformationbiasesensembleperceptionoftemporallyorderedfacialexpressions |