Understanding Facial Expressions

Eligibility: 18-80 year old, same-sex twins.

In everyday life, there are many circumstances in which we need to correctly identify what other people are thinking or feeling. We often try to understand how others are feeling by looking at the emotional expressions on their face. People vary on how easy or difficult they find this.

This study is the first to examine adult twins to investigate whether the ability to accurately recognise emotional expressions is inherited through genes or gained through life experience. The results of this study may provide important new insights about this critical social skill.

What is involved?

The project involves you taking part in some tasks online, including three standard face perception tasks (emotional expressions, identity recognition, and trustworthiness ratings), and three memory and processing speed tasks. We will also ask for some basic demographic information to assist in describing and interpreting the results. Participation should take 40 minutes.

You will be automatically entered into a prize draw upon completion of the study. The prize is a gift card of $250 each for you and your twin (one in every 100 twin pairs will win a prize). You will have the chance to request personalised feedback about how you did on the tasks as well as general results at the end of the study.

Who is eligible?

Same-sex twins, aged 18-80 years old are eligible.

Would you like to get involved?

If you would like to participate or find out more please contact us.

Recruitment:

March – July 2024