Ambiguous at the second sight: Mixed facial expressions trigger late electrophysiological responses linked to lower social impressions

Abstract

[...]fluency also reflects conceptual aspects of stimulus processing, such as categorization ease. [...]categorization fluency (RTs) statistically mediated the impact of stimulus ambiguity (mixedness) on evaluative ratings (Olszanowski et al., 2018; Winkielman, Olszanowski, & Gola, 2015). Yet, as mentioned, the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying these effects are poorly understood. [...]it is necessary to examine the role of different stages and components of facial processing, their neural signatures, and their links with social impressions. [...]we use ERP measures to explore early and late effects, as a function of the physical features of the faces and the impact of the categorization task.