What Characterizes the Perception of a Tired Face? A Pilot Study

Akram, Umair and Barclay, Nicola (2013) What Characterizes the Perception of a Tired Face? A Pilot Study. In: 27th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, 1 - 5 June 2013, Baltimore, MD, USA.

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Abstract

Introduction
Previous research reveals that two factors influence the perception of tiredness in a face: the height of the upper eyelid (pretarsal show, both increased and decreased), and increased eyebrow elevation. We aimed to design, develop and validate a set of stimuli to differentiate the characteristics that increase perception of a tired face.

Methods
A hand-drawn picture of a neutral face was modified using imaging software to create a series of ten images, varying in degrees of pretarsal show, upper/lower lid depression and elevation, and eyebrow shape and position. Participants (n=63) from the general population were presented with the images and asked to quantify on a scale of 0-10 the presence of eight emotions or states – “surprise”, “anger”, “tiredness”, “sadness”, “disgust”, “alertness”, “fear” and “happiness” with 0 being the lowest and 10 being the highest rating.

Results
One way repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to determine, for each image, which emotions were rated significantly differently from each other. For the images with increased pretarsal show and upper lid depression, tiredness was rated significantly higher than other emotions (F[4.04,173.6]=33.67,p<.001; and F[3.84,165.3]=67.63, p<.001, respectively). Furthermore, paired samples t-tests compared ratings of tiredness and alertness in each modified face to that of the neutral face to further confirm the presence of tiredness/alertness compared to the neutral image. Ratings of tiredness were greater for images containing an increased pretarsal show t(43)=6.06,p<.001, and upper lid depression t(43)=10.46, p<.001.

Conclusion
The present study found perception of tiredness was greatest for images in which pretarsal show and upper lid depression were increased. These findings inform us as to the elements that constitute a tired face, and highlight the elements of pictorial facial stimuli to be manipulated to create a ‘tired’ facial expression, for the utilization in future research.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Related URLs:	Organisation
Depositing User:	Umair Akram
Date Deposited:	24 Aug 2015 13:33
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 17:25
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/23595

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