The role of emotional scenes in facial expressional recognition: Priming versus contextual effect

Objects were better recognized in consistent scenes (where objects appeared frequently) than inconsistent scenes (where objects appeared rarely). This consistency effect also was found in the facial expressional recognition in scenes. However, the underlying mechanisms of expressional recognition in scenes were not clear. In the present study, we addressed the question of whether emotional scenes influenced recognition of facial expression through top-down priming effect. In two experiments, emotional scenes and facial expressions were presented sequentially or simultaneously and participants were instructed to categorize facial expressions, ignoring scenes. Similar consistency effects and happy face advantage were observed which suggested emotional scenes automatically influenced expressional recognition through priming effect.