It is commonly argued that older adults show difficulties in standardized tasks of emotional expression perception, yet most previous works relied on classic sets of static, decontextualized, and stereotypical facial expressions. In real-life, facial expressions are dynamic and embedded in a rich context, two key factors that may aid emotion perception. Specifically, body language provides important affective cues that may disambiguate facial movements.
A new study of Yasmin Abo Foul (PHD candidate at Prof. Hillel Aviezer's Lab), compared emotional perception of dynamic faces, bodies, and their combination, in a sample of older (age 60+) and young (age 18-30) adults .The results showed that dynamic emotion perception in young and older adults may be more similar than previously assumed, especially when the task is more realistic and ecological.
See full article here.
