Researchers explained the differences in people's perception of emotions

Research from the University of California at Berkeley has shown that differences in people's perception of emotions are due to how their brains process facial and contextual details. These differences may explain why some people easily read the emotions of others, while others have difficulty. This was reported by Medical Xpress magazine on December 16.

It is claimed that the brain uses data from both facial expressions and the background (for example, location or expressions of others) to assess the emotional state of the interlocutor. When a person's facial expression is obvious and the context is unclear, the brain usually focuses heavily on facial expressions and minimizes the background value.

However, if the facial expression is vague, but the context provides clear indications of emotion, then people will rely more on context. It's like with an example: if you see a person crying and you don't know the context, you'll probably think they're sad. But if it happens at a wedding ceremony, the meaning changes dramatically.

Although most people intuitively make such decisions, Berkeley psychologists argue that other people process information more simplistically. Jefferson Ortega, the lead author of the study and a graduate student in psychology, emphasized that this difference between complex assessment and simple averaged strategies may explain the difference in emotion perception.

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"We don't know exactly why these differences arise. But it is suggested that some people may use this simpler integration strategy because it is less demanding on cognitive resources, or it may be related to underlying cognitive impairments," he added.

Ortega's team conducted an experiment in which 944 participants assessed the mood of characters in a series of videos. Some of them had blurred backgrounds and clear faces, while others had the opposite effect. In this way, the researchers could observe how people perceive information from faces and from context.

The results showed that in 70% of cases, people evaluated the data differently when deciding which aspect to focus on more. However, in the remaining 30% of cases, participants used a simplified strategy, averaging both signals. Ortega was surprised by this discovery, noting that averaging requires less cognitive effort than a momentary assessment of various factors.

On December 15, Science Daily magazine explained the existence of consciousness in humans and animals. It was clarified that it develops through several forms, including basic arousal, general alertness, and reflexive self-awareness. Scientists have been able to find out that consciousness is an ancient and widespread feature of evolution that exists not only in humans.

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