Emotion. 2025 Nov 3. doi: 10.1037/emo0001612. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Reports an error in “Perceptual sensitivity to labeling stereotyped emotion expressions: Associations with age and subclinical psychopathology symptoms from childhood through early adulthood” by David G. Weissman, Henna I. Vartiainen, Erik C. Nook, Hilary K. Lambert, Stephanie F. Sasse, Leah H. Somerville and Katie A. McLaughlin (Emotion, 2025[Apr], Vol 25[3], 588-600; see record 2025-33402-001). In the article, acknowledgment of funding from the National Institute of General Medical Science to David G. Weissman was missing from the author note. The funding paragraph should have read, “This research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (R37-MH119194 to Katie A. McLaughlin and K99-MH127248 to David G. Weissman), the National Institute of General Medical Science (R16GM154604 to David G. Weissman), an Early Career Research Fellowship from the Jacobs Foundation (Katie A. McLaughlin), a One Mind Institute Rising Star Award (Katie A. McLaughlin), and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE1144152 to Erik C. Nook).” The findings and conclusions of the article remain unchanged. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2025-33402-001). This study investigates (a) age-related differences in how the intensity of stereotyped facial expressions influence the emotion label children, adolescents, and adults assign to that face and (b) how this perceptual sensitivity relates to subclinical symptoms of psychopathology. In 2015-2016, 184 participants aged 4-25 years viewed posed stereotypes of angry, fearful, sad, and happy expressions morphed with neutral expressions at 10%-90% intensity. Thin plate regression smoothing splines were used to chart nonlinear associations between age and the perceptual threshold participants needed to assign the emotion label expected based on cultural consensus. Results suggest that sensitivity to labeling stereotypical happy faces as “happy” peaked by age 4. Sensitivity to perceiving stereotypical angry faces as “angry” increased from ages 4 to 7 and then plateaued. In contrast, sensitivity to perceiving stereotypical fearful and sad faces demonstrated protracted development, not reaching a plateau until ages 15 and 16, respectively. Reduction in selecting the “I don’t know” response was the primary driver of these age-related changes. Stereotyped fear expressions required the highest intensity to be labeled as such and showed the most marked change in perceptual threshold across development. Interestingly, lower intensity morphs of stereotypical fear faces were frequently labeled “sad.” Furthermore, perceiving lower intensity fear morphs was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms in participants aged 7-19. This study describes the development of perceptual sensitivity to labeling stereotypical expressions of emotion according to cultural consensus and shows that how people perceive and categorize ambiguous facial expressions is associated with vulnerability to psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
PMID:41182735 | DOI:10.1037/emo0001612
