Explicit use of categorical and dimensional strategies to decode facial expressions of emotion

This experiment compares the explicit use of categorical and dimensional decoding strategies to recognize facially expressed emotion. Results suggest that people can consciously employ both strategies but that their facility in doing so is a function of the particular emotion displayed in combination with the completeness of the expression. By identifying the relative effectiveness of deliberate use of particular decoding strategies in specific circumstances, this investigation has implications for the design of facial decoding studies, for further research into cognitive mechanisms underlying the recognition of facially expressed emotion, and for development of practical applications to enhance facility with facial decoding.