Facial Feedback as an Indicator of Recall Difficulty
In the described experiment, facial expressions during recall affected self-judgments even though recall demands were held constant. Smiling was associated with higher assertiveness ratings after recalling assertive behavior and lower ratings after recalling unassertive behavior, consistent with using felt ease as information.
THE IDEA
Facial Feedback as an Indicator of Recall Difficulty
If subjective recall experiences are informative in their own right, any variable that leads people to experience a recall task as easy or difficult should influence subsequent judgments, even when the subjective experience is not due to the actual recall task itself. To address this issue, Stepper and Strack (1993, Experiment 2) asked all participants to recall six examples of either assertive or unassertive behavior, thus holding actual recall demands constant. To manipulate the subjective experience of ease of recall, they induced participants to adopt different facial expressions. In related research, specific facial expressions and body postures have been shown to be associated with emotions such as amusement, happiness, pride, sadness, and anger (e.g., Stepper & Strack, 1993, Experiment 1; for reviews, see Adelmann & Zajonc, 1989; Izard, 1990). Merely adopting such an expression facilitates the experience of the relevant emotion, even if one does not interpret the expression as an emotional response.
Extending this reasoning to ease of recall, Stepper and Strack induced participants to contract either their corrugator or their zygomaticus muscle during the recall task. Contraction of the corrugator muscle produces a furrowed brow, an expression commonly associated with a feeling of effort. Contraction of the zygomaticus muscle produces a light smile, an expression associated with a feeling of ease. The researchers predicted that participants might take such proprioceptive feedback as indications of ease or difficulty of recall, regardless of the actual number of examples they brought to mind.
The results were consistent with these predictions. Among participants who recalled six examples of assertive behavior, participants who adopted a light smile while bringing examples to mind subsequently judged themselves as more assertive than participants who had adopted a furrowed brow. Apparently, the experience of difficulty conveyed by a furrowed brow led the latter participants to conclude that they cannot be that assertive if it is so difficult to bring assertive behaviors to mind. Similarly, among participants who recalled six examples of unassertive behavior, participants who adopted a light smile while recalling examples subsequently judged themselves as less assertive than participants who had adopted a furrowed brow. These findings again indicate that subjective ease or difficulty of recall constitutes a source of information that is distinct from the declarative information that has been brought to mind: In this study, the amount of recalled declarative information was the same for all participants, yet the conclusions that participants drew from this information depended on the ease or difficulty of recall signalled by the proprioceptive feedback.
When to use it
A student studying for an exam might furrow their brow while trying to recall information, leading them to believe they have poor knowledge even if they actually know the material, potentially affecting their confidence.
In a job interview, a candidate might unconsciously smile while recalling achievements, making them appear more confident and influencing their own self-assessment of competence.
A therapist might notice a client's facial expression during recall of past events as a cue to their subjective experience of difficulty, which could guide therapeutic interventions.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Stepper & Strack (1993) Experiment
Participants recalled six examples of assertive or unassertive behavior while either furrowing their brow (corrugator contraction) or smiling (zygomaticus contraction). Those who smiled while recalling assertive behaviors judged themselves as more assertive than those who furrowed their brows. Conversely, those who smiled while recalling unassertive behaviors judged themselves as less assertive. This shows that the physical expression influenced the subjective ease of recall and subsequent self-judgments, even though all participants recalled the same number of examples.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How might your facial expression while trying to recall past experiences affect your subsequent self-assessments?
Can you recall a situation where furrowing your brow or smiling during a task influenced your perception of how easy or difficult the task was?
In what ways could this phenomenon impact decision-making in everyday life, such as evaluating one's own abilities or memories?
References
- Proprioceptive determinants of emotional and nonemotional feelings — Stepper, S. & Strack, F. (1993)
- Facial efference and the experience of emotion — Adelmann, P. K. & Zajonc, R. B. (1989)
- Facial expressions and the regulation of emotion — Izard, C. E. (1990)
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Heuristics and Biases The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment (Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, Daniel Kahneman)