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Christensen JF, Fernández A, Smith RA, Michalareas G, Yazdi SHN, Farahi F, Schmidt EM, Bahmanian N, Roig G. EMOKINE: A software package and computational framework for scaling up the creation of highly controlled emotional full-body movement datasets. Behav Res Methods 2024:10.3758/s13428-024-02433-0. [PMID: 38918315 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02433-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
EMOKINE is a software package and dataset creation suite for emotional full-body movement research in experimental psychology, affective neuroscience, and computer vision. A computational framework, comprehensive instructions, a pilot dataset, observer ratings, and kinematic feature extraction code are provided to facilitate future dataset creations at scale. In addition, the EMOKINE framework outlines how complex sequences of movements may advance emotion research. Traditionally, often emotional-'action'-based stimuli are used in such research, like hand-waving or walking motions. Here instead, a pilot dataset is provided with short dance choreographies, repeated several times by a dancer who expressed different emotional intentions at each repetition: anger, contentment, fear, joy, neutrality, and sadness. The dataset was simultaneously filmed professionally, and recorded using XSENS® motion capture technology (17 sensors, 240 frames/second). Thirty-two statistics from 12 kinematic features were extracted offline, for the first time in one single dataset: speed, acceleration, angular speed, angular acceleration, limb contraction, distance to center of mass, quantity of motion, dimensionless jerk (integral), head angle (with regards to vertical axis and to back), and space (convex hull 2D and 3D). Average, median absolute deviation (MAD), and maximum value were computed as applicable. The EMOKINE software is appliable to other motion-capture systems and is openly available on the Zenodo Repository. Releases on GitHub include: (i) the code to extract the 32 statistics, (ii) a rigging plugin for Python for MVNX file-conversion to Blender format (MVNX=output file XSENS® system), and (iii) a Python-script-powered custom software to assist with blurring faces; latter two under GPLv3 licenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia F Christensen
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany.
| | - Andrés Fernández
- Methods of Machine Learning, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rebecca A Smith
- Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland
| | - Georgios Michalareas
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | | | | | - Eva-Madeleine Schmidt
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nasimeh Bahmanian
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
- Department of Modern Languages, Goethe University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Gemma Roig
- Computer Science Department, Goethe University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
- The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI), Darmstadt, Germany
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Sierro J, de Kort SR, Hartley IR. A limit to sustained performance constrains trill length in birdsong. iScience 2023; 26:108206. [PMID: 37953962 PMCID: PMC10637923 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
In birds, song performance determines the outcome of contests over crucial resources. We hypothesized that 1) sustained performance is limited within song, resulting in a performance decline towards the end and 2) the impact of song length is compromised if performance declines. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed the songs of 597 bird species (26 families) and conducted a playback experiment on blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Our multi-species analysis showed that song performance declines after sustained singing, supporting our hypothesis. If the performance decline is determined by individual attributes (i.e., physical condition), our results explain how trill length can honestly signal quality. Our experiment showed that longer trills of high performance elicited a stronger response during territorial interactions. However, long trills that declined in performance elicited a weaker response than short, high-performance trills. A trade-off between the duration and performance quality of a motor display can be an important aspect in communication across taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Sierro
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Selvino R. de Kort
- Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UK
| | - Ian R. Hartley
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
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Christensen JF, Bruhn L, Schmidt EM, Bahmanian N, Yazdi SHN, Farahi F, Sancho-Escanero L, Menninghaus W. A 5-emotions stimuli set for emotion perception research with full-body dance movements. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8757. [PMID: 37253770 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33656-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Ekman famously contended that there are different channels of emotional expression (face, voice, body), and that emotion recognition ability confers an adaptive advantage to the individual. Yet, still today, much emotion perception research is focussed on emotion recognition from the face, and few validated emotionally expressive full-body stimuli sets are available. Based on research on emotional speech perception, we created a new, highly controlled full-body stimuli set. We used the same-sequence approach, and not emotional actions (e.g., jumping of joy, recoiling in fear): One professional dancer danced 30 sequences of (dance) movements five times each, expressing joy, anger, fear, sadness or a neutral state, one at each repetition. We outline the creation of a total of 150, 6-s-long such video stimuli, that show the dancer as a white silhouette on a black background. Ratings from 90 participants (emotion recognition, aesthetic judgment) showed that intended emotion was recognized above chance (chance: 20%; joy: 45%, anger: 48%, fear: 37%, sadness: 50%, neutral state: 51%), and that aesthetic judgment was sensitive to the intended emotion (beauty ratings: joy > anger > fear > neutral state, and sad > fear > neutral state). The stimuli set, normative values and code are available for download.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia F Christensen
- Department of Language and Literature, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany.
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany.
| | - Laura Bruhn
- Department of Language and Literature, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Eva-Madeleine Schmidt
- Department of Language and Literature, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nasimeh Bahmanian
- Department of Language and Literature, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
- Department of Modern Languages, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Winfried Menninghaus
- Department of Language and Literature, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M, Germany
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Kawano Y, Cheng-Feng L, Kuno-Mizumura M. Both Upper and Lower Limb Movements Contribute to Aesthetics of the Piqué Arabesque in Ballet. J Dance Med Sci 2021; 26:15-24. [PMID: 34865680 DOI: 10.12678/1089-313x.031522c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to identify the factor structures-which are the predominant frameworks for describing the basic dimensions of a concept-that contribute to the aesthetics of body position in ballet. This study was composed of three-dimensional movement analysis and subjective evaluation. Fourteen ballet dancers participated in the three-dimensional movement analysis. Thirty-six reflective markers were attached to the dancers' bodies, after which the dancers performed a piqué arabesque, a position in which the weight transfers from one leg to the other. This movement was captured using eight optical cameras and one video camera. Biomechanical parameters, such as the joint angle and velocity of each body part, were calculated from the coordinates of the markers. Twenty-eight videos recorded in the three-dimensional movement analysis were viewed by 51 observers with ballet experience. The observers subjectively evaluated the videos through four category pairs-"beautiful-ugly," "like-dislike," "interesting-not interesting," and "good-bad"-on a five-point semantic differential scale. Two groups, the top and bottom 30%, were extracted based on the "beautiful-ugly" rating and compared using an independent t-test. In addition, exploratory factor analysis was performed on the biomechanical parameters that showed significant differences. Five factors were identified: "stability of the right distal upper limb and upper body," "torso displacement speed," "stability of the left distal upper limb and line of the support leg," "height of the gesture leg," and "stability of the support leg around the hip joint and line of the limbs on the gesture leg side." These results indicate that the movements of both upper and lower limbs contributed to the aesthetics of the ballet position of piqué arabesque. These findings will be useful for ballet teachers and dancers to understand the intrinsic aesthetics of movements.
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Pazhoohi F, Macedo AF, Doyle JF, Arantes J. Waist-to-Hip Ratio as Supernormal Stimuli: Effect of Contrapposto Pose and Viewing Angle. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2020; 49:837-847. [PMID: 31214904 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-019-01486-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In women, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is an indicator of attractiveness, health, youthfulness, and reproductive potential. In the current study, we hypothesized that viewing angle and body postures influence the attractiveness of these forms based on the view dependency of WHR stimuli (vdWHR). Using eye tracking, we quantified the number of fixations and dwell time on 3D images of a female avatar in two different poses (standing and contrapposto) from eight viewing angles incrementing in 45 degrees of rotation. A total of 68 heterosexual individuals (25 men and 43 women) participated in the study. Results showed that the contrapposto pose was perceived as more attractive than the standing pose and that lower vdWHR sides of the stimuli attracted more first fixation, total fixations, and dwell time. Overall, the results supported that WHR is view-dependent and vdWHRs lower than optimal WHRs are supernormal stimuli that may generate peak shifts in responding. Results are discussed in terms of the attractiveness of women's movements (gaits and dance) and augmented artistic presentations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farid Pazhoohi
- Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710 - 057, Braga, Portugal.
| | - Antonio F Macedo
- Vision Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department and Centre of Physics, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- Department of Medicine and Optometry, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | | | - Joana Arantes
- Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710 - 057, Braga, Portugal
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Thornborrow T, Jucker JL, Boothroyd LG, Tovée MJ. Investigating the link between television viewing and men's preferences for female body size and shape in rural Nicaragua. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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Pazhoohi F, Doyle JF, Macedo AF, Arantes J. Arching the Back (Lumbar Curvature) as a Female Sexual Proceptivity Signal: an Eye-Tracking Study. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-017-0123-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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