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Tech Is Already Reading Your Emotions – But Do Algorithms Get It Right?
From measuring shopper satisfaction to detecting signs of depression, companies are employing emotion-sensing facial recognition technology that is based on flawed science, according to a new study. If the idea of having your face recorded and then analyzed for mood so that someone can intervene in your life sounds creepy, that’s because it is. But that hasn’t stopped companies like Walmart from promising to implement the technology to improve customer satisfaction, despite numerous challenges from ethicists and other consumer advocates. ...
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People Seek Out a Certain Kind of Person When They Are Happy
Heaps of research suggest that social relationships make people happier—but which relationships, specifically? A guilt-ridden afternoon with a mother-in-law might not have the same effect as drinks with a best friend. A “fair-weather friend” stands by your side only during good times. Recently a group of researchers set out to determine whose company we actually seek out when we’re happy or unhappy. Their findings, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, suggest that when times are actually good, the people we turn to aren’t friends at all. They’re strangers.
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Experts Say ‘Emotion Recognition’ Lacks Scientific Foundation
Emotion recognition is a hot new area, with numerous companies peddling products that claim to be able to read people’s internal emotional states, and AI researchers looking to improve computers’ ability to do so. This is done through voice analysis, body language analysis, gait analysis, eye tracking, and remote measurement of physiological signs like pulse and breathing rates. Most of all, though, it’s done through analysis of facial expressions. A new study, however, strongly suggests that these products are built on a bed of intellectual quicksand. The key question is whether human emotions can be reliably determined from facial expressions.
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Help Set the Oral Health Research Agenda at NIH
The US’s preeminent funder of dental and craniofacial research is looking for your input as it develops its strategic plan for the next five years.
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Too Late To Apologize – Unless You Have an Excuse
Making excuses for a minor workplace transgression – like arriving late to a meeting – may go over better with colleagues than simply apologizing, a study suggests.
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Strengthening Psychological Science with Specialized Statistical Review
Focused technical assessments by statistical experts could help psychology journals defend against the improper use of statistics.
