Emotion Recognition Task (ERT)

The Emotion Recognition Task (ERT) is a CANTAB test measuring the ability to identify emotions in facial expressions. It is closely related to the affective bias concept measured in the affective-bias-test.

Task

Computer-morphed images derived from real individuals, each showing a specific emotion (six basic emotions), are displayed one at a time for 200ms then immediately covered. The participant selects which emotion was displayed from six options. The brief presentation (200ms) encourages implicit processing rather than conscious appraisal of the faces.

Depression Relevance

Depressed individuals provide more negative ratings of emotional expressions (Kellough et al., 2008; Linde et al., 2015; Grady & Stahl, 2013), reflecting the well-known negative bias where positive or neutral stimuli are seen as more negative. This mirrors the pessimistic interpretation seen in the cognitive-judgement-bias task.

The ERT captures the “hot” affective processing component of depression — how mood colours the perception of social-emotional stimuli.

Related Pages

cantab | affective-bias-test | cognitive-judgement-bias | nonverbal-cognitive-tasks