User:Dpscott/sandbox

Sign languages
Facial expression is used in sign languages to convey specific meanings. In American Sign Language (ASL), for instance, raised eyebrows combined with a slightly forward head tilt indicate that what is being signed is a yes/no question. Lowered eyebrows are used for wh-word questions. Facial expression is also used in sign languages to show adverbs and adjectives such as distance or size: an open mouth, squinted eyes, and tilted back head indicate something far while the mouth pulled to one side and the cheek held toward the shoulder indicate something close, and puffed cheeks mean very large. It can also show the manner in which something is done, such as carelessly or routinely. Some of these expressions, also called non-manual signs, are used similarly in different sign languages while others are different from one language to another. For example, the expression used for 'carelessly' in ASL means 'boring or unpleasant' in British Sign Language.

Sign language utilizes two main types of communicative features: manual and non-manual signs. Manual signs consist of arm, hand, and body movements, while non-manual signs consist of facial expressions and head motions. In American Sign Language (ASL) there are six main types of facial expressions used: reflected universal expressions of emotion, constructed action, conversation regulators, grammatical markers, modifiers, and lexical mouthing. With reflected universal expressions of emotion, the signer simply reflects his/her or another person’s emotion by displaying one of the universal expressions for anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, or surprise. Constructed action is essentially a form of storytelling. The signer imitates actions of others from another time and place by, for example, looking in the appropriate directions or moving the body in a way that helps convey the story. Conversation regulators help to verify who the signer is addressing in a group through the use of various techniques, most often eye contact or eye gaze. Eight types of grammatical markers can be communicated through facial expression in ASL: Wh-question, yes/no question, rhetorical question, topic, negation, assertion, conditional clause, and relative clause. Most of these consist of a facial expression combined with a head movement (Nguyen et. al.). For example, raised eyebrows combined with a slightly forward head tilt indicate that what is being signed is a yes/no question. Lowered eyebrows are used for wh-word questions (1). For modifiers, signers add in quality or quantity to a statement by using various facial expressions. For example, an open mouth, squinted eyes, and tilted back head indicate something far while the mouth pulled to one side and the cheek held toward the shoulder indicate something close. Puffed cheeks signify something is very large. Finally, lexical mouthing simply means that the signer mouths words they are signing manually. While many of these expressions are used similarly in different sign languages, others are different from one language to another. For example, the expression used for “carelessly” in ASL means “boring or unpleasant” in British Sign Language.

- Section on difference between facial expression of hearing vs non-hearing people to convey meaning.

- dynamic changes in facial expression over static facial expression- importance of onset, apex, duration of apex, and offset

- in study of dynamic facial expression, deaf participants reported much greater confidence in their choices, most likely due to their greater familiarity with the expressions, yet hearing non-signers showed greater accuracy in categorizing facial expressions

- categorical perception of facial expressions vs continuum