About Me

Publications

AUTISM, ATTACHMENT, AND ALEXITHYMIA: INVESTIGATING EMOJI COMPREHENSION

Taylor, H., Hand, C. J., Howman, H., & Filik, R. (2022). International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2154890

ABSTRACT: Emoji are often misinterpreted. This study investigated whether individual differences known to impact facial emotion recognition would also affect emoji recognition. Participants completed an online emoji classification task, and then completed questionnaires assessing their autistic traits, attachment style, and alexithymia score. Results showed that Autism Quotient (AQ) scores influenced classification accuracy, but only when considered in conjunction with alexithymia and attachment anxiety. Accuracy was poorer when AQ scores and alexithymia scores were both high, whereas high attachment anxiety boosted emotion recognition in participants with high AQ scores. Results highlight the importance of studying individual differences factors concomitantly, allowing for more accurate identification of individuals who may be at risk of emotional miscommunication online, and are therefore suitable targets for support or intervention. Furthermore, findings will be informative for designers of digital tools that are used to convey emotion.

EMOJI AS A TOOL TO AID THE COMPREHENSION OF WRITTEN SARCASM: EVIDENCE FROM YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS

Garcia, C., Turcan, A., Howman, H., & Filik, R. (2022). Computers in Human Behavior, 126, 106971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106971

ABSTRACT: There is evidence for an age-related decline in the ability to understand non-literal language such as sarcasm. There is also evidence to suggest that devices such as emoticons/emojis may influence sarcasm comprehension in younger adults. However, research examining whether such devices may improve written sarcasm comprehension in older adults is scarce. The present study used an online rating task to investigate the influence of the winking face emoji on both the interpretation and perception of message intent for sarcastic or literal criticism or praise. Results revealed that older adults, in comparison to their younger counterparts, demonstrated deficient ability in interpreting and perceiving sarcastic intent. However, older adults' interpretation and perception of sarcastic intent were significantly improved when the messages were accompanied by the winking face emoji. This would suggest that the winking face emoji is a clear indicator of sarcastic intent, compensating for the absence of non-verbal cues in written communication, and may play a useful role in successful intergenerational communication.

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF CONTEXT IN WRITTEN SARCASM COMPREHENSION: EVIDENCE FROM EYE-TRACKING DURING READING

Turcan, A., Howman, H., & Filik, R. (2020). Journal or Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(10), 1966-1976. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000910

ABSTRACT: This article addresses a current theoretical debate between modular and interactive accounts of sarcasm processing, by investigating the role of context (specifically, knowing that a character has been sarcastic before) in the comprehension of a sarcastic remark. An eye-tracking experiment was conducted in which participants were asked to read texts that introduced a character as being either sarcastic or not and ended in either a literal or an unfamiliar sarcastic remark. The results indicated that when the character was previously literal, a subsequent sarcastic remark was more difficult to process than its literal counterpart. However, when the context was supportive of the sarcastic interpretation (i.e., the character was known to be sarcastic), subsequent sarcastic remarks were as easy to read as literal equivalents, which would support the predictions of interactive accounts. Importantly, this effect was not preceded by a main effect of literality, which constitutes evidence against the predictions of modular accounts.

THE ROLE OF EMOTICONS IN SARCASM COMPREHENSION IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS: EVIDENCE FROM AN EYE-TRACKING EXPERIMENT

Howman, H. E., & Filik, R. (2020). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(11), 1729-1744. https://doi-org.nottingham.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/1747021820922804

ABSTRACT: We present an eye-tracking experiment examining moment-to-moment processes underlying the comprehension of emoticons. Younger (18-30) and older (65+) participants had their eye movements recorded while reading scenarios containing comments that were ambiguous between literal or sarcastic interpretations (e.g., But you're so quick though). Comments were accompanied by wink emoticons or full stops. Results showed that participants read earlier parts of the wink scenarios faster than those with full stops, but then spent more time reading the text surrounding the emoticon. Thus, readers moved more quickly to the end of the text when there was a device that may aid interpretation but then spent more time processing the conflict between the superficially positive nature of the comment and the tone implied by the emoticon. Interestingly, the wink increased the likelihood of a sarcastic interpretation in younger adults only, suggesting that perceiver-related factors play an important role in emoticon interpretation.

THE ROLE OF DEFAULTNESS AND PERSONALITY FACTORS IN SARCASM INTERPRETATION: EVIDENCE FROM EYE-TRACKING DURING READING

Filik, R., Howman, H., Ralph-Nearman, C., & Giora, R. (2018). Metaphor and Symbol, 33(3), 148-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2018.1481258

ABSTRACT: Theorists have debated whether our ability to understand sarcasm (pertaining here to verbal irony) is principally determined by the context or by properties of the comment itself. The current research investigated an alternative view that broadens the focus on the comment itself, suggesting that mitigating a highly positive concept by using negation generates sarcastic interpretations by default. In the current study, pretests performed on the target utterances presented in isolation established their default interpretations; novel affirmative phrases (e.g., He is the best lawyer) were interpreted literally, whereas equally novel negative counterparts (e.g., He isn't the best lawyer) were interpreted sarcastically. In Experiment 1 (an eye-tracking study), prior context biased these utterances toward literal or sarcastic interpretations. Results showed that target utterances were easier to process in contexts supporting their default interpretations, regardless of affirmation/negation. Results from a second eye-tracking experiment suggested that readers' tendency to interpret negative phrases sarcastically is related to their own tendency to use malicious humor. Our findings suggest that negation leads to certain ambiguous utterances receiving sarcastic interpretations by default and that this process may be further intensified by personality factors.