The article is devoted to the results of approbation of the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT), a Swiss method for assessing dynamic emotional states, on Russian sample. Identification accuracy and the categorical fields’ structure of emotional expressions of a “living” face are analysed. Similarities and differences in the perception of affective groups of dynamic emotions in the Russian and Swiss samples are considered. A number of patterns of recognition of multi-modal expressions with changes in valence and arousal of emotions are described. Differences in the perception of dynamics and statics of emotional expressions are revealed. GERT method confirmed it’s high potential for solving a wide range of academic and applied problems.

The article provides a review of experimental studies of interpersonal perception on the material of static and dynamic facial expressions as a unique source of information about the person’s inner world. The focus is on the patterns of perception of a moving face, included in the processes of communication and joint activities (an alternative to the most commonly studied perception of static images of a person outside of a behavioral context). The review includes four interrelated topics: face statics and dynamics in the recognition of emotional expressions; specificity of perception of moving face expressions; multimodal integration of emotional cues; generation and perception of facial expressions in communication processes. The analysis identifies the most promising areas of research of face in motion. We show that the static and dynamic modes of facial perception complement each other, and describe the role of qualitative features of the facial expression dynamics in assessing the emotional state of a person. Facial expression is considered as part of a holistic multimodal manifestation of emotions. The importance of facial movements as an instrument of social interaction is emphasized.

The work is aimed at considering the influence of modern special training programs in virtual reality (VR) on personality anxiety in adolescence. Materials of empirical research obtained on a sample of students of 2-4 courses of Moscow and Smolensk universities are presented. Respondents aged from 19 to 24 years old participated in the study 1 (N=15) (using the training VR environment with a first-person avatar) and 2 (N=24) (using the training VR program with an anthropomorphic avatar (female) (third-person). To diagnose anxiety we used methods: Spielberger-Hanin Self-Assessment Anxiety Test, A.T. Beck Anxiety Scale. A single-factor experimental design with independent groups was used; dependent variables were different types of anxiety, independent variables were the parameters of subjects' work with the training VR-program of high immersiveness. The results show that the high level training VR environment has a significant effect on anxiety reduction. Both personal and situational anxiety, as well as the general level of anxiety, decreased. In the control samples, either anxiety decreases, but at a much lower level, or no change occurs. Psychosemantic analysis of consciousness indicates changes not only in the conscious plan (connections between connotative meanings), but also in unconscious attitudes about one's anxiety state (manifested in the triad of depression: decreased mood, ideomotor and motor retardation). In general, VR programs with avatars should be considered as effective technologies and means of changing functional personality properties, in particular anxiety.

Presents the state-of-the-art Deepfake face replacement image collage method, an artificial intelligence (AI) product that can be used to create high-quality, realistic videos with a fake or replaced face, with no obvious signs of manipulation. Based on the DeepFaceLab (DFL) application, the process of creating video images of an “impossible face” is described step by step. The results of the experiments of studying the perception patterns of the moving “impossible face” and their differences in statics and dynamics are presented. The stimuli were two DFL-generated models of virtual sitters with impossible faces: a video image of a chimerical face, in which the right and left sides belong to different people, and a Tatchered face with the eyes and mouth areas rotated by 180°. It was shown that the phenomena of perception of the “impossible face”, registered earlier under static conditions (integrity of perception of the split image, distraction and inversion effect), are preserved and acquire a new content when dynamic models are exposed. In contrast to the collaged images, the original faces in statics and motion, regardless of egocentric orientation, are evaluated positively at the level of high values. Under all tested conditions the gender of the virtual sitter is determined adequately, the perceived age is overestimated. Estimates of the virtual sitter’s emotions from his video images are differentiated into basic (stable) and additional (changing) states, the ratio of which depends on the content of a particular episode. Deepfake image synthesis technology significantly expands the possibilities of psychological research of interpersonal perception. The use of digital technologies simplifies the creation of “impossible face” stimulus models necessary for in-depth study of representations of the human inner world, and creates a need for new experimental-psychological procedures corresponding to a higher level of ecological and social validity.

We studied preferably fixated parts and features of human face in the process of recognition of facial expressions of emotion. Photographs of facial expressions were used. Participants were to categorize these as basic emotions; during this process, eye movements were registered. It was found that variation in the intensity of an expression is mirrored in accuracy of emotion recognition; it was also reflected by several indices of oculomotor function: duration of inspection of certain areas of the face, its upper and bottom or right parts, right and left sides; location, number and duration of fixations, viewing trajectory. In particular, for low-intensity expressions, right side of the face was found to be attended predominantly (right-side dominance); the right-side dominance effect, was, however, absent for expressions of high intensity. For both low- and high-intensity expressions, upper face part was predominantly fixated, though with greater fixation of high-intensity expressions. The majority of trials (70%), in line with findings in previous studies, revealed a V-shaped pattern of inspection trajectory. No relationship, between accuracy of recognition of emotional expressions, was found, though, with either location and duration of fixations or pattern of gaze directedness in the face.

The regularities of visual perception of both complex and ecologically valid objects during extremely short photo expositions are studied. Images of a person experiencing basic emotions were displayed for as low as 14 ms amidst a saccade spanning 10 degrees of visual angle. The observers had a main task to recognize the emotion depicted, and a secondary task to point at the perceived location of the photo on the screen. It is shown that probability of correct recognition of emotion is above chance (0.62), and that it depends on its type. False localizations of stimuli and their compression in the direction of the saccade were also observed. According to the acquired data, complex environmentally valid objects are perceived differently during saccades in comparison to isolated dots, lines or gratings. The rhythmic structure of oculomotor activity (fixation–saccade–fixation) does not violate the continuity of the visual processing. The perceptual genesis of facial expressions does not take place only during gaze fixation, but also during peak speed of rapid eye movements both at the center and in closest proximity of the visual acuity area.