The NimStim set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 168; no. 3; pp. 242 - 249
• Main Authors: Tottenham, Nim, Tanaka, James W, Leon, Andrew C, McCarry, Thomas, Nurse, Marcella, Hare, Todd A, Marcus, David J, Westerlund, Alissa, Casey, BJ, Nelson, Charles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ireland Ltd 15.08.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Emotion; Emotions - physiology; Expression; Face; Facial Expression; Humans; Judgment - physiology; Medical sciences; Multiracial; Neuropsychological Tests; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Photic Stimulation; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Stimulus set; Techniques and methods; Validity; Young Adult; Validity; Multiracial; Expression; Emotion; Face; Reliability; Stimulus set; Human; Affect affectivity; Emotional expression; Psychometrics; Emotion emotionality; Test reliability; Ethnic group; Test validation; Visual stimulus; Race; Facial expression; Judgment
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2008.05.006

Abstract A set of face stimuli called the NimStim Set of Facial Expressions is described. The goal in creating this set was to provide facial expressions that untrained individuals, characteristic of research participants, would recognize. This set is large in number, multiracial, and available to the scientific community online. The results of psychometric evaluations of these stimuli are presented. The results lend empirical support for the validity and reliability of this set of facial expressions as determined by accurate identification of expressions and high intra-participant agreement across two testing sessions, respectively.