Differences between individuals with and without experience with assault in identifying facial signs of imminent aggression

摘要

In real-world law enforcement encounters, a seemingly docile situation can turn violent in a matter of seconds. Being able to identify the signs of imminent aggression or violence may be extremely important in keeping safe those in harm's way. In the current study university student observers were shown an array of 12 facial expressions that included target images for two types of assault - premeditated assault and a loss of impulse control assault - and some distractors. The target images were created based on consultation with individuals who had experienced incidences of physical assault, aggression, and/or violence. The observers were split into two groups - those who had experience with physical assault and those who did not. The group with experience selected the target images as those preceding assau the group with no experience did not. These findings provide continuing evidence that reliable facial signs of imminent aggression may exist, and if so that people in harm's way can be trained to identify those signs before they happen.