Confusion during learning is associated with facial action units 4, 7, and 12, with tightened lids tending to trigger a lowered brow¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr1·q2
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2011: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Association rule mining found confusion associated with AUs 4, 7, and 12; AUs 4 and 7 occur simultaneously and AU7 tends to trigger AU4. → Scotty D. Craig 2008
Evidence¶
Scotty D. Craig 2008¶
Scotty D. Craig, Sidney D'Mello, Amy Witherspoon, and Art Graesser. (2008). Emote aloud during learning with AutoTutor: Applying the Facial Action Coding System to cognitive/affective states during learning. Cognition and Emotion, 22(5), 777-788. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701516759
q2 · i? · associational · r1
Association rule mining on the same 300-observation dataset (100 records each for boredom, confusion, frustration). Table 2 lists the AU4-7 rule with 52% coverage and the brow-lowerer kappa at 1.00; the article states "Confusion displayed associations with AUs 4, 7, and 12".
"Confusion displayed associations with AUs 4, 7, and 12. Action units 4 and 7 occur simultaneously and the presence of AU7 (tightened lids) tends to trigger AU4 (lowered brow)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Boredom during learning shows a significant association with facial action unit 43 (eye closure), but no association rules between action units
- Frustration during learning is associated with facial action units 1, 2, and 14, with a mutual trigger rule between the inner and outer brow raises
- In over 60% of inquiry threads of low-achieving students, curiosity was followed by confusion, and joy or confusion by curiosity (sequential patterns, not shown causes)
- The emote-aloud procedure is limited by non-reporting and floor effects: 2 of 7 participants did not verbalise affective states and four states were removed from analysis
- Emote-aloud protocols show learner emotions correlate systematically with AutoTutor dialogue features — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
confusion-facial-action-units-4-7-12 |
title |
Confusion during learning is associated with facial action units 4, 7, and 12, with tightened lids tending to trigger a lowered brow |
description |
Confusion during learning is associated with facial action units 4, 7, and 12, with tightened lids tending to trigger a lowered brow |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2008 |
recheck_by |
2011 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — scotty-d-craig-2008 |
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