Development and validation of the Korean Child Emotional Face Database for research in developmental neuroscience

Facial recognition plays a crucial role in identifying emotional states and understanding human responses. Research indicates that emotional processing varies based on factors such as race and age, underscoring the importance of diverse face databases. We developed the Korean Child Emotional Face Database (KCEFD), comprising facial stimuli representing seven emotions—happiness, surprise, neutral, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness—and validated it in both children and adults. The validation process involved gathering accuracy, clarity, and valence scores. Overall emotion recognition accuracy was 70%; however, while happiness (95%) and surprise (94%) showed high accuracy, fear was recognized at only 18%, which is near chance level. Happiness was rated as the most positive emotion, while anger was perceived as the most negative. Clarity scores were consistently high. To assess the effectiveness of the KCEFD as emotional stimuli, we conducted a face-in-the-crowd task using happiness, surprise, anger, and sadness expressions. By analyzing both behavioral responses and eye movements in children and adults, we confirmed the previously established anger superiority effect. The KCEFD is the first validated emotional face database specifically for Korean children, making it a valuable resource for research on children’s emotional processing.