Niguel Is Required to Give a Speech as Part of His

Multiple Choice

Niguel is required to give a speech as part of his psychology class. Esme, who is also in the class, opens a note from her boyfriend during Niguel's speech and grows angry at something her boyfriend wrote. Though he hasn't been paying attention to how many people are smiling at him, Niguel immediately notices Esme's angry face. Why do psychologists think we are so much quicker to recognize an angry face than a happy one?

A) We are biologically programmed to want to help people who seem unhappy.
B) Most people are paranoid that someone will be angry with them.
C) Angry faces are assumed to have threat value, and we are biologically programmed to respond to threats quickly.
D) Vigilance like Niguel's is situation-specific; if he weren't anxious about his speech, he would have been no quicker to see Esme's angry face than a happy face.
E) Feature detectors have a lower threshold for angry faces.