The fractal property of internal structure of facial affect recognition: A complex system approach

Based on a circumplex model of facial affect, four inner affective circumplexes, assumed to have 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% emotional intensities, were investigated in terms of fractal, which is a concept of complex systems. Results revealed that the perimeters of the circumplex excluding the 25% condition possessed fractal property characterised by features specific to fractals. Results also showed that fractal dimension in the 50% condition (1.58 dimension) was significantly higher than that in the 100% (1.45 dimension) and 75% (1.45 dimension) conditions, indicating that the cognitive structure of facial affect in the 50% condition was more complex than that in the 100% and 75% conditions.