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Lavan N. How do we describe other people from voices and faces? Cognition 2023; 230:105253. [PMID: 36215763 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
When seeing someone's face or hearing their voice, perceivers routinely infer information about a person's age, sex and social traits. While many experiments have explored how individual person characteristics are perceived in isolation, less is known about which person characteristics are described spontaneously from voices and faces and how descriptions may differ across modalities. In Experiment 1, participants provided free descriptions for voices and faces. These free descriptions followed similar patterns for voices and faces - and for individual identities: Participants spontaneously referred to a wide range of descriptors. Psychological descriptors, such as character traits, were used most frequently; physical characteristics, such as age and sex, were notable as they were mentioned earlier than other types of descriptors. After finding primarily similarities between modalities when analysing person descriptions across identities, Experiment 2 asked whether free descriptions encode how individual identities differ. For this purpose, the measures derived from the free descriptions were linked to voice/face discrimination judgements that are known to describe differences in perceptual properties between identity pairs. Significant relationships emerged within and across modalities, showing that free descriptions indeed encode differences between identities - information that is shared with discrimination judgements. This suggests that the two tasks tap into similar, high-level person representations. These findings show that free description data can offer valuable insights into person perception and underline that person perception is a multivariate process during which perceivers rapidly and spontaneously infer many different person characteristics to form a holistic impression of a person.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Lavan
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
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2
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Face processing still predicts reading ability: evidence from developmental prosopagnosia. A reply to Gerlach and Starrfelt (2022). Cortex 2022; 154:340-347. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Yang T, Zhang L, Xu G, Yang Z, Luo Y, Li Z, Zhong K, Shi B, Zhao L, Sun P. Investigating taste sensitivity, chemesthetic sensation and their relationship with emotion perception in Chinese young and older adults. Food Qual Prefer 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Rossion B, Taubert J. What can we learn about human individual face recognition from experimental studies in monkeys? Vision Res 2019; 157:142-158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2017] [Revised: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Neuropsychological And Psychopathological Profile Of Anti-Nmdar Encephalitis: A Possible Pathophysiological Model For Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2018; 34:1309-1319. [DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acy088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2018] [Revised: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Objective
Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is a severe, but treatable, autoimmune disorder, characterized by autoantibodies causing hypofunction of blocking NMDA receptors leading to a unique constellation of cognitive, motor, and psychiatric symptoms. Neuropsychological and psychopathological outcome has not been fully explored, particularly in children. Aim of this study was to investigate pediatric anti-NMDAR encephalitis as a model of impairment of the complex frontal-subcortical circuits who are implicated in several of the childhood neuropsychiatric disorders.
Method
Seven children diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis at our department underwent an evaluation of the global mental functioning before discharge, a neuropsychological and psychological/behavioral standardized examination within one month after discharge and subsequently were followed up longitudinally for mean 35 months (range 24–48 months). Collected neuropsychological data were evaluated retrospectively.
Results
Deficits in attention, executive functions and/or visual motor functions involving executive functions were seen in all children within one month after discharge. These deficits were long lasting in about a half of the patients. In addition, four patients developed persistent psychopathological dysfunctions: difficulties to regulate their own behavior, impulsivity, hyperactivity, irritability, apathy, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Conclusions
Our data are in line with research suggesting a crucial role of the executive functions impairments in cognitive outcome disturbance of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. We found also behavioral and psychological deficits pointing to a more comprehensive framework of frontal-subcortical dysfunction, in which the NMDA mediated transmission appear to have a role, as suggested by neurobiological, pharmacological, and neuroimaging studies.
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Social perception and aging: The relationship between aging and the perception of subtle changes in facial happiness and identity. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2017; 179:23-29. [PMID: 28697480 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2016] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous findings suggest that older adults show impairments in the social perception of faces, including the perception of emotion and facial identity. The majority of this work has tended to examine performance on tasks involving young adult faces and prototypical emotions. While useful, this can influence performance differences between groups due to perceptual biases and limitations on task performance. Here we sought to examine how typical aging is associated with the perception of subtle changes in facial happiness and facial identity in older adult faces. We developed novel tasks that permitted the ability to assess facial happiness, facial identity, and non-social perception (object perception) across similar task parameters. We observe that aging is linked with declines in the ability to make fine-grained judgements in the perception of facial happiness and facial identity (from older adult faces), but not for non-social (object) perception. This pattern of results is discussed in relation to mechanisms that may contribute to declines in facial perceptual processing in older adulthood.
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Yang T, Banissy MJ. Enhancing anger perception in older adults by stimulating inferior frontal cortex with high frequency transcranial random noise stimulation. Neuropsychologia 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Finzi RD, Susilo T, Barton JJS, Duchaine BC. The role of holistic face processing in acquired prosopagnosia: evidence from the composite face effect. VISUAL COGNITION 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2016.1261976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Henningsson S, Zettergren A, Hovey D, Jonsson L, Svärd J, Cortes DS, Melke J, Ebner NC, Laukka P, Fischer H, Westberg L. Association between polymorphisms in NOS3 and KCNH2 and social memory. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:393. [PMID: 26539080 PMCID: PMC4612671 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2015] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Social memory, including the ability to recognize faces and voices, is essential for social relationships. It has a large heritable component, but the knowledge about the contributing genes is sparse. The genetic variation underlying inter-individual differences in social memory was investigated in an exploratory sample (n = 55), genotyped with a chip comprising approximately 200,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and in a validation sample (n = 582), where 30 SNPs were targeted. In the exploratory study face identity recognition was measured. The validation study also measured vocal sound recognition, as well as recognition of faces and vocal sounds combined (multimodal condition). In the exploratory study, the 30 SNPs that were associated with face recognition at puncorrected < 0.001 and located in genes, were chosen for further study. In the validation study two of these SNPs showed significant associations with recognition of faces, vocal sounds, and multimodal stimuli: rs1800779 in the gene encoding nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) and rs3807370 in the gene encoding the voltage-gated channel, subfamily H, member 2 (KCNH2), in strong linkage disequilibrium with each other. The uncommon alleles were associated with superior performance, and the effects were present for men only (p < 0.0002). The exploratory study also showed a weaker but significant association with (non-emotional) word recognition, an effect that was independent of the effect on face recognition. This study demonstrates evidence for an association between NOS3 and KCNH2 SNPs and social memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Henningsson
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Anna Zettergren
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden ; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Daniel Hovey
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Lina Jonsson
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Joakim Svärd
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Diana S Cortes
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jonas Melke
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Natalie C Ebner
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA ; Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Petri Laukka
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Håkan Fischer
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden ; Department of Psychology, Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lars Westberg
- Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden
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Individual Aesthetic Preferences for Faces Are Shaped Mostly by Environments, Not Genes. Curr Biol 2015; 25:2684-9. [PMID: 26441352 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2015] [Revised: 07/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Although certain characteristics of human faces are broadly considered more attractive (e.g., symmetry, averageness), people also routinely disagree with each other on the relative attractiveness of faces. That is, to some significant degree, beauty is in the "eye of the beholder." Here, we investigate the origins of these individual differences in face preferences using a twin design, allowing us to estimate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental variation to individual face attractiveness judgments or face preferences. We first show that individual face preferences (IP) can be reliably measured and are readily dissociable from other types of attractiveness judgments (e.g., judgments of scenes, objects). Next, we show that individual face preferences result primarily from environments that are unique to each individual. This is in striking contrast to individual differences in face identity recognition, which result primarily from variations in genes [1]. We thus complete an etiological double dissociation between two core domains of social perception (judgments of identity versus attractiveness) within the same visual stimulus (the face). At the same time, we provide an example, rare in behavioral genetics, of a reliably and objectively measured behavioral characteristic where variations are shaped mostly by the environment. The large impact of experience on individual face preferences provides a novel window into the evolution and architecture of the social brain, while lending new empirical support to the long-standing claim that environments shape individual notions of what is attractive.
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Brewer R, Collins F, Cook R, Bird G. Atypical trait inferences from facial cues in alexithymia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 15:637-43. [PMID: 25867918 PMCID: PMC4768128 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
It is often difficult to distinguish strangers’ permanent facial shapes from their transient facial expressions, for example, whether they are scowling or have narrow-set eyes. Overinterpretation of ambiguous cues may contribute to the rapid character judgments we make about others. Someone with narrow eyes might be judged untrustworthy, because of strong associations between facial anger and threat. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the trait judgments made by individuals with severe alexithymia, associated with impaired recognition of facial emotion. Consistent with the hypothesis, alexithymic participants demonstrated reduced interrater consistency when judging the character traits of unfamiliar faces, and the presence of subtle emotions. Nevertheless, where alexithymics perceived, or misperceived, emotion cues, the character traits inferred thereafter were broadly typical. The finding that individuals with developmental deficits of emotion recognition exhibit atypical attribution of character traits, confirms the hypothesis that emotion-recognition mechanisms play a causal role in character judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Brewer
- MRC Social, Genetic, & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
| | | | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychology, City University London
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- MRC Social, Genetic, & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
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Romanska A, Rezlescu C, Susilo T, Duchaine B, Banissy MJ. High-Frequency Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation Enhances Perception of Facial Identity. Cereb Cortex 2015; 25:4334-40. [PMID: 25662714 PMCID: PMC4816786 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Recently, a number of studies have demonstrated the utility of transcranial current stimulation as a tool to facilitate a variety of cognitive and perceptual abilities. Few studies, though, have examined the utility of this approach for the processing of social information. Here, we conducted 2 experiments to explore whether a single session of high-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) targeted at lateral occipitotemporal cortices would enhance facial identity perception. In Experiment 1, participants received 20 min of active high-frequency tRNS or sham stimulation prior to completing the tasks examining facial identity perception or trustworthiness perception. Active high-frequency tRNS facilitated facial identity perception, but not trustworthiness perception. Experiment 2 assessed the spatial specificity of this effect by delivering 20 min of active high-frequency tRNS to lateral occipitotemporal cortices or sensorimotor cortices prior to participants completing the same facial identity perception task used in Experiment 1. High-frequency tRNS targeted at lateral occipitotemporal cortices enhanced performance relative to motor cortex stimulation. These findings show that high-frequency tRNS to lateral occipitotemporal cortices produces task-specific and site-specific enhancements in face perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Romanska
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
| | | | - Tirta Susilo
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Bradley Duchaine
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Michael J Banissy
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
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