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Kobayashi M, Kanazawa S, Yamaguchi MK. The role of scenic context on upright face preference in infancy. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288253. [PMID: 37440545 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Scenic information plays an important role in face processing, whereas it has received limited attention in the field of developmental research. In the current study, we investigated whether infants, like adults, utilize scenic information for face processing by the preferential-looking method. In Experiment 1, we examined 4-5 and 6-7-month-olds' visual preferences for upright faces compared to inverted faces in two surrounding scene conditions: intact (in which a face occurs in an intact scene) and scrambled (in which a face occurs in a jumbled scene). We found that 6- to 7-month-olds preferred the upright face in the intact scene, but not in the scrambled scene. Meanwhile, 4- to 5-month-olds showed significant upright face preference in both scenes. The results of Experiment 2 ruled out the possibility that the lack of preference for upright faces in the scrambled scene in 6- to 7-month-olds resulted from more distraction by the scrambledness of the image than occurs with 4- to 5-month-olds, by showing no developmental changes in preference either for the scrambled images or the intact images when faces did not appear. Our results suggest that infants aged 6 months or more utilize scenic information for face processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - So Kanazawa
- Department of Psychology, Japan Women's University, Bunkyo City, Japan
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2
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Kavšek M, Heil M, Granrud CE. Holistic face processing in 4- and 7-month-old infants. INFANCY 2022; 27:1052-1067. [PMID: 36124541 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies found an onset of holistic face processing in the age range between 0-4 and 7 months of age. To validate these studies, the present study investigated infants 4 and 7 months of age with a different experimental approach. In a habituation-dishabituation experiment, the infants were tested with stereoscopic stimuli in which stripes floated above a face, thereby occluding some parts of the face (amodal completion condition), and stereoscopic stimuli in which the same face parts floated above stripes (modal completion condition). Research with adults indicates that faces are processed holistically, that is as global wholes, in the amodal, but as independent parts in the modal completion condition, resulting in superior face recognition when the occluding bars are in front of than when they are behind the visible face parts. The present study found that infants regardless of whether they are 4 or 7 months old reliably recognized and differentiated the faces in the amodal but not in the modal completion condition. Moreover, the difference between the experimental conditions was statistically significant. These findings show that approximately at the age of 4-7 months of life, infants begin to holistically unify disjoint face parts into a coherent whole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kavšek
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Martin Heil
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Carl E Granrud
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado, USA
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3
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Palmer CJ, Goddard E, Clifford CW. Face detection from patterns of shading and shadows: The role of overhead illumination in generating the familiar appearance of the human face. Cognition 2022; 225:105172. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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4
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Carnevali L, Gui A, Jones EJH, Farroni T. Face Processing in Early Development: A Systematic Review of Behavioral Studies and Considerations in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic. Front Psychol 2022; 13:778247. [PMID: 35250718 PMCID: PMC8894249 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.778247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human faces are one of the most prominent stimuli in the visual environment of young infants and convey critical information for the development of social cognition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mask wearing has become a common practice outside the home environment. With masks covering nose and mouth regions, the facial cues available to the infant are impoverished. The impact of these changes on development is unknown but is critical to debates around mask mandates in early childhood settings. As infants grow, they increasingly interact with a broader range of familiar and unfamiliar people outside the home; in these settings, mask wearing could possibly influence social development. In order to generate hypotheses about the effects of mask wearing on infant social development, in the present work, we systematically review N = 129 studies selected based on the most recent PRISMA guidelines providing a state-of-the-art framework of behavioral studies investigating face processing in early infancy. We focused on identifying sensitive periods during which being exposed to specific facial features or to the entire face configuration has been found to be important for the development of perceptive and socio-communicative skills. For perceptive skills, infants gradually learn to analyze the eyes or the gaze direction within the context of the entire face configuration. This contributes to identity recognition as well as emotional expression discrimination. For socio-communicative skills, direct gaze and emotional facial expressions are crucial for attention engagement while eye-gaze cuing is important for joint attention. Moreover, attention to the mouth is particularly relevant for speech learning. We discuss possible implications of the exposure to masked faces for developmental needs and functions. Providing groundwork for further research, we encourage the investigation of the consequences of mask wearing for infants' perceptive and socio-communicative development, suggesting new directions within the research field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Anna Gui
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emily J. H. Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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5
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Marcolin F, Vezzetti E, Monaci M. Face perception foundations for pattern recognition algorithms. Neurocomputing 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2021.02.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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6
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Canas-Bajo T, Whitney D. Stimulus-Specific Individual Differences in Holistic Perception of Mooney Faces. Front Psychol 2020; 11:585921. [PMID: 33240177 PMCID: PMC7677523 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans perceive faces holistically rather than as a set of separate features. Previous work demonstrates that some individuals are better at this holistic type of processing than others. Here, we show that there are unique individual differences in holistic processing of specific Mooney faces. We operationalized the increased difficulty of recognizing a face when inverted compared to upright as a measure of the degree to which individual Mooney faces were processed holistically by individual observers. Our results show that Mooney faces vary considerably in the extent to which they tap into holistic processing; some Mooney faces require holistic processing more than others. Importantly, there is little between-subject agreement about which faces are processed holistically; specific faces that are processed holistically by one observer are not by other observers. Essentially, what counts as holistic for one person is unique to that particular observer. Interestingly, we found that the per-face, per-observer differences in face discrimination only occurred for harder Mooney faces that required relatively more holistic processing. These findings suggest that holistic processing of hard Mooney faces depends on a particular observer's experience whereas processing of easier, cartoon-like Mooney faces can proceed universally for everyone. Future work using Mooney faces in perception research should take these stimulus-specific individual differences into account to best isolate holistic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Canas-Bajo
- Vision Science Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - David Whitney
- Vision Science Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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7
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Liu L, Escudero P, Quattropani C, Robbins RA. Factors affecting infant toy preferences: Age, gender, experience, motor development, and parental attitude. INFANCY 2020; 25:593-617. [PMID: 32857444 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2019] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In contrast to the anecdotal claim that "male infants like cars and female infants like dolls," previous studies have reported mixed findings for gender-related toy preferences in infancy. In Experiment 1, we explored the emergence of gender-related preferences using face-car pairs (Experiment 1a, n = 51, 6-20 months) or face-stove pairs (Experiment 1b, n = 54, 6-20 months). In Experiment 2 (n = 42, 14-16 months), we explore the effect of toy properties, infants' past toy exposure, activity levels, and parental attitudes on such preferences using a wider range of toys. For both studies, infants demonstrated a general preference for faced stimuli over other objects, except for male infants who showed no preference between dolls and cars at around 15 months. Infants' prior experience participating in motor-intensive activities, with wheeled toys and parental attitudes appeared to relate to female infants' preferences for dynamic toys. These results indicate a range of factors influence gendered toy preferences and suggest that nurture plays an important role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liquan Liu
- School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian Research Council, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Center of Multilingualism across the Lifespan, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Paola Escudero
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian Research Council, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Christina Quattropani
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Rachel A Robbins
- School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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8
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Craighero L, Ghirardi V, Lunghi M, Panin F, Simion F. Two-day-old newborns learn to discriminate accelerated-decelerated biological kinematics from constant velocity motion. Cognition 2019; 195:104126. [PMID: 31731117 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 11/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Already in uterus the hand moves with the typical accelerated-decelerated kinematics of goal-directed actions and, from the twenty-second week of pregnancy, the unborn shows the ability to modulate the velocity of the movement depending on the nature of the target. According to the direct matching hypothesis, this motor knowledge may be sufficient to attune neonates' motion perception-like adults'-to biological kinematics. Using dots configuration motions which varied with respect to the kinematics of goal-directed actions, we observed that two-day-old human newborns did not show any spontaneous preference for either biological accelerated-decelerated motion or non-biological constant velocity motion when these were simultaneously presented in a standard preferential looking paradigm. In contrast, newborns preferred the biological kinematics after the repeated visual presentation of the different motions in a standard infant-control visual habituation paradigm. We propose that present results indicate that the relationship between perception and action does not require only action development but also the accumulation of sufficient perceptual experience. They also suggest a fast plasticity of the sensorimotor system in linking an already acquired motor knowledge with a newly experienced congruent visual stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laila Craighero
- Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy.
| | - Valentina Ghirardi
- Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy
| | - Marco Lunghi
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Italy
| | - Fiorenza Panin
- Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy
| | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Italy
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9
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Schwiedrzik CM, Melloni L, Schurger A. Mooney face stimuli for visual perception research. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200106. [PMID: 29979727 PMCID: PMC6034866 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In 1957, Craig Mooney published a set of human face stimuli to study perceptual closure: the formation of a coherent percept on the basis of minimal visual information. Images of this type, now known as "Mooney faces", are widely used in cognitive psychology and neuroscience because they offer a means of inducing variable perception with constant visuo-spatial characteristics (they are often not perceived as faces if viewed upside down). Mooney's original set of 40 stimuli has been employed in several studies. However, it is often necessary to use a much larger stimulus set. We created a new set of over 500 Mooney faces and tested them on a cohort of human observers. We present the results of our tests here, and make the stimuli freely available via the internet. Our test results can be used to select subsets of the stimuli that are most suited for a given experimental purpose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caspar M. Schwiedrzik
- Neural Circuits and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute, Göttingen, Germany
- University Medical Center Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Lucia Melloni
- Department of Neurosurgery, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
- Neuroscience Department, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Aaron Schurger
- INSERM, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Gif sur Yvette, France
- Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, I2BM, NeuroSpin center, Gif sur Yvette, France
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10
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Walker P, Bremner JG, Lunghi M, Dolscheid S, D. Barba B, Simion F. Newborns are sensitive to the correspondence between auditory pitch and visuospatial elevation. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 60:216-223. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.21603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Walker
- Department of Psychology; Lancaster University; Lancaster UK
- Department of Psychology; Sunway University; Bandar Sunway Malaysia
| | | | - Marco Lunghi
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology; University of Padova; Padova Italy
| | - Sarah Dolscheid
- Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education; University of Cologne; Cologne Germany
| | | | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology; University of Padova; Padova Italy
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11
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Leo I, Angeli V, Lunghi M, Dalla Barba B, Simion F. Newborns' Face Recognition: The Role of Facial Movement. INFANCY 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Leo
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
| | | | - Marco Lunghi
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
| | | | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; University of Padova
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12
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Nakabayashi K, Liu CH. Development of holistic vs. featural processing in face recognition. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:831. [PMID: 25368565 PMCID: PMC4202725 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2014] [Accepted: 09/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
According to a classic view developed by Carey and Diamond (1977), young children process faces in a piecemeal fashion before adult-like holistic processing starts to emerge at the age of around 10 years. This is known as the encoding switch hypothesis. Since then, a growing body of studies have challenged the theory. This article will provide a critical appraisal of this literature, followed by an analysis of some more recent developments. We will conclude, quite contrary to the classical view, that holistic processing is not only present in early child development, but could even precede the development of part-based processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chang Hong Liu
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth UniversityPoole, UK
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13
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Carbon CC, Grüter M, Grüter T. Age-dependent face detection and face categorization performance. PLoS One 2013; 8:e79164. [PMID: 24116236 PMCID: PMC3792936 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2013] [Accepted: 09/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Empirical studies on the development of face processing skills with age show inconsistent patterns concerning qualitative vs. quantitative changes over time or the age range for peak cognitive performance. In the present study, we tested the proficiency in face detection and face categorization with a large sample of participants (N = 312; age range: 2-88 yrs). As test objects, we used so-called Mooney faces, two-tone (black and white) images of faces lacking critical information of a local, featural and relational nature, reflecting difficult real world face processing conditions. We found that performance in the assessment of gender and age from Mooney faces increases up to about age 15, and decreases from 65 years on. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of classic and recent findings from face development literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claus-Christian Carbon
- University of Bamberg, Department of General Psychology and Methodology, Bamberg, Germany
- Graduate School of Affective and Cognitive Sciences, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Martina Grüter
- University of Bamberg, Department of General Psychology and Methodology, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Grüter
- University of Bamberg, Department of General Psychology and Methodology, Bamberg, Germany
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14
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Escudero P, Robbins RA, Johnson SP. Sex-related preferences for real and doll faces versus real and toy objects in young infants and adults. J Exp Child Psychol 2013; 116:367-79. [PMID: 23933180 PMCID: PMC3766397 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2013] [Revised: 06/30/2013] [Accepted: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Findings of previous studies demonstrate sex-related preferences for toys in 6-month-old infants; boys prefer nonsocial or mechanical toys such as cars, whereas girls prefer social toys such as dolls. Here, we explored the innate versus learned nature of this sex-related preferences using multiple pictures of doll and real faces (of men and women) as well as pictures of toy and real objects (cars and stoves). In total, 48 4- and 5-month-old infants (24 girls and 24 boys) and 48 young adults (24 women and 24 men) saw six trials of all relevant pairs of faces and objects, with each trial containing a different exemplar of a stimulus type. The infant results showed no sex-related preferences; infants preferred faces of men and women regardless of whether they were real or doll faces. Similarly, adults did not show sex-related preferences for social versus nonsocial stimuli, but unlike infants they preferred faces of the opposite sex over objects. These results challenge claims of an innate basis for sex-related preferences for toy real stimuli and suggest that sex-related preferences result from maturational and social development that continues into adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Escudero
- MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
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15
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Otsuka Y. Face recognition in infants: A review of behavioral and near-infrared spectroscopic studies. JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/jpr.12024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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16
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Otsuka Y, Hill HC, Kanazawa S, Yamaguchi MK, Spehar B. Perception of Mooney faces by young infants: The role of local feature visibility, contrast polarity, and motion. J Exp Child Psychol 2012; 111:164-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2010] [Revised: 10/04/2010] [Accepted: 10/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Abstract
Neurological experiments have revealed a complex network of areas in the human brain that respond more to faces than to other categories of objects and thus have been implemented in face categorization. The aim of this study was to investigate whether chimpanzees (n = 5), our closest living relatives, detect and categorize faces on the basis of first-order information, and whether this sensitivity is specific to faces or generalizes to other objects. In service to this aim, we created multiple categories of two-tone 'Mooney' objects (chimpanzee faces, shoes, human hands), because, by maximizing contrast, the Mooney transformation selectively degrades second-order information (the basis for individual discrimination in humans), leaving only first-order information intact. Two experiments used a 2AFC MTS procedure. The first experiment provided strong evidence that, like humans, chimpanzees categorize Mooney faces as faces. However, without second-order information, the chimpanzees could not match Mooney faces at the individual level. In Experiment 2, four of the five chimpanzees found it easier to categorize Mooney faces than Mooney shoes. Neurological evidence strongly indicates a dedicated neural mechanism for face categorization in the human brain, and our data suggest that chimpanzees share this level of specialization.
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18
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Farzin F, Rivera SM, Whitney D. Resolution of spatial and temporal visual attention in infants with fragile X syndrome. Brain 2011; 134:3355-68. [PMID: 22075522 PMCID: PMC3212718 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awr249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2011] [Revised: 07/14/2011] [Accepted: 07/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited intellectual impairment and the most common single-gene cause of autism. Individuals with fragile X syndrome present with a neurobehavioural phenotype that includes selective deficits in spatiotemporal visual perception associated with neural processing in frontal-parietal networks of the brain. The goal of the current study was to examine whether reduced resolution of spatial and/or temporal visual attention may underlie perceptual deficits related to fragile X syndrome. Eye tracking was used to psychophysically measure the limits of spatial and temporal attention in infants with fragile X syndrome and age-matched neurotypically developing infants. Results from these experiments revealed that infants with fragile X syndrome experience drastically reduced resolution of temporal attention in a genetic dose-sensitive manner, but have a spatial resolution of attention that is not impaired. Coarse temporal attention could have significant knock-on effects for the development of perceptual, cognitive and motor abilities in individuals with the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faraz Farzin
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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19
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Do infants recognize the Arcimboldo images as faces? Behavioral and near-infrared spectroscopic study. J Exp Child Psychol 2011; 111:22-36. [PMID: 21875715 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2011.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2010] [Revised: 07/22/2011] [Accepted: 07/22/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Arcimboldo images induce the perception of faces when shown upright despite the fact that only nonfacial objects such as vegetables and fruits are painted. In the current study, we examined whether infants recognize a face in the Arcimboldo images by using the preferential looking technique and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In the first experiment, we measured looking preference between upright and inverted Arcimboldo images among 5- and 6-month-olds and 7- and 8-month-olds. We hypothesized that if infants perceive the Arcimboldo images as faces, they would prefer the upright images to the inverted ones. We found that only 7- and 8-month-olds significantly preferred upright images, suggesting that they could perceive the Arcimboldo images as faces. In the second experiment, we measured hemodynamic responses using NIRS. Based on the behavioral data, we hypothesized that 7- and 8-month-olds would show different neural activity for upright and inverted Arcimboldo images, as do adults. Therefore, we measured hemodynamic responses in 7- and 8-month-olds while they were looking at upright and inverted Arcimboldo images. Their responses were then compared with the baseline activation during the presentation of individual vegetables. We found that the concentration of oxyhemoglobin increased in the left temporal area during the presentation of the upright images compared with the baseline during the presentation of vegetables. The results of the two experiments suggest that (a) the ability to recognize the upright Arcimboldo images as faces develops at around 7 or 8 months of age and (b) processing of the upright Arcimboldo images is related to the left temporal area of the brain.
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20
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Abstract
Visual cognition, high-level vision, mid-level vision and top-down processing all refer to decision-based scene analyses that combine prior knowledge with retinal input to generate representations. The label "visual cognition" is little used at present, but research and experiments on mid- and high-level, inference-based vision have flourished, becoming in the 21st century a significant, if often understated part, of current vision research. How does visual cognition work? What are its moving parts? This paper reviews the origins and architecture of visual cognition and briefly describes some work in the areas of routines, attention, surfaces, objects, and events (motion, causality, and agency). Most vision scientists avoid being too explicit when presenting concepts about visual cognition, having learned that explicit models invite easy criticism. What we see in the literature is ample evidence for visual cognition, but few or only cautious attempts to detail how it might work. This is the great unfinished business of vision research: at some point we will be done with characterizing how the visual system measures the world and we will have to return to the question of how vision constructs models of objects, surfaces, scenes, and events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Cavanagh
- Centre Attention & Vision, LPP CNRS UMR 8158, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
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21
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Pesciarelli F, Sarlo M, Leo I. The time course of implicit processing of facial features: An event-related potential study. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:1154-1161. [PMID: 21315094 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2010] [Revised: 01/28/2011] [Accepted: 02/02/2011] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- F Pesciarelli
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy.
| | - M Sarlo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - I Leo
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Simion F, Di Giorgio E, Leo I, Bardi L. The processing of social stimuli in early infancy. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2011; 189:173-93. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-53884-0.00024-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Abstract
Humans' conscious awareness of objects in their visual periphery is limited. This limit is not entirely the result of reduced visual acuity. Rather, it is primarily caused by crowding--the difficulty identifying an object when it is surrounded by clutter. The effect of crowding on visual awareness in infants has yet to be explored. Do infants, for example, have a fine-grained "spotlight," as adults do, or do infants have a diffuse "lantern" that sets limits on what they can register in their visual periphery? We designed an eye-tracking paradigm to psychophysically measure crowding in infants between 6 months and 15 months of age. We showed infants pairs of faces at three eccentricities, in the presence or absence of flankers, and recorded infants' first saccade from central fixation to either face. Infants could discriminate faces in the periphery, and flankers impaired this ability. We found that the effective spatial resolution of infants' visual perception increased with age, but was only half that of adults.
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