1
|
Bunce C, Gehdu BK, Press C, Gray KLH, Cook R. Autistic adults exhibit typical sensitivity to changes in interpersonal distance. Autism Res 2024; 17:1464-1474. [PMID: 38828663 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
The visual processing differences seen in autism often impede individuals' visual perception of the social world. In particular, many autistic people exhibit poor face recognition. Here, we sought to determine whether autistic adults also show impaired perception of dyadic social interactions-a class of stimulus thought to engage face-like visual processing. Our focus was the perception of interpersonal distance. Participants completed distance change detection tasks, in which they had to make perceptual decisions about the distance between two actors. On half of the trials, participants judged whether the actors moved closer together; on the other half, whether they moved further apart. In a nonsocial control task, participants made similar judgments about two grandfather clocks. We also assessed participants' face recognition ability using standardized measures. The autistic and nonautistic observers showed similar levels of perceptual sensitivity to changes in interpersonal distance when viewing social interactions. As expected, however, the autistic observers showed clear signs of impaired face recognition. Despite putative similarities between the visual processing of faces and dyadic social interactions, our results suggest that these two facets of social vision may dissociate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carl Bunce
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Bayparvah Kaur Gehdu
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Clare Press
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Katie L H Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zhang Q, Zhang Y, Liu N, Sun X. Understanding of facial features in face perception: insights from deep convolutional neural networks. Front Comput Neurosci 2024; 18:1209082. [PMID: 38655070 PMCID: PMC11035738 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2024.1209082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Face recognition has been a longstanding subject of interest in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and computer vision research. One key focus has been to understand the relative importance of different facial features in identifying individuals. Previous studies in humans have demonstrated the crucial role of eyebrows in face recognition, potentially even surpassing the importance of the eyes. However, eyebrows are not only vital for face recognition but also play a significant role in recognizing facial expressions and intentions, which might occur simultaneously and influence the face recognition process. Methods To address these challenges, our current study aimed to leverage the power of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs), an artificial face recognition system, which can be specifically tailored for face recognition tasks. In this study, we investigated the relative importance of various facial features in face recognition by selectively blocking feature information from the input to the DCNN. Additionally, we conducted experiments in which we systematically blurred the information related to eyebrows to varying degrees. Results Our findings aligned with previous human research, revealing that eyebrows are the most critical feature for face recognition, followed by eyes, mouth, and nose, in that order. The results demonstrated that the presence of eyebrows was more crucial than their specific high-frequency details, such as edges and textures, compared to other facial features, where the details also played a significant role. Furthermore, our results revealed that, unlike other facial features, the activation map indicated that the significance of eyebrows areas could not be readily adjusted to compensate for the absence of eyebrow information. This finding explains why masking eyebrows led to more significant deficits in face recognition performance. Additionally, we observed a synergistic relationship among facial features, providing evidence for holistic processing of faces within the DCNN. Discussion Overall, our study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of face recognition and underscores the potential of using DCNNs as valuable tools for further exploration in this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Zhang
- MoE Key Laboratory of Brain-inspired Intelligent Perception and Cognition, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
| | - Yueyi Zhang
- MoE Key Laboratory of Brain-inspired Intelligent Perception and Cognition, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
| | - Ning Liu
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyan Sun
- MoE Key Laboratory of Brain-inspired Intelligent Perception and Cognition, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Walsh E, Moreira C, Longo MR. Opposite size illusions for inverted faces and letters. Cognition 2024; 245:105733. [PMID: 38281395 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Words are the primary means by which we communicate meaning and ideas, while faces provide important social cues. Studying visual illusions involving faces and words can elucidate the hierarchical processing of information as different regions of the brain are specialised for face recognition and word processing. A size illusion has previously been demonstrated for faces, whereby an inverted face is perceived as larger than the same stimulus upright. Here, two experiments replicate the face size illusion, and investigate whether the illusion is also present for individual letters (Experiment 1), and visual words and pseudowords (Experiment 2). Results confirm a robust size Illusion for faces. Letters, words and pseudowords and unfamiliar letters all show a reverse size illusion, as we previously demonstrated for human bodies. Overall, results indicate the illusion occurs in early perceptual stages upstream of semantic processing. Results are consistent with the idea of a general-purpose mechanism that encodes curvilinear shapes found in both scripts and our environment. Word and face perception rely on specialised, independent cognitive processes. The underestimation of the size of upright stimuli is specific to faces. Opposite size illusions may reflect differences in how size information is encoded and represented in stimulus-specialised neural networks, resulting in contrasting perceptual effects. Though words and faces differ visually, there is both symmetry and asymmetry in how the brain 'reads' them.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eamonn Walsh
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
| | - Carolina Moreira
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
| | - Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Halder T, Ludwig K, Schenk T. Binocular rivalry reveals differential face processing in congenital prosopagnosia. Sci Rep 2024; 14:6687. [PMID: 38509151 PMCID: PMC10954711 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55023-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Congenital Prosopagnosia (CP) is an innate impairment in face perception with heterogeneous characteristics. It is still unclear if and to what degree holistic processing of faces is disrupted in CP. Such disruption would be expected to lead to a focus on local features of the face. In this study, we used binocular rivalry (BR) to implicitly measure face perception in conditions that favour holistic or local processing. The underlying assumption is that if stimulus saliency affects the perceptual dominance of a given stimulus in BR, one can deduce how salient a stimulus is for a given group (here: participants with and without CP) based on the measured perceptual dominance. A further open question is whether the deficit in face processing in CP extends to the processing of the facial display of emotions. In experiment 1, we compared predominance of upright and inverted faces displaying different emotions (fearful, happy, neutral) vs. houses between participants with CP (N = 21) and with normal face perception (N = 21). The results suggest that CP observers process emotions in faces automatically but rely more on local features than controls. The inversion of faces, which is supposed to disturb holistic processing, affected controls in a more pronounced way than participants with CP. In experiment 2, we introduced the Thatcher effect in BR by inverting the eye and mouth regions of the presented faces in the hope of further increasing the effect of face inversion. However, our expectations were not borne out by the results. Critically, both experiments showed that inversion effects were more pronounced in controls than in CP, suggesting that holistic face processing is less relevant in CP. We find BR to be a useful implicit test for assessing visual processing specificities in neurological participants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Theresa Halder
- Clinical Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802, München, Germany.
| | - Karin Ludwig
- Clinical Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802, München, Germany
| | - Thomas Schenk
- Clinical Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802, München, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Pikoos TD, Malcolm A, Castle DJ, Rossell SL. A hierarchy of visual processing deficits in body dysmorphic disorder: a conceptual review and empirical investigation. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2024; 29:116-140. [PMID: 38563811 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2024.2326243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Abnormal visual processing has been proposed as a mechanism underlying excessive focus on minor appearance flaws in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Existing BDD research has not differentiated the various stages of face processing (featural, first-order configural, holistic and second-order configural) that are required for higher-order processes such as emotion recognition. This study investigated a hierarchical visual processing model to examine the nature of abnormalities in face processing in BDD. METHOD Thirty BDD participants and 27 healthy controls completed the Navon task, a featural and configural face processing task and a facial emotion labelling task. RESULTS BDD participants performed similarly to controls when processing global and local non-face stimuli on the Navon task, when detecting subtle changes in the features and spacing of a target face, and when labelling emotional faces. However, BDD participants displayed poorer performance when viewing inverted faces, indicating difficulties in configural processing. CONCLUSIONS The findings only partially support prior work. However, synthesis of results with previous findings indicates that heterogenous task methodologies may contribute to inconsistent findings. Recommendations are provided regarding the task parameters that appear most sensitive to abnormalities in BDD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Toni D Pikoos
- Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Amy Malcolm
- Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - David J Castle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia
- Centre for Mental Health Service Innovation, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Susan L Rossell
- Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
- Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Plaza PL, Renier L, Rosemann S, De Volder AG, Rauschecker JP. Sound-encoded faces activate the left fusiform face area in the early blind. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0286512. [PMID: 37992062 PMCID: PMC10664868 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Face perception in humans and nonhuman primates is accomplished by a patchwork of specialized cortical regions. How these regions develop has remained controversial. In sighted individuals, facial information is primarily conveyed via the visual modality. Early blind individuals, on the other hand, can recognize shapes using auditory and tactile cues. Here we demonstrate that such individuals can learn to distinguish faces from houses and other shapes by using a sensory substitution device (SSD) presenting schematic faces as sound-encoded stimuli in the auditory modality. Using functional MRI, we then asked whether a face-selective brain region like the fusiform face area (FFA) shows selectivity for faces in the same subjects, and indeed, we found evidence for preferential activation of the left FFA by sound-encoded faces. These results imply that FFA development does not depend on experience with visual faces per se but may instead depend on exposure to the geometry of facial configurations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paula L. Plaza
- Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Laurent Renier
- Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Neural Rehabilitation Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Stephanie Rosemann
- Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Anne G. De Volder
- Neural Rehabilitation Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Josef P. Rauschecker
- Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Yates TS, Lewkowicz DJ. Robust holistic face processing in early childhood during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 232:105676. [PMID: 37018972 PMCID: PMC9998297 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
The timing of the developmental emergence of holistic face processing and its sensitivity to experience in early childhood are somewhat controversial topics. To investigate holistic face perception in early childhood, we used an online testing platform and administered a two-alternative forced-choice task to 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children. The children saw pairs of composite faces and needed to decide whether the faces were the same or different. To determine whether experience with masked faces may have negatively affected holistic processing, we also administered a parental questionnaire to assess the children's exposure to masked faces during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that all three age groups performed holistic face processing when the faces were upright (Experiment 1) but not when the faces were inverted (Experiment 2), that response accuracy increased with age, and that response accuracy was not related to degree of exposure to masked faces. These results indicate that holistic face processing is relatively robust in early childhood and that short-term exposure to partially visible faces does not negatively affect young children's holistic face perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tristan S Yates
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
| | - David J Lewkowicz
- Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Learning facilitates dual-process face recognition regardless of holistic processing. Mem Cognit 2023:10.3758/s13421-023-01399-2. [PMID: 36884192 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01399-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023]
Abstract
Much evidence suggests that faces are recognized based on their global familiarity in a signal-detection manner. However, experiments drawing this conclusion typically present study lists of faces only once or twice, and the nature of face recognition at higher levels of learning remains unclear. Here, three experiments are reported in which participants studied some faces eight times and others twice and then took a recognition test containing previously viewed faces, entirely new faces, and faces which recombined the parts of previously viewed faces. Three measures converged to suggest that study list repetition increased the likelihood of participants rejecting recombined faces as new by recollecting that their parts were studied but in a different combination, and that manipulating holistic or Gestalt-like processing-a hallmark of face perception-qualitatively preserved its effect on how memory judgments are made. This suggests that face learning causes a shift from the use of a signal-detection strategy to the use of a dual-process strategy of face recognition regardless of holistic processing.
Collapse
|
9
|
Tien M, Albonico A, Barton JJS. Faces, English words and Chinese characters: a study of dual-task interference in mono-and bilingual speakers. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:1131-1144. [PMID: 36856801 PMCID: PMC9975443 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06580-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
The many-to-many hypothesis suggests that face and visual-word processing tasks share neural resources in the brain, even though they show opposing hemispheric asymmetries in neuroimaging and neuropsychologic studies. Recently it has been suggested that both stimulus and task effects need to be incorporated into the hypothesis. A recent study found dual-task interference between face and text functions that lateralized to the same hemisphere, but not when they lateralized to different hemispheres. However, it is not clear whether a lack of interference between word and face recognition would occur for other languages, particularly those with a morpho-syllabic script, like Chinese, for which there is some evidence of greater right hemispheric involvement. Here, we used the same technique to probe for dual-task interference between English text, Chinese characters and face recognition. We tested 20 subjects monolingual for English and 20 subjects bilingual for Chinese and English. We replicated the prior result for English text and showed similar results for Chinese text with no evidence of interference with faces. We also did not find interference between Chinese and English text. The results support a view in which reading English words, reading Chinese characters and face identification have minimal sharing of neural resources.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marko Tien
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3N9 Canada
| | - Andrea Albonico
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3N9 Canada
| | - Jason J. S. Barton
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3N9 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Sun J, Dong T, Liu P. Holistic processing and visual characteristics of regulated and spontaneous expressions. J Vis 2023; 23:6. [PMID: 36912592 PMCID: PMC10019490 DOI: 10.1167/jov.23.3.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The rapid and efficient recognition of facial expressions is crucial for adaptive behaviors, and holistic processing is one of the critical processing methods to achieve this adaptation. Therefore, this study integrated the effects and attentional characteristics of the authenticity of facial expressions on holistic processing. The results show that both regulated and spontaneous expressions were processed holistically. However, the spontaneous expression details did not indicate typical holistic processing, with the congruency effect observed equally for aligned and misaligned conditions. No significant difference between the two expressions was observed in terms of reaction times and eye movement characteristics (i.e., total fixation duration, fixation counts, and first fixation duration). These findings suggest that holistic processing strategies differ between the two expressions. Nevertheless, the difference was not reflected in attentional engagement.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juncai Sun
- School of Psychology, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China.,
| | - Tiantian Dong
- Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.,
| | - Ping Liu
- Department of Psychology, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China.,
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Wang Z, Ni H, Zhou X, Yang X, Zheng Z, Sun YHP, Zhang X, Jin H. Looking at the upper facial half enlarges the range of holistic face processing. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2419. [PMID: 36765162 PMCID: PMC9918552 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29583-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies suggested that upper and lower facial halves might be involved in the human holistic face processing differently. In this study, we replicated and extended the finding above. In Experiment 1, we used the standard composite-face task to measure holistic face processing when participants made judgements on the upper and lower facial halves separately. Results showed that the composite-face effect was stronger for the upper facial half compared to the lower half. In Experiment 2, we investigated how facial information was integrated when participants focused on different features, using the perceptual field paradigm. Results showed that: (1) more "peripheral faces" were chosen when participants fixated at the eyes than when they fixated at the mouth; (2) less "peripheral faces" were chosen for inverted faces regardless of the fixated features. Findings from both experiments together indicate that more peripheral facial information were integrated when participants focused on the upper facial half, highlighting the significance of focusing on the upper facial half in face processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Wang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Hao Ni
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xin Zhou
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiteng Yang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ziyi Zheng
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yu-Hao P Sun
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiaohui Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Haiyang Jin
- Division of Science, Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Do chimpanzees see a face on Mars? A search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees. Anim Cogn 2022; 26:885-905. [PMID: 36583802 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01739-w] [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: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
We sometimes perceive meaningful patterns or images in random arrangements of colors and shapes. This phenomenon is called pareidolia and has recently been studied intensively, especially face pareidolia. In contrast, there are few comparative-cognitive studies on face pareidolia with nonhuman primates. This study explored behavioral evidence for face pareidolia in chimpanzees using visual search and matching tasks. Faces are processed in a configural manner, and their perception and recognition are hampered by inversion and misalignment of top and bottom parts. We investigated whether the same effect occurs in a visual search for face-like objects. The results showed an effect of misalignment. On the other hand, consistent results were not obtained with the photographs of fruits. When only the top or bottom half of the face-like object was presented, chimpanzees showed better performance for the top-half condition, suggesting the importance of the eye area in face pareidolia. In the positive-control experiments, chimpanzees received the same experiment using human faces and human participants with face-like objects and fruits. As a result, chimpanzees showed an inefficient search for inverted and misaligned faces and humans for manipulated face-like objects. Finally, to examine the role of face awareness, we tested matching a human face to a face-like object in chimpanzees but obtained no substantial evidence that they saw the face-like object as a "face." Based on these results, we discussed the extents and limits of face pareidolia in chimpanzees.
Collapse
|
13
|
Giuliana GT. What is So Special About Contemporary CG Faces? Semiotics of MetaHumans. TOPOI : AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY 2022; 41:821-834. [PMID: 36039188 PMCID: PMC9403949 DOI: 10.1007/s11245-022-09814-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This paper analyses the features of the 2021 software for the creation of ultrarealistic digital characters "MetaHuman Creator" and reflects on the causes of such perceived effect of realism to understand if the faces produced with such software represent an actual novelty from an academic standpoint. Such realism is first of all defined as the result of semio-cognitive processes which trigger interpretative habits specifically related to faces. These habits are then related to the main properties of any realistic face: being face-looking, face-meaning and face-acting. These properties, in turn, are put in relation with our interactions with faces in terms of face detection, face recognition, face reading and face agency. Within this theoretical framework, we relate the characteristics of these artificial faces with such interpretative habits. To do so, we first of all make an examination of the technological features behind both the software and the digital faces it produces. This analysis highlights four main points of interest: the mathematical accuracy, the scanned database, the high level of details and the transformative capacities of these artificial faces. We then relate these characteristics with the cultural and cognitive aspects involved in recognizing and granting meaning to faces. This reveals how metahuman faces differs from previous artificial faces in terms of indexicality, intersubjectivity, informativity and irreducibility. But it also reveals some limits of such effect of reality in terms of intentionality and historical context. This examination consequently brings us to conclude that metahuman faces are qualitatively different from previous artificial faces and, in the light of their potentials and limits, to highlight four main lines of future research based on our findings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gianmarco Thierry Giuliana
- Dipartimento di Filosofia e Scienze dell’Educazione, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Sant′Ottavio 20, 10124 Turin, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
The relation between holistic processing as measured by three composite tasks and face processing: A latent variable modeling approach. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:2319-2334. [PMID: 35915200 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02543-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the relationship between holistic processing and face processing using a latent variables approach. Three versions of the composite paradigm were used to measure holistic processing: Vanderbilt Holistic Face Processing Test, a sequential composite matching task, and a simultaneous composite matching task. Three tasks were used to measure face perception and face memory abilities respectively. We had three pairs of tasks such that within each pair (of memory and perception task), the stimuli involved, the requirement for matching across viewpoints, etc., are the same, such that the only difference is whether perception or memory is taxed. There were no significant correlations between the different versions of the composite task. We discovered no evidence to support a distinction between face perception and face memory, suggesting the existence of a general face processing factor. Finally, there was no evidence that holistic processing (as captured by either of the three composite tasks) is predictive of better face processing per se, casting doubts on the role of holistic processing in differentiating different levels of efficiency in face processing.
Collapse
|
15
|
Corti C, Butti N, Bardoni A, Strazzer S, Urgesi C. Body Processing in Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury: An Exploratory Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12080962. [PMID: 35892403 PMCID: PMC9331706 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12080962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Dysfunctions in body processing have been documented in adults with brain damage, while limited information is available for children. This study aimed to investigate body processing in children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (N = 33), compared to peers with typical development. Two well-known computerized body-representation paradigms, namely Visual Body Recognition and Visuo-spatial Imagery, were administered. Through the first paradigm, the body inversion and composite illusion effects were tested with a matching to sample task as measures of configural and holistic processing of others’ bodies, respectively. The second paradigm investigated with a laterality judgement task the ability to perform first-person and object-based mental spatial transformations of own body and external objects, respectively. Body stimuli did not convey any emotional contents or symbolic meanings. Patients with TBI had difficulties with mental transformations of both body and object stimuli, displaying deficits in motor and visual imagery abilities, not limited to body processing. Therefore, cognitive rehabilitation of body processing in TBI might benefit from the inclusion of both general training on visuo-spatial abilities and specific exercises aimed at boosting visual body perception and motor imagery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Corti
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Via Don Luigi Monza 20, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (N.B.); (A.B.); (S.S.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Niccolò Butti
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Via Don Luigi Monza 20, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (N.B.); (A.B.); (S.S.)
- PhD Program in Neural and Cognitive Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Alessandra Bardoni
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Via Don Luigi Monza 20, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (N.B.); (A.B.); (S.S.)
| | - Sandra Strazzer
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Via Don Luigi Monza 20, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; (N.B.); (A.B.); (S.S.)
| | - Cosimo Urgesi
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 33078 San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy;
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Bennetts RJ, Gregory NJ, Tree J, Di Bernardi Luft C, Banissy MJ, Murray E, Penton T, Bate S. Face specific inversion effects provide evidence for two subtypes of developmental prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108332. [PMID: 35839963 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Many studies have attempted to identify the perceptual underpinnings of developmental prosopagnosia (DP). The majority have focused on whether holistic and configural processing mechanisms are impaired in DP. However, previous work suggests that there is substantial heterogeneity in holistic and configural processing within the DP population; further, there is disagreement as to whether any deficits are face-specific or reflect a broader perceptual deficit. This study used a data-driven approach to examine whether there are systematic patterns of variability in DP that reflect different underpinning perceptual deficits. A group of individuals with DP (N = 37) completed a cognitive battery measuring holistic/configural and featural processing in faces and non-face objects. A two-stage cluster analysis on data from the Cambridge Face Perception Test identified two subgroups of DPs. Across several tasks, the first subgroup (N = 21) showed typical patterns of holistic/configural processing (measured via inversion effects); the second (N = 16) was characterised by reduced or abolished inversion effects compared to age-matched control participants (N = 91). The subgroups did not differ on tasks measuring upright face matching, object matching, non-face holistic processing, or composite effects. These findings indicate two separable pathways to face recognition impairment, one characterised by impaired configural processing and the other potentially by impaired featural processing. Comparisons to control participants provide some preliminary evidence that the deficit in featural processing may extend to some non-face stimuli. Our results demonstrate the utility of examining both the variability between and consistency across individuals with DP as a means of illuminating our understanding of face recognition in typical and atypical populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel J Bennetts
- College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University, UK.
| | | | - Jeremy Tree
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, UK
| | | | - Michael J Banissy
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK; Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
| | - Ebony Murray
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, UK
| | - Tegan Penton
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
| | - Sarah Bate
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, UK
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
The relationships between reading fluency and different measures of holistic word processing. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:1734-1756. [PMID: 35556234 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02497-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recently, paradigms in the face recognition literature have been adopted to reveal holistic processing in word recognition. It is unknown, however, whether different measures of holistic word processing share similar underlying mechanisms, and whether fluent word reading relies on holistic word processing. We measured holistic processing effects in three paradigms (composite, configural sensitivity, part-whole) as well as in reading fluency (3DM task: reading aloud high- and low-frequency words and pseudowords). Bin scores were used to combine accuracy and response time variables in the quest for a more comprehensive, reliable, and valid measure of holistic processing. Weak correlations were found between the different holistic processing measures, with only a significant correlation between the configural sensitivity effect and part-whole effect (r = .32) and a trend of a positive correlation between the word composite effect and configural sensitivity effect (r = .21). Of the three holistic processing measures, only one (part-whole effect) correlated with a lexical access measure of 3DM (r = .23). We also performed a principal component analysis (PCA) of performance in the three lists of 3DM, with the second most probably reflecting lexical access processes. There was a tendency for a positive correlation between part-whole bin measure and Component 2 of PCA. We also found a positive correlation between composite aligned in accuracy and Component 2 of PCA.Our results show that different measures of holistic word processing reflect predominantly different mechanisms, and that differences among normal readers in word reading do not seem to depend highly on holistic processing.
Collapse
|
18
|
Feizabadi M, Singh M, Albonico A, Barton JJS. The inversion effect in word recognition: the effect of language familiarity and handwriting. Perception 2022; 51:578-590. [PMID: 35731649 DOI: 10.1177/03010066221108859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Humans have expertise with visual words and faces. One marker of this expertise is the inversion effect. This is attributed to experience with those objects being biased towards a canonical orientation, rather than some inherent property of object structure or perceptual anisotropy. To confirm the role of experience, we measured inversion effects in word matching for familiar and unfamiliar languages. Second, we examined whether there may be more demands on reading expertise with handwritten stimuli rather than computer font, given the greater variability and irregularities in the former, with the prediction of larger inversion effects for handwriting. We recruited two cohorts of subjects, one fluent in Farsi and the other in Punjabi, neither of whom were able to read the other's language. Subjects performed a match-to-sample task with words in either computer fonts or handwritings. Subjects were more accurate and faster with their familiar language, even when it was inverted. Inversion effects were present for the familiar but not the unfamiliar language. The inversion effect in accuracy for handwriting was larger than that for computer fonts in the familiar language. We conclude that the word inversion effect is generated solely by orientation-biased experience, and that demands on this expertise are greater with handwriting than computer font.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mehar Singh
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
19
|
Rossion B. Twenty years of investigation with the case of prosopagnosia PS to understand human face identity recognition. Part I: Function. Neuropsychologia 2022; 173:108278. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
20
|
Arbel R, Heimler B, Amedi A. Congenitally blind adults can learn to identify face-shapes via auditory sensory substitution and successfully generalize some of the learned features. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4330. [PMID: 35288597 PMCID: PMC8921184 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08187-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Unlike sighted individuals, congenitally blind individuals have little to no experience with face shapes. Instead, they rely on non-shape cues, such as voices, to perform character identification. The extent to which face-shape perception can be learned in adulthood via a different sensory modality (i.e., not vision) remains poorly explored. We used a visual-to-auditory Sensory Substitution Device (SSD) that enables conversion of visual images to the auditory modality while preserving their visual characteristics. Expert SSD users were systematically taught to identify cartoon faces via audition. Following a tailored training program lasting ~ 12 h, congenitally blind participants successfully identified six trained faces with high accuracy. Furthermore, they effectively generalized their identification to the untrained, inverted orientation of the learned faces. Finally, after completing the extensive 12-h training program, participants learned six new faces within 2 additional hours of training, suggesting internalization of face-identification processes. Our results document for the first time that facial features can be processed through audition, even in the absence of visual experience across the lifespan. Overall, these findings have important implications for both non-visual object recognition and visual rehabilitation practices and prompt the study of the neural processes underlying auditory face perception in the absence of vision.
Collapse
|
21
|
Muukkonen I, Kilpeläinen M, Turkkila R, Saarela T, Salmela V. Obligatory integration of face features in expression discrimination. VISUAL COGNITION 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2022.2046222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- I. Muukkonen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - M. Kilpeläinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - R. Turkkila
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - T. Saarela
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - V. Salmela
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
The Effect of Surgical Masks on the Featural and Configural Processing of Emotions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19042420. [PMID: 35206620 PMCID: PMC8872142 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19042420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of surgical masks became widespread. However, they occlude an important part of the face and make it difficult to decode and interpret other people's emotions. To clarify the effect of surgical masks on configural and featural processing, participants completed a facial emotion recognition task to discriminate between happy, sad, angry, and neutral faces. Stimuli included fully visible faces, masked faces, and a cropped photo of the eyes or mouth region. Occlusion due to the surgical mask affects emotion recognition for sadness, anger, and neutral faces, although no significative differences were found in happiness recognition. Our findings suggest that happiness is recognized predominantly via featural processing.
Collapse
|
23
|
Abstract
Face perception is a socially important but complex process with many stages and many facets. There is substantial evidence from many sources that it involves a large extent of the temporal lobe, from the ventral occipitotemporal cortex and superior temporal sulci to anterior temporal regions. While early human neuroimaging work suggested a core face network consisting of the occipital face area, fusiform face area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus, studies in both humans and monkeys show a system of face patches stretching from posterior to anterior in both the superior temporal sulcus and inferotemporal cortex. Sophisticated techniques such as fMRI adaptation have shown that these face-activated regions show responses that have many of the attributes of human face processing. Lesions of some of these regions in humans lead to variants of prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize the identity of a face. Lesion, imaging, and electrophysiologic data all suggest that there is a segregation between identity and expression processing, though some suggest this may be better characterized as a distinction between static and dynamic facial information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jason J S Barton
- Division of Neuro-ophthalmology, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Chen C, Lou Y, Li H, Yuan J, Yang J, Winskel H, Qin S. Distinct neural-behavioral correspondence within face processing and attention networks for the composite face effect. Neuroimage 2021; 246:118756. [PMID: 34848297 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The composite face effect (CFE) is recognized as a hallmark for holistic face processing, but our knowledge remains sparse about its cognitive and neural loci. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging with independent localizer and complete composite face task, we here investigated its neural-behavioral correspondence within face processing and attention networks. Complementing classical comparisons, we adopted a dimensional reduction approach to explore the core cognitive constructs of the behavioral CFE measurement. Our univariate analyses found an alignment effect in regions associated with both the extended face processing network and attention networks. Further representational similarity analyses based on the Euclidian distances among all experimental conditions were used to identify cortical regions with reliable neural-behavioral correspondences. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering analyses for neural-behavioral correspondence data revealed two principal components underlying the behavioral CFE effect, which fit best to the neural responses in the bilateral insula and medial frontal gyrus. These findings highlight the distinct neurocognitive contributions of both face processing and attentional networks to the behavioral CFE outcome, which bridge the gaps between face recognition and attentional control models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Changming Chen
- School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
| | - Yixue Lou
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Hong Li
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China.
| | - Jiajin Yuan
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China.
| | - Jiemin Yang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
| | - Heather Winskel
- Psychology, James Cook University, Singapore Campus, 387380, Singapore
| | - Shaozheng Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Feizabadi M, Albonico A, Starrfelt R, Barton JJS. Whole-object effects in visual word processing: Parallels with and differences from face recognition. Cogn Neuropsychol 2021; 38:231-257. [PMID: 34529548 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2021.1974369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Visual words and faces differ in their structural properties, but both are objects of high expertise. Holistic processing is said to characterize expert face recognition, but the extent to which whole-word processes contribute to word recognition is unclear, particularly as word recognition is thought to proceed by a component-based process. We review the evidence for experimental effects in word recognition that parallel those used to support holistic face processing, namely inversion effects, the part-whole task, and composite effects, as well as the status of whole-word processing in pure alexia and developmental dyslexia, contrasts between familiar and unfamiliar languages, and the differences between handwriting and typeset font. The observations support some parallels in whole-object influences between face and visual word recognition, but do not necessarily imply similar expert mechanisms. It remains to be determined whether and how the relative balance between part-based and whole-object processing differs for visual words and faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Monireh Feizabadi
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Andrea Albonico
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Ventura P, Guerreiro JC, Domingues M, Farinha-Fernandes A, Leite I. Children process faces holistically with the same efficiency as adults. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 217:103309. [PMID: 33932857 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies had reported qualitatively identical holistic face processing (using the composite task) already in 6-year-olds. In the present study, we evaluated these processes quantitatively by evaluating whether children are less efficient in dealing with and encoding faces. Thus, in the present study we explored the time course of holistic processing in children and adults by manipulating stimulus presentation time. The study composite task was presented for 800 ms. The test composite face was presented either for 183 ms or 800 ms. Our youngest participants, 6-year-olds, process faces holistically with the same efficiency as typical adults.
Collapse
|
27
|
Wenger MJ, DellaValle DM, Todd LE, Barnett AL, Haas JD. Limited Shared Variance among Measures of Cognitive Performance Used in Nutrition Research: The Need to Prioritize Construct Validity and Biological Mechanisms in Choice of Measures. Curr Dev Nutr 2021; 5:nzab070. [PMID: 34056512 PMCID: PMC8141094 DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzab070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The literature on correlates of nutrition has seen an increase in studies focused on functional consequences at the levels of neural, perceptual, and cognitive functioning. A range of measurement methodologies have been used in these studies, and investigators and funding agencies have raised the questions of how and if these various methodologies are at all comparable. OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine the extent to which 3 different sets of cognitive measures provide comparable information across 2 subsamples that shared culture and language but differed in terms of socioeconomic status (SES) and academic preparation. METHODS A total of 216 participants were recruited at 2 US universities. Each participant completed 3 sets of cognitive measures: 1 custom-designed set based on well-understood laboratory measures of cognition [cognitive task battery (COGTASKS)] and 2 normed batteries [Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, fourth edition (WAIS-IV)] designed for assessing general cognitive function. RESULTS The 3 sets differed with respect to the extent to which SES and educational preparation affected the results, with COGTASKS showing no differences due to testing location and WAIS-IV showing substantial differences. There were, at best, weak correlations among tasks sharing the same name or claiming to measure the same construct. CONCLUSIONS Comparability of measures of cognition cannot be assumed, even if measures have the same name or claim to assess the same construct. In selecting and evaluating different measures, construct validity and underlying biological mechanisms need to be at least as important as population norms and the ability to connect with existing literatures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Wenger
- Department of Psychology, Cellular, and Behavioral Neurobiology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Diane M DellaValle
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Nutrition Science, King's College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
| | - Lauren E Todd
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Amy L Barnett
- Department of Psychology, Cellular, and Behavioral Neurobiology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Jere D Haas
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Noyes E, Davis JP, Petrov N, Gray KLH, Ritchie KL. The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:201169. [PMID: 33959312 PMCID: PMC8074904 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Face masks present a new challenge to face identification (here matching) and emotion recognition in Western cultures. Here, we present the results of three experiments that test the effect of masks, and also the effect of sunglasses (an occlusion that individuals tend to have more experienced with) on (i) familiar face matching, (ii) unfamiliar face matching and (iii) emotion categorization. Occlusion reduced accuracy in all three tasks, with most errors in the mask condition; however, there was little difference in performance for faces in masks compared with faces in sunglasses. Super-recognizers, people who are highly skilled at matching unconcealed faces, were impaired by occlusion, but at the group level, performed with higher accuracy than controls on all tasks. Results inform psychology theory with implications for everyday interactions, security and policing in a mask-wearing society.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eilidh Noyes
- Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
| | - Josh P. Davis
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK
| | - Nikolay Petrov
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK
| | - Katie L. H. Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
| | - Kay L. Ritchie
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN6 7TS, UK
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Tso RVY, Chan RTC, Chan YF, Lin D. Holistic processing of Chinese characters in college students with dyslexia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:1973. [PMID: 33479393 PMCID: PMC7820259 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81553-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Expert face recognition has long been marked by holistic processing. Hence, due to the many visual properties shared between face perception and Chinese characters, it has been suggested that Chinese character recognition may induce stronger holistic processing in expert readers than in novices. However, there have been different viewpoints presented about Chinese character recognition, one of which suggests that expertise in this skill involved reduced holistic processing which may be modulated by writing experiences/performances. In this study we examined holistic processing in Chinese character recognition in adults with and without dyslexia, using the complete composite paradigm. Our results showed that the adults with dyslexia recognized Chinese characters with a stronger holistic processing effect than the typical controls. It seems that those with dyslexia relied overly on the visual spatial information of characters and showed deficits in attending selectively to their components when processing Chinese characters, which hindered the development of expert reading and writing skills. This effect was in contrast to previous perceptual expertise studies in which reduced holistic processing marked deficits in face/visual object recognition. This study is also the first to show that Chinese adults with dyslexia had persistent below average performances in Chinese literacy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ricky Van-Yip Tso
- Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
- Psychological Assessment and Clinical Research Unit, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | | | - Yin-Fei Chan
- Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Dan Lin
- Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Vestner T, Gray KLH, Cook R. Visual search for facing and non-facing people: The effect of actor inversion. Cognition 2020; 208:104550. [PMID: 33360076 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, there has been growing interest in how human observers perceive, attend to, and recall, social interactions viewed from third-person perspectives. One of the interesting findings to emerge from this new literature is the search advantage for facing dyads. When hidden amongst pairs of individuals facing in the same direction, pairs of individuals arranged front-to-front are found faster in visual search tasks than pairs of individuals arranged back-to-back. Interestingly, the search advantage for facing dyads appears to be sensitive to the orientation of the people depicted. While front-to-front target pairs are found faster than back-to-back targets when target and distractor pairings are shown upright, front-to-front and back-to-back targets are found equally quickly when pairings are shown upside-down. In the present study, we sought to better understand why the search advantage for facing dyads is sensitive to the orientation of the people depicted. To begin, we show that the orientation sensitivity of the search advantage is seen with dyads constructed from faces only, and from bodies with the head and face occluded. We replicate these effects using two different visual search paradigms. We go on to show that individual faces and bodies, viewed in profile, produce strong attentional cueing effects when shown upright, but not when presented upside-down. Together with recent evidence that arrows arranged front-to-front also produce the search advantage for facing dyads, these findings support the view that the search advantage is a by-product of the ability of constituent elements to direct observers' visuo-spatial attention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Vestner
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Katie L H Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK; Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Rossion B, Retter TL, Liu‐Shuang J. Understanding human individuation of unfamiliar faces with oddball fast periodic visual stimulation and electroencephalography. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 52:4283-4344. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Rossion
- CNRS, CRAN UMR7039 Université de Lorraine F‐54000Nancy France
- Service de Neurologie, CHRU‐Nancy Université de Lorraine F‐54000Nancy France
| | - Talia L. Retter
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences Faculty of Language and Literature Humanities, Arts and Education University of Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg
| | - Joan Liu‐Shuang
- Institute of Research in Psychological Science Institute of Neuroscience Université de Louvain Louvain‐la‐Neuve Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Lansade L, Colson V, Parias C, Reigner F, Bertin A, Calandreau L. Human Face Recognition in Horses: Data in Favor of a Holistic Process. Front Psychol 2020; 11:575808. [PMID: 33041946 PMCID: PMC7522352 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that horses can recognize humans based simply on visual information. However, none of these studies have investigated whether this involves the recognition of the face itself, or simply identifying people from non-complex external clues, such as hair color. To go beyond this we wanted to know whether certain features of the face were indispensable for this recognition (e.g., colors, hair or eyes). The 11 horses in this study had previously learned to identify four unfamiliar faces (portrait view and in color) presented repeatedly on a screen. We thus assessed whether they were able to identify these same faces spontaneously when they were presented in four other conditions: profile view, black and white, eyes hidden, changed hairstyle. The horses’ performances remained higher than chance level for all the conditions. In a choice test under real conditions, they then approached the people whose face they had learned more often than unknown people. In conclusion, when considering all the individuals studied, no single facial element that we tested appears to be essential for recognition, suggesting holistic processing in face recognition. That means horses do not base their recognition solely on an easy clue such as hair color. They can also link faces from photographs with people in real life, indicating that horses do not process images of faces as simple abstract shapes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Léa Lansade
- PRC, INRAE, CNRS, IFCE, University Tours, Nouzilly, France
| | - Violaine Colson
- LPGP, INRAE, UR1037 Fish Physiology and Genomics, Rennes, France
| | - Céline Parias
- PRC, INRAE, CNRS, IFCE, University Tours, Nouzilly, France
| | - Fabrice Reigner
- Unité Expérimentale de Physiologie Animale de l'Orfrasière, Nouzilly, France
| | - Aline Bertin
- PRC, INRAE, CNRS, IFCE, University Tours, Nouzilly, France
| | | |
Collapse
|
33
|
Balas B, Auen A, Thrash J, Lammers S. Children's use of local and global visual features for material perception. J Vis 2020; 20:10. [PMID: 32097486 PMCID: PMC7343528 DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.2.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Adults can rapidly recognize material properties in natural images, and children's performance in material categorization tasks suggests that this ability develops slowly during childhood. In the current study, we further examined the information children use to recognize materials during development by asking how the use of local versus global visual features for material perception changes in middle childhood. We recruited adults and 5- to 10-year-old children for three experiments that required participants to distinguish between shape-matched images of real and artificial food. Accurate performance in this task requires participants to distinguish between a wide range of material properties characteristic of each category, thus testing material perception abilities broadly. In two tasks, we applied distinct methods of image scrambling (block scrambling and diffeomorphic scrambling) to parametrically disrupt global appearance while preserving features in small spatial neighborhoods. In the third task, we used image blurring to parametrically disrupt local feature visibility. Our key question was whether or not participant age affected performance differently when local versus global appearance was disrupted. We found that although image blur led to disproportionately poorer performance in young children, this effect was reduced or absent when diffeomorphic scrambling was used. We interpret this outcome as evidence that the ability to recruit large-scale visual features for material perception may develop slowly during middle childhood.
Collapse
|
34
|
Are the facial gender and facial age variants of the composite face illusion products of a common mechanism? Psychon Bull Rev 2020; 27:62-69. [PMID: 31823299 PMCID: PMC7000539 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-019-01684-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
When the upper half of one face (‘target region’) is spatially aligned with the lower half of another (‘distractor region’), the two halves appear to fuse together perceptually, changing observers’ subjective perception of the target region. This ‘composite face illusion’ is regarded as a key hallmark of holistic face processing. Importantly, distractor regions bias observers’ subjective perception of target regions in systematic, predictable ways. For example, male and female distractor regions make target regions appear masculine and feminine; young and old distractor regions make target regions appear younger and older. In the present study, we first describe a novel psychophysical paradigm that yields precise reliable estimates of these perceptual biases. Next, we use this novel procedure to establish a clear relationship between observers’ susceptibility to the age and gender biases induced by the composite face illusion. This relationship is seen in a lab-based sample (N = 100) and is replicated in an independent sample tested online (N = 121). Our findings suggest that age and gender variants of the composite illusion may be different measures of a common structural binding process, with an origin early in the face-processing stream.
Collapse
|
35
|
Tsantani M, Gray KLH, Cook R. Holistic processing of facial identity in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2020; 130:318-326. [PMID: 32721648 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The nature of the perceptual deficit seen in developmental prosopagnosia remains poorly understood. One possibility is that these individuals experience face recognition difficulties because they fail to process faces holistically; they may be less able to analyze distal regions in parallel and therefore struggle to integrate information from different regions into a unified perceptual whole. Consequently, developmental prosopagnosics may be forced to base perceptual decisions on a slow, effortful piecemeal analysis of local facial features. In the present study, we sought to test this view by comparing the face recognition of developmental prosopagnosics and typical observers under two viewing conditions: when target faces were briefly presented in their entirety, and when they were inspected region-by-region through a dynamic aperture. If developmental prosopagnosics are forced to base perceptual decisions on information accumulated from a serial piecemeal analysis, one would expect little if any decrement in performance when target faces are viewed through apertures. Contrary to this prediction, however, developmental prosopagnosics showed strong aperture effects comparable with typical observers; their perceptual decisions were more accurate in the whole-face condition than when targets were viewed through the aperture. As expected, the developmental prosopagnosics were less accurate than typical controls when judging briefly presented faces shown in their entirety. Strikingly, however, they were also less able to accumulate perceptual evidence from a serial region-by-region analysis, than typical observers. Our results suggest that the perceptual problems seen in this population arise from imprecise descriptions of local regions, not aberrant holistic processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Tsantani
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Katie L H Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK; Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Civile C, Waguri E, Quaglia S, Wooster B, Curtis A, McLaren R, Lavric A, McLaren IPL. Testing the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the face inversion effect and the N170 event-related potentials (ERPs) component. Neuropsychologia 2020; 143:107470. [PMID: 32315696 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The following study investigates the effects of tDCS on face recognition skills indexed by the face inversion effect (better recognition performance for upright vs. inverted faces). We combined tDCS and EEG simultaneously to examine the effects of tDCS on the face inversion effect behaviourally and on the N170 ERPs component. The results from two experiments (overall N = 112) show that anodal tDCS delivered at Fp3 site for 10 min at 1.5 mA (double-blind and between-subjects) can reduce behaviourally the face inversion effect compared to sham (control) stimulation. The ERP results provide some evidence for tDCS being able to influence the face inversion effect on the N170. Specifically, we find a dissociation of the tDCS-induced effects where for the N170 latencies the tDCS reduces the usual face inversion effect (delayed N170 in response to inverted vs. upright faces) compared to sham. Contrarily, the same tDCS procedure on the same participants increased the inversion effect seen in the N170 amplitudes by making the negative deflection for the inverted faces that much greater than that for upright faces. We interpret our results in the context of the literature on the face inversion effect and the N170 peak component. In doing so, we extend our results to previous studies investigating the effects of tDCS on perceptual learning and face recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ciro Civile
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK.
| | - Emika Waguri
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Samantha Quaglia
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Brad Wooster
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Adam Curtis
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Rossy McLaren
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Aureliu Lavric
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
| | - I P L McLaren
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Liu CH, Young AW, Basra G, Ren N, Chen W. Perceptual integration and the composite face effect. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 73:1101-1114. [PMID: 31910718 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819899531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The composite face paradigm is widely used to investigate holistic perception of faces. In the paradigm, parts from different faces (usually the top and bottom halves) are recombined. The principal criterion for holistic perception is that responses involving the component parts of composites in which the parts are aligned into a face-like configuration are disrupted compared with the same parts in a misaligned (not face-like) format. This is often taken as evidence that seeing a whole face in the aligned condition interferes with perceiving its separate parts, but the extent to which the effect is perceptually driven remains unclear. We used salient perceptual categories of gender (male or female) and race (Asian or Caucasian appearance) to create composite stimuli from parts of faces that varied orthogonally on these characteristics. In Experiment 1, participants categorised the gender of the parts of aligned composite and misaligned images created from parts with the same (congruent) or different (incongruent) gender and the same (congruent) or different (incongruent) race. In Experiment 2, the same stimuli were used but the task changed to categorising race. In both experiments, there was a strong influence of the task-relevant manipulation on the composite effect, with slower responses to aligned stimuli with incongruent gender in Experiment 1 and incongruent race in Experiment 2. In contrast, the task-irrelevant variable (race in Experiment 1, gender in Experiment 2) did not exert much influence on the composite effect in either experiment. These findings show that although holistic integration of salient visual properties makes a strong contribution to the composite face effect, it clearly also involves targeted processing of an attended visual characteristic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chang Hong Liu
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | | | - Govina Basra
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Naixin Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Wenfeng Chen
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Murphy J, Gray KL, Cook R. Inverted faces benefit from whole-face processing. Cognition 2020; 194:104105. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2019] [Revised: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
39
|
Holistic word context does not influence holistic processing of artificial objects in an interleaved composite task. Atten Percept Psychophys 2019; 81:1767-1780. [PMID: 31290132 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01812-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Holistic processing, a hallmark of expert processing, has been shown for written words, signaled by the word composite effect, similar to the face composite effect: fluent readers find it difficult to focus on just one half of a written word while ignoring the other half, especially when the two word halves are aligned rather than misaligned. This effect is signaled by a significant interaction between alignment and congruency of the two word parts. Face and visual word recognition, however, involve different neural mechanisms with an opposite hemispheric lateralization. It is then possible that faces and words can both involve holistic processing in their own separate face and word processing systems, but by using different mechanisms. In the present study, we replicated with words a previous study done with faces (Richler, Bukach, & Gauthier, 2009, Experiment 3). In a first experiment we showed that in a composite task with aligned artificial objects, no congruency effects are found. In a second experiment, using an interleaved task, a congruency effect for Ziggerins was induced in trials in which a word was first encoded, but more strongly when it was aligned. However, in a stricter test, we found no differences between the congruency effect for Ziggerins induced by aligned words versus pseudowords. Our results demonstrate that different mechanisms can underlie holistic processing in different expertise domains.
Collapse
|
40
|
Brewer R, Bird G, Gray KLH, Cook R. Face perception in autism spectrum disorder: Modulation of holistic processing by facial emotion. Cognition 2019; 193:104016. [PMID: 31280061 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2018] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; autistic individuals) may exhibit atypical face perception because they fail to process faces holistically. In the context of this hypothesis, it is critical to determine whether autistic individuals exhibit diminished susceptibility to the composite face illusion, widely regarded as a key marker of holistic face processing. To date, however, previous studies have yielded inconsistent findings. In light of recent evidence suggesting that facial emotion cues increase the strength of the composite face illusion in typical individuals, the present study sought to determine whether the presence of facial emotion also modulates the strength of the composite face illusion in autistic individuals, many of whom experience difficulties recognizing facial expressions. We therefore measured composite face effects in a sample of autistic individuals (N = 20) and matched typical controls (N = 29) using an incidental emotion procedure in which distractor regions varied systematically in their emotion strength. As expected, the presence of facial emotion in the distractor regions of composite face arrangements increased the strength of the illusory distortion induced. The extent of the modulation by facial emotion was similar in the two groups. The composite effects seen in the ASD group were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those seen in the typical group, suggestive of intact holistic processing in this population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Brewer
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.
| | - Geoffrey Bird
- Experimental Psychology Department, University of Oxford, UK; MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, UK
| | - Katie L H Gray
- Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Balas B, Harel A, Auen A, Saville A. Neural Sensitivity to Mutual Information in Intermediate-Complexity Face Features Changes during Childhood. Brain Sci 2019; 9:E154. [PMID: 31261725 PMCID: PMC6680524 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9070154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
One way in which face recognition develops during infancy and childhood is with regard to the visual information that contributes most to recognition judgments. Adult face recognition depends on critical features spanning a hierarchy of complexity, including low-level, intermediate, and high-level visual information. To date, the development of adult-like information biases for face recognition has focused on low-level features, which are computationally well-defined but low in complexity, and high-level features, which are high in complexity, but not defined precisely. To complement this existing literature, we examined the development of children's neural responses to intermediate-level face features characterized using mutual information. Specifically, we examined children's and adults' sensitivity to varying levels of category diagnosticity at the P100 and N170 components. We found that during middle childhood, sensitivity to mutual information shifts from early components to later ones, which may indicate a critical restructuring of face recognition mechanisms that takes place over several years. This approach provides a useful bridge between the study of low- and high-level visual features for face recognition and suggests many intriguing questions for further investigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Balas
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA.
| | - Assaf Harel
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
| | - Amanda Auen
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
| | - Alyson Saville
- Department of Psychology, Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
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]
|
43
|
Is developmental prosopagnosia best characterised as an apperceptive or mnemonic condition? Neuropsychologia 2019; 124:285-298. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Revised: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
|
44
|
Noyes E, Hill MQ, O’Toole AJ. Face recognition ability does not predict person identification performance: using individual data in the interpretation of group results. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2018; 3:23. [PMID: 30009253 PMCID: PMC6019422 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-018-0117-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
There are large individual differences in people's face recognition ability. These individual differences provide an opportunity to recruit the best face-recognisers into jobs that require accurate person identification, through the implementation of ability-screening tasks. To date, screening has focused exclusively on face recognition ability; however real-world identifications can involve the use of other person-recognition cues. Here we incorporate body and biological motion recognition as relevant skills for person identification. We test whether performance on a standardised face-matching task (the Glasgow Face Matching Test) predicts performance on three other identity-matching tasks, based on faces, bodies, and biological motion. We examine the results from group versus individual analyses. We found stark differences between the conclusions one would make from group analyses versus analyses that retain information about individual differences. Specifically, tests of correlation and analysis of variance suggested that face recognition ability was related to performance for all person identification tasks. These analyses were strikingly inconsistent with the individual differences data, which suggested that the screening task was related only to performance on the face task. This study highlights the importance of individual data in the interpretation of results of person identification ability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eilidh Noyes
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, GR4.1, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 USA
| | - Matthew Q. Hill
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, GR4.1, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 USA
| | - Alice J. O’Toole
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, GR4.1, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 USA
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Lewis MB, Hills PJ. Perceived Race Affects Configural Processing but Not Holistic Processing in the Composite-Face Task. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1456. [PMID: 30177898 PMCID: PMC6109712 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
One explanation for the own-race bias in face recognition is the loss of holistic processing for other-race faces. The composite-face task (involving matching the top halves of faces when the bottom halves are either changed or the same) tests holistic processing but it has been inconsistent in revealing other-race effects. Two composite-face experiments are reported using pairs of faces that have common internal features but can be perceived as either being racially Black or White depending on their external features. In Experiment 1 (matching the top halves of faces) holistic processing was found for both face races for White participants (shown by both a mis-alignment advantage when bottom halves were different and also by a congruence-by-alignment interaction in discrimination). Bayesian analysis supported there being no effect of race. However, the size of the simple congruence effect was larger for own- than for other-race faces. Experiment 2 found that this race-by-congruence interaction was not present when matching the bottom halves of faces. The results are interpreted in of terms of the perceived race affecting the processing of second-order relational information rather than holistic processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael B. Lewis
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J. Hills
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Revealing the mechanisms of human face perception using dynamic apertures. Cognition 2017; 169:25-35. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Revised: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
47
|
Biotti F, Wu E, Yang H, Jiahui G, Duchaine B, Cook R. Normal composite face effects in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2017; 95:63-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Revised: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
48
|
Biotti F, Gray KL, Cook R. Impaired body perception in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2017; 93:41-49. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Revised: 03/20/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
49
|
Gray KLH, Murphy J, Marsh JE, Cook R. Modulation of the composite face effect by unintended emotion cues. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:160867. [PMID: 28484607 PMCID: PMC5414244 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
When upper and lower regions from different emotionless faces are aligned to form a facial composite, observers 'fuse' the two halves together, perceptually. The illusory distortion induced by task-irrelevant ('distractor') halves hinders participants' judgements about task-relevant ('target') halves. This composite-face effect reveals a tendency to integrate feature information from disparate regions of intact upright faces, consistent with theories of holistic face processing. However, observers frequently perceive emotion in ostensibly neutral faces, contrary to the intentions of experimenters. This study sought to determine whether this 'perceived emotion' influences the composite-face effect. In our first experiment, we confirmed that the composite effect grows stronger as the strength of distractor emotion increased. Critically, effects of distractor emotion were induced by weak emotion intensities, and were incidental insofar as emotion cues hindered image matching, not emotion labelling per se. In Experiment 2, we found a correlation between the presence of perceived emotion in a set of ostensibly neutral distractor regions sourced from commonly used face databases, and the strength of illusory distortion they induced. In Experiment 3, participants completed a sequential matching composite task in which half of the distractor regions were rated high and low for perceived emotion, respectively. Significantly stronger composite effects were induced by the high-emotion distractor halves. These convergent results suggest that perceived emotion increases the strength of the composite-face effect induced by supposedly emotionless faces. These findings have important implications for the study of holistic face processing in typical and atypical populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katie L. H. Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Jennifer Murphy
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jade E. Marsh
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Ramon M, Busigny T, Gosselin F, Rossion B. All new kids on the block? Impaired holistic processing of personally familiar faces in a kindergarten teacher with acquired prosopagnosia. VISUAL COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2016.1273985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Meike Ramon
- Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Busigny
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Frederic Gosselin
- Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|