Are Faces Special? Part 1: Behavioural (PSY2304) - University of Exeter PDF

Are Faces Special?Part 1: BehaviouralBiological Basis of BehaviourPSY2304 2Agenda •The main debate in the face recognition•The Face Inversion Effect (FIE)•Perceptual Processes •We can rapidly detect a face in a visual scene, as well as recognize a familiar face within a few hundred milliseconds.•R...

Are Faces Special?Part 1: BehaviouralBiological Basis of BehaviourPSY2304 2Agenda •The main debate in the face recognition•The Face Inversion Effect (FIE)•Perceptual Processes •We can rapidly detect a face in a visual scene, as well as recognize a familiar face within a few hundred milliseconds.•Remarkably, we can extract the relevant information necessary to categorize a person’s facial expression, gender, race, and direction of gaze.•Accurate face recognition is crucial in social interaction because it provides us with clues about who we are interacting with and their motivational and emotional states. One of the best Cognitive Skills we have3 •According to the “specificity” account, neuro-cognitive mechanisms are selectively involved in processing faces per seand have little if any, role in processing non-face stimuli (McKone& Kanwisher, 2005). •Contrarily, the “expertise” account suggests that the neuro-cognitive mechanisms involved in face processing are elicited for all prototype-defined stimuli (i.e., that have a shared configuration) as long as we have been pre-exposed to them(Diamond & Carey, 1986; Gauthier & Ta r r, 1997).Specificityvs Expertise4 The Face Inversion Effect (FIE)5 The specificity account of the FIE (Yin, 1969)6Stimuli used in Experiment 1 Procedure: Experiment 1Study Phase 3 sec 3 sec Recognition Task 7Yin (1969)’s Experiment 1 results: A robust FIE00.511.522.533.544.55Upr igh t F ac esIn ve rte d Fa ce sUpr igh t Hou se sIn ve rte d Ho us eUpr igh t P la ne sIn ve rte d Pla ne sUprightFacesInvertedFacesUprightHousesInvertedHousesUprightPlanesInvertedPlanesResults Primary Measure: Mean Errors The expertise account of the FIE (Diamond & Carey, 1986)8 Diamond and Carey (1986)’s Experiment 39Procedure: Experiment 3Study Phase 5 sec 5 sec Recognition Task Study Phase 5 sec 5 sec Recognition Task Diamond and Carey’s Experiment 3 results10 11Main Findings: •Yin (1969) found a robust inversion effect for faces that was larger than that for other sets of stimuli supporting the specificity account of face recognition mechanisms•Diamond and Carey (1986) found a robust inversion effect for dog images as that for faces (when observes were experts dog breeders) supporting the expertise account of face recognition mechanisms Padlet Wallpaper QR-Code Diamond and Carey’s expertise account12First-order configural informationSecond-order configural informationFeatural ProcessingHolistic Processing CLASS DEMONSTRATION Do these faces look normal?14 Recognition Task1sStudy Phase3s64 images++1s3s1s≤ 3s128 images++1s≤ 3sOldNewCivile, Cooke et al (2020)’ S Experiment 1: Procedure18 00.20.40.60.811.2Nor ma l I nve rt edNor ma l Upr igh tTh at c h er i s e d I nv er t edTh at c h er i s e d U p r i g htUprightUprightInvertedInvertedNormal FacesThatcherised FacesP =.009InteractionCivile, Cooke et al (2020)’ S Experiment 1: Procedured’ sensitivity (d’ of 0 = 50% Accuracy)P =.021P <.00119 20Main Findings: •Diamond and Carey (1986) suggested an expertise account where configural information perceptual processing is determinant of face recognition•Civile, Cooke et al (2020) demonstrated how disruption of configural information throughThatcherisationreduces significantly the FIEPadlet Wallpaper QR-Code 21To S u m U p •There is evidence in the literature to support both accounts of face recognition, specificityvs expertise.•One of the most replicated/robust cognitive phenomenon as the FIE is often used to study the nature of face recognition skills. •According with the specificityaccount face recognition is special because the FIE is larger for faces than for other objects.•According to the expertise account it is possible to obtain a robust inversion effect for all those stimuli that share a configuration for which we are familiar with. •Civile, C., Cooke, A., Liu, X., McLaren, R., Elchlepp, H., Lavric, A., . . . McLaren, I. P. L. (2020). The effect of tDCSon recognition depends on stimulus generalization: Neuro-stimulation can predictably enhance or reduce the face inversion effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 46, 83–98.•Diamond, R. and Carey, S. (1986). Why faces are and are not special: An effect of expertise. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 115, 107-117.•Gauthier, I., and Ta r r, M. (1997). Becoming a “Greeble” expert: exploring mechanisms for face recognition. Vision Research, 37, 1673-1682.•Maurer, D., Grand, R. L., & Mondloch, C. J. (2002). The many faces of configural processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 255–260.•McKoneE, Kanwisher N. (2005). Does the human brain process objects of expertise like faces? A review of the evidence. In: DehaeneS, Duhamel J.R, Hauser M, RizzolattiG, editors.From monkey brain to human brain.MIT Press; Cambridge, MA. •Thompson, P. (1980). Margaret Thatcher: A new illusion. Perception, 9, 483–484. •Yin, R. K. (1969). Looking at upside-down faces. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81, 141-145.Main References (suggested readings inbold)