Holistic Processing for Other-Race Faces in Chinese Participants Occurs for Upright but Not Inverted Faces

PubMed Central

Crookes, Kate; Favelle, Simone; Hayward, William G.

2013-01-01

Recent evidence suggests stronger holistic processing for own-race faces may underlie the own-race advantage in face memory. In previous studies Caucasian participants have demonstrated larger holistic processing effects for Caucasian over Asian faces. However, Asian participants have consistently shown similar sized effects for both Asian and Caucasian faces. We investigated two proposed explanations for the holistic processing of other-race faces by Asian participants: (1) greater other-race exposure, (2) a general global processing bias. Holistic processing was tested using the part-whole task. Participants were living in predominantly own-race environments and other-race contact was evaluated. Despite reporting significantly greater contact with own-race than other-race people, Chinese participants displayed strong holistic processing for both Asian and Caucasian upright faces. In addition, Chinese participants showed no evidence of holistic processing for inverted faces arguing against a general global processing bias explanation. Caucasian participants, in line with previous studies, displayed stronger holistic processing for Caucasian than Asian upright faces. For inverted faces there were no race-of-face differences. These results are used to suggest that Asians may make more general use of face-specific mechanisms than Caucasians. PMID:23386840

Revisiting the earliest electrophysiological correlate of familiar face recognition.

PubMed

Huang, Wanyi; Wu, Xia; Hu, Liping; Wang, Lei; Ding, Yulong; Qu, Zhe

2017-10-01

The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to reinvestigate the earliest face familiarity effect (FFE: ERP differences between familiar and unfamiliar faces) that genuinely reflects cognitive processes underlying recognition of familiar faces in long-term memory. To trigger relatively early FFEs, participants were required to categorize upright and inverted famous faces and unknown faces in a task that placed high demand on face recognition. More importantly, to determine whether an observed FFE was linked to on-line face recognition, systematical investigation about the relationship between the FFE and behavioral performance of face recognition was conducted. The results showed significant FFEs on P1, N170, N250, and P300 waves. The FFEs on occipital P1 and N170 (<200ms) showed reversed polarities for upright and inverted faces, and were not correlated with any behavioral measure (accuracy, response time) or modulated by learning, indicating that they might merely reflect low-level visual differences between face sets. In contrast, the later FFEs on occipito-temporal N250 (~230ms) and centro-parietal P300 (~350ms) showed consistent polarities for upright and inverted faces. The N250 FFE was individually correlated with recognition speed for upright faces, and could be obtained for inverted faces through learning. The P300 FFE was also related to behavior in many aspects. These findings provide novel evidence supporting that cognitive discrimination of familiar and unfamiliar faces starts no less than 200ms after stimulus onset, and the familiarity effect on N250 may be the first electrophysiological correlate underlying recognition of familiar faces in long-term memory. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combined effects of inversion and feature removal on N170 responses elicited by faces and car fronts

PubMed Central

Kloth, Nadine; Itier, Roxane J.; Schweinberger, Stefan R.

2014-01-01

The face-sensitive N170 is typically enhanced for inverted compared to upright faces. Itier, Alain, Sedore, and McIntosh (2007) recently suggested that this N170 inversion effect is mainly driven by the eye region which becomes salient when the face configuration is disrupted. Here we tested whether similar effects could be observed with non-face objects that are structurally similar to faces in terms of possessing a homogeneous within-class first-order feature configuration. We presented upright and inverted pictures of intact car fronts, car fronts without lights, and isolated lights, in addition to analogous face conditions. Upright cars elicited substantial N170 responses of similar amplitude to those evoked by upright faces. In strong contrast to face conditions however, the car-elicited N170 was mainly driven by the global shape rather than the presence or absence of lights, and was dramatically reduced for isolated lights. Overall, our data confirm a differential influence of the eye region in upright and inverted faces. Results for car fronts do not suggest similar interactive encoding of eye-like features and configuration for non-face objects, even when these objects possess a similar feature configuration as faces. PMID:23485023

Face inversion and acquired prosopagnosia reduce the size of the perceptual field of view.

PubMed

Van Belle, Goedele; Lefèvre, Philippe; Rossion, Bruno

2015-03-01

Using a gaze-contingent morphing approach, we asked human observers to choose one of two faces that best matched the identity of a target face: one face corresponded to the reference face's fixated part only (e.g., one eye), the other corresponded to the unfixated area of the reference face. The face corresponding to the fixated part was selected significantly more frequently in the inverted than in the upright orientation. This observation provides evidence that face inversion reduces an observer's perceptual field of view, even when both upright and inverted faces are displayed at full view and there is no performance difference between these conditions. It rules out an account of the drop of performance for inverted faces--one of the most robust effects in experimental psychology--in terms of a mere difference in local processing efficiency. A brain-damaged patient with pure prosopagnosia, viewing only upright faces, systematically selected the face corresponding to the fixated part, as if her perceptual field was reduced relative to normal observers. Altogether, these observations indicate that the absence of visual knowledge reduces the perceptual field of view, supporting an indirect view of visual perception. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Familiarity facilitates feature-based face processing.

PubMed

Visconti di Oleggio Castello, Matteo; Wheeler, Kelsey G; Cipolli, Carlo; Gobbini, M Ida

2017-01-01

Recognition of personally familiar faces is remarkably efficient, effortless and robust. We asked if feature-based face processing facilitates detection of familiar faces by testing the effect of face inversion on a visual search task for familiar and unfamiliar faces. Because face inversion disrupts configural and holistic face processing, we hypothesized that inversion would diminish the familiarity advantage to the extent that it is mediated by such processing. Subjects detected personally familiar and stranger target faces in arrays of two, four, or six face images. Subjects showed significant facilitation of personally familiar face detection for both upright and inverted faces. The effect of familiarity on target absent trials, which involved only rejection of unfamiliar face distractors, suggests that familiarity facilitates rejection of unfamiliar distractors as well as detection of familiar targets. The preserved familiarity effect for inverted faces suggests that facilitation of face detection afforded by familiarity reflects mostly feature-based processes.

Composite faces are not (necessarily) processed coactively: A test using systems factorial technology and logical-rule models.

PubMed

Cheng, Xue Jun; McCarthy, Callum J; Wang, Tony S L; Palmeri, Thomas J; Little, Daniel R

2018-06-01

Upright faces are thought to be processed more holistically than inverted faces. In the widely used composite face paradigm, holistic processing is inferred from interference in recognition performance from a to-be-ignored face half for upright and aligned faces compared with inverted or misaligned faces. We sought to characterize the nature of holistic processing in composite faces in computational terms. We use logical-rule models (Fifić, Little, & Nosofsky, 2010) and Systems Factorial Technology (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995) to examine whether composite faces are processed through pooling top and bottom face halves into a single processing channel-coactive processing-which is one common mechanistic definition of holistic processing. By specifically operationalizing holistic processing as the pooling of features into a single decision process in our task, we are able to distinguish it from other processing models that may underlie composite face processing. For instance, a failure of selective attention might result even when top and bottom components of composite faces are processed in serial or in parallel without processing the entire face coactively. Our results show that performance is best explained by a mixture of serial and parallel processing architectures across all 4 upright and inverted, aligned and misaligned face conditions. The results indicate multichannel, featural processing of composite faces in a manner inconsistent with the notion of coactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Face-Evoked Steady-State Visual Potentials: Effects of Presentation Rate and Face Inversion

PubMed Central

Gruss, L. Forest; Wieser, Matthias J.; Schweinberger, Stefan R.; Keil, Andreas

2012-01-01

Face processing can be explored using electrophysiological methods. Research with event-related potentials has demonstrated the so-called face inversion effect, in which the N170 component is enhanced in amplitude and latency to inverted, compared to upright, faces. The present study explored the extent to which repetitive lower-level visual cortical engagement, reflected in flicker steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs), shows similar amplitude enhancement to face inversion. We also asked if inversion-related ssVEP modulation would be dependent on the stimulation rate at which upright and inverted faces were flickered. To this end, multiple tagging frequencies were used (5, 10, 15, and 20 Hz) across two studies (n = 21, n = 18). Results showed that amplitude enhancement of the ssVEP for inverted faces was found solely at higher stimulation frequencies (15 and 20 Hz). By contrast, lower frequency ssVEPs did not show this inversion effect. These findings suggest that stimulation frequency affects the sensitivity of ssVEPs to face inversion. PMID:23205009

Combined effects of inversion and feature removal on N170 responses elicited by faces and car fronts.

PubMed

Kloth, Nadine; Itier, Roxane J; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2013-04-01

The face-sensitive N170 is typically enhanced for inverted compared to upright faces. Itier, Alain, Sedore, and McIntosh (2007) recently suggested that this N170 inversion effect is mainly driven by the eye region which becomes salient when the face configuration is disrupted. Here we tested whether similar effects could be observed with non-face objects that are structurally similar to faces in terms of possessing a homogeneous within-class first-order feature configuration. We presented upright and inverted pictures of intact car fronts, car fronts without lights, and isolated lights, in addition to analogous face conditions. Upright cars elicited substantial N170 responses of similar amplitude to those evoked by upright faces. In strong contrast to face conditions however, the car-elicited N170 was mainly driven by the global shape rather than the presence or absence of lights, and was dramatically reduced for isolated lights. Overall, our data confirm a differential influence of the eye region in upright and inverted faces. Results for car fronts do not suggest similar interactive encoding of eye-like features and configuration for non-face objects, even when these objects possess a similar feature configuration as faces. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of face inversion for neurons inside and outside fMRI-defined face-selective cortical regions

PubMed Central

Van Belle, Goedele; Vanduffel, Wim; Rossion, Bruno; Vogels, Rufin

2014-01-01

It is widely believed that face processing in the primate brain occurs in a network of category-selective cortical regions. Combined functional MRI (fMRI)-single-cell recording studies in macaques have identified high concentrations of neurons that respond more to faces than objects within face-selective patches. However, cells with a preference for faces over objects are also found scattered throughout inferior temporal (IT) cortex, raising the question whether face-selective cells inside and outside of the face patches differ functionally. Here, we compare the properties of face-selective cells inside and outside of face-selective patches in the IT cortex by means of an image manipulation that reliably disrupts behavior toward face processing: inversion. We recorded IT neurons from two fMRI-defined face-patches (ML and AL) and a region outside of the face patches (herein labeled OUT) during upright and inverted face stimulation. Overall, turning faces upside down reduced the firing rate of face-selective cells. However, there were differences among the recording regions. First, the reduced neuronal response for inverted faces was independent of stimulus position, relative to fixation, in the face-selective patches (ML and AL) only. Additionally, the effect of inversion for face-selective cells in ML, but not those in AL or OUT, was impervious to whether the neurons were initially searched for using upright or inverted stimuli. Collectively, these results show that face-selective cells differ in their functional characteristics depending on their anatomicofunctional location, suggesting that upright faces are preferably coded by face-selective cells inside but not outside of the fMRI-defined face-selective regions of the posterior IT cortex. PMID:25520434

The Effects of Face Inversion and Face Race on the P100 ERP.

PubMed

Colombatto, Clara; McCarthy, Gregory

2017-04-01

Research about the neural basis of face recognition has investigated the timing and anatomical substrates of different stages of face processing. Scalp-recorded ERP studies of face processing have focused on the N170, an ERP with a peak latency of ∼170 msec that has long been associated with the initial structural encoding of faces. However, several studies have reported earlier ERP differences related to faces, suggesting that face-specific processes might occur before N170. Here, we examined the influence of face inversion and face race on the timing of face-sensitive scalp-recorded ERPs by examining neural responses to upright and inverted line-drawn and luminance-matched white and black faces in a sample of white participants. We found that the P100 ERP evoked by inverted faces was significantly larger than that evoked by upright faces. Although this inversion effect was statistically significant at 100 msec, the inverted-upright ERP difference peaked at 138 msec, suggesting that it might represent an activity in neural sources that overlap with P100. Inverse modeling of the inversion effect difference waveform suggested possible neural sources in pericalcarine extrastriate visual cortex and lateral occipito-temporal cortex. We also found that the inversion effect difference wave was larger for white faces. These results are consistent with behavioral evidence that individuals process the faces of their own races more configurally than faces of other races. Taken together, the inversion and race effects observed in the current study suggest that configuration influences face processing by at least 100 msec.

Brain Activity Related to the Judgment of Face-Likeness: Correlation between EEG and Face-Like Evaluation.

PubMed

Nihei, Yuji; Minami, Tetsuto; Nakauchi, Shigeki

2018-01-01

Faces represent important information for social communication, because social information, such as face-color, expression, and gender, is obtained from faces. Therefore, individuals' tend to find faces unconsciously, even in objects. Why is face-likeness perceived in non-face objects? Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies showed that the P1 component (early visual processing), the N170 component (face detection), and the N250 component (personal detection) reflect the neural processing of faces. Inverted faces were reported to enhance the amplitude and delay the latency of P1 and N170. To investigate face-likeness processing in the brain, we explored the face-related components of the ERP through a face-like evaluation task using natural faces, cars, insects, and Arcimboldo paintings presented upright or inverted. We found a significant correlation between the inversion effect index and face-like scores in P1 in both hemispheres and in N170 in the right hemisphere. These results suggest that judgment of face-likeness occurs in a relatively early stage of face processing.

Brain Activity Related to the Judgment of Face-Likeness: Correlation between EEG and Face-Like Evaluation

PubMed Central

Nihei, Yuji; Minami, Tetsuto; Nakauchi, Shigeki

2018-01-01

Faces represent important information for social communication, because social information, such as face-color, expression, and gender, is obtained from faces. Therefore, individuals' tend to find faces unconsciously, even in objects. Why is face-likeness perceived in non-face objects? Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies showed that the P1 component (early visual processing), the N170 component (face detection), and the N250 component (personal detection) reflect the neural processing of faces. Inverted faces were reported to enhance the amplitude and delay the latency of P1 and N170. To investigate face-likeness processing in the brain, we explored the face-related components of the ERP through a face-like evaluation task using natural faces, cars, insects, and Arcimboldo paintings presented upright or inverted. We found a significant correlation between the inversion effect index and face-like scores in P1 in both hemispheres and in N170 in the right hemisphere. These results suggest that judgment of face-likeness occurs in a relatively early stage of face processing. PMID:29503612

Neural correlates of cognitive aging during the perception of facial age: the role of relatively distant and local texture information

PubMed Central

Komes, Jessica; Schweinberger, Stefan R.; Wiese, Holger

2015-01-01

Previous event-related potential (ERP) research revealed that older relative to younger adults show reduced inversion effects in the N170 (with more negative amplitudes for inverted than upright faces), suggestive of impairments in face perception. However, as these studies used young to middle-aged faces only, this finding may reflect preferential processing of own- relative to other-age faces rather than age-related decline. We conducted an ERP study in which young and older participants categorized young and old upright or inverted faces by age. Stimuli were presented either unfiltered or low-pass filtered at 30, 20, or 10 cycles per image (CPI). Response times revealed larger inversion effects, with slower responses for inverted faces, for young faces in young participants. Older participants did not show a corresponding effect. ERPs yielded a trend toward reduced N170 inversion effects in older relative to younger adults independent of face age. Moreover, larger inversion effects for young relative to old faces were detected, and filtering resulted in smaller N170 amplitudes. The reduced N170 inversion effect in older adults may reflect age-related changes in neural correlates of face perception. A smaller N170 inversion effect for old faces may indicate that facial changes with age hamper early face perception stages. PMID:26441790

Personal Familiarity Influences the Processing of Upright and Inverted Faces in Infants

PubMed Central

Balas, Benjamin J.; Nelson, Charles A.; Westerlund, Alissa; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa; Riggins, Tracy; Kuefner, Dana

2009-01-01

Infant face processing becomes more selective during the first year of life as a function of varying experience with distinct face categories defined by species, race, and age. Given that any individual face belongs to many such categories (e.g. A young Caucasian man's face) we asked how the neural selectivity for one aspect of facial appearance was affected by category membership along another dimension of variability. 6-month-old infants were shown upright and inverted pictures of either their own mother or a stranger while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. We found that the amplitude of the P400 (a face-sensitive ERP component) was only sensitive to the orientation of the mother's face, suggesting that “tuning” of the neural response to faces is realized jointly across multiple dimensions of face appearance. PMID:20204154

Effects of inverting contour and features on processing for static and dynamic face perception: an MEG study.

PubMed

Miki, Kensaku; Takeshima, Yasuyuki; Watanabe, Shoko; Honda, Yukiko; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2011-04-06

We investigated the effects of inverting facial contour (hair and chin) and features (eyes, nose and mouth) on processing for static and dynamic face perception using magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used apparent motion, in which the first stimulus (S1) was replaced by a second stimulus (S2) with no interstimulus interval and subjects perceived visual motion, and presented three conditions as follows: (1) U&U: Upright contour and Upright features, (2) U&I: Upright contour and Inverted features, and (3) I&I: Inverted contour and Inverted features. In static face perception (S1 onset), the peak latency of the fusiform area's activity, which was related to static face perception, was significantly longer for U&I and I&I than for U&U in the right hemisphere and for U&I than for U&U and I&I in the left. In dynamic face perception (S2 onset), the strength (moment) of the occipitotemporal area's activity, which was related to dynamic face perception, was significantly larger for I&I than for U&U and U&I in the right hemisphere, but not the left. These results can be summarized as follows: (1) in static face perception, the activity of the right fusiform area was more affected by the inversion of features while that of the left fusiform area was more affected by the disruption of the spatial relation between the contour and features, and (2) in dynamic face perception, the activity of the right occipitotemporal area was affected by the inversion of the facial contour. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of inversion on face recognition in adults with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Hedley, Darren; Brewer, Neil; Young, Robyn

2015-05-01

Face identity recognition has widely been shown to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study we examined the influence of inversion on face recognition in 26 adults with ASD and 33 age and IQ matched controls. Participants completed a recognition test comprising upright and inverted faces. Participants with ASD performed worse than controls on the recognition task but did not show an advantage for inverted face recognition. Both groups directed more visual attention to the eye than the mouth region and gaze patterns were not found to be associated with recognition performance. These results provide evidence of a normal effect of inversion on face recognition in adults with ASD.

The effects of facial color and inversion on the N170 event-related potential (ERP) component.

PubMed

Minami, T; Nakajima, K; Changvisommid, L; Nakauchi, S

2015-12-17

Faces are important for social interaction because much can be perceived from facial details, including a person's race, age, and mood. Recent studies have shown that both configural (e.g. face shape and inversion) and surface information (e.g. surface color and reflectance properties) are important for face perception. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of facial color and inverted face properties on event-related potential (ERP) responses, particularly the N170 component. Stimuli consisted of natural and bluish-colored faces. Faces were presented in both upright and upside down orientations. An ANOVA was used to analyze N170 amplitudes and verify the effects of the main independent variables. Analysis of N170 amplitude revealed the significant interactions between stimulus orientation and color. Subsequent analysis indicated that N170 was larger for bluish-colored faces than natural-colored faces, and N170 to natural-colored faces was larger in response to inverted stimulus as compared to upright stimulus. Additionally, a multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) investigated face-processing dynamics without any prior assumptions. Results distinguished, above chance, both facial color and orientation from single-trial electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Decoding performance for color classification of inverted faces was significantly diminished as compared to an upright orientation. This suggests that processing orientation is predominant over facial color. Taken together, the present findings elucidate the temporal and spatial distribution of orientation and color processing during face processing. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do pictures of faces, and which ones, capture attention in the inattentional-blindness paradigm?

PubMed

Devue, Christel; Laloyaux, Cédric; Feyers, Dorothée; Theeuwes, Jan; Brédart, Serge

2009-01-01

Faces and self-referential material (eg one's own name) are more likely to capture attention in the inattentional-blindness (IB) paradigm than other stimuli. This effect is presumably due to the meaning of these stimuli rather than to their familiarity [Mack and Rock, 1998 Inattentional Blindness (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)]. In previous work, IB has been investigated mostly with schematic stimuli. In the present study, the generalisability of this finding was tested with photographic stimuli. In support of the view that faces constitute a special category of stimuli, pictures of faces were found to resist more to IB than pictures of common objects (experiment 1) or than pictures of inverted faces (experiment 2). In a third experiment, the influence of face familiarity and identity (the participant's own face, a friend's face, and an unknown face) on IB rates was evaluated. Unexpectedly, no differential resistence to blindness across these three kinds of faces was found. In conclusion, pictures of faces attracted attention more than pictures of objects or inverted faces in the IB paradigm. However, this effect was not dependent on face familiarity or identity.

Role of fusiform and anterior temporal cortical areas in facial recognition.

PubMed

Nasr, Shahin; Tootell, Roger B H

2012-11-15

Recent fMRI studies suggest that cortical face processing extends well beyond the fusiform face area (FFA), including unspecified portions of the anterior temporal lobe. However, the exact location of such anterior temporal region(s), and their role during active face recognition, remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that (in addition to FFA) a small bilateral site in the anterior tip of the collateral sulcus ('AT'; the anterior temporal face patch) is selectively activated during recognition of faces but not houses (a non-face object). In contrast to the psychophysical prediction that inverted and contrast reversed faces are processed like other non-face objects, both FFA and AT (but not other visual areas) were also activated during recognition of inverted and contrast reversed faces. However, response accuracy was better correlated to recognition-driven activity in AT, compared to FFA. These data support a segregated, hierarchical model of face recognition processing, extending to the anterior temporal cortex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Faces in Context: Does Face Perception Depend on the Orientation of the Visual Scene?

PubMed

Taubert, Jessica; van Golde, Celine; Verstraten, Frans A J

2016-10-01

The mechanisms held responsible for familiar face recognition are thought to be orientation dependent; inverted faces are more difficult to recognize than their upright counterparts. Although this effect of inversion has been investigated extensively, researchers have typically sliced faces from photographs and presented them in isolation. As such, it is not known whether the perceived orientation of a face is inherited from the visual scene in which it appears. Here, we address this question by measuring performance in a simultaneous same-different task while manipulating both the orientation of the faces and the scene. We found that the face inversion effect survived scene inversion. Nonetheless, an improvement in performance when the scene was upside down suggests that sensitivity to identity increased when the faces were more easily segmented from the scene. Thus, while these data identify congruency with the visual environment as a contributing factor in recognition performance, they imply different mechanisms operate on upright and inverted faces. © The Author(s) 2016.

Role of Fusiform and Anterior Temporal Cortical Areas in Facial Recognition

PubMed Central

Nasr, Shahin; Tootell, Roger BH

2012-01-01

Recent FMRI studies suggest that cortical face processing extends well beyond the fusiform face area (FFA), including unspecified portions of the anterior temporal lobe. However, the exact location of such anterior temporal region(s), and their role during active face recognition, remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that (in addition to FFA) a small bilateral site in the anterior tip of the collateral sulcus (‘AT’; the anterior temporal face patch) is selectively activated during recognition of faces but not houses (a non-face object). In contrast to the psychophysical prediction that inverted and contrast reversed faces are processed like other non-face objects, both FFA and AT (but not other visual areas) were also activated during recognition of inverted and contrast reversed faces. However, response accuracy was better correlated to recognition-driven activity in AT, compared to FFA. These data support a segregated, hierarchical model of face recognition processing, extending to the anterior temporal cortex. PMID:23034518

Losing face: impaired discrimination of featural and configural information in the mouth region of an inverted face.

PubMed

Tanaka, James W; Kaiser, Martha D; Hagen, Simen; Pierce, Lara J

2014-05-01

Given that all faces share the same set of features-two eyes, a nose, and a mouth-that are arranged in similar configuration, recognition of a specific face must depend on our ability to discern subtle differences in its featural and configural properties. An enduring question in the face-processing literature is whether featural or configural information plays a larger role in the recognition process. To address this question, the face dimensions task was designed, in which the featural and configural properties in the upper (eye) and lower (mouth) regions of a face were parametrically and independently manipulated. In a same-different task, two faces were sequentially presented and tested in their upright or in their inverted orientation. Inversion disrupted the perception of featural size (Exp. 1), featural shape (Exp. 2), and configural changes in the mouth region, but it had relatively little effect on the discrimination of featural size and shape and configural differences in the eye region. Inversion had little effect on the perception of information in the top and bottom halves of houses (Exp. 3), suggesting that the lower-half impairment was specific to faces. Spatial cueing to the mouth region eliminated the inversion effect (Exp. 4), suggesting that participants have a bias to attend to the eye region of an inverted face. The collective findings from these experiments suggest that inversion does not differentially impair featural or configural face perceptions, but rather impairs the perception of information in the mouth region of the face.

Developmental origins of the face inversion effect.

PubMed

Cashon, Cara H; Holt, Nicholas A

2015-01-01

A hallmark of adults' expertise for faces is that they are better at recognizing, discriminating, and processing upright faces compared to inverted faces. We investigate the developmental origins of "the face inversion effect" by reviewing research on infants' perception of upright and inverted faces during the first year of life. We review the effects of inversion on infants' face preference, recognition, processing (holistic and second-order configural), and scanning as well as face-related neural responses. Particular attention is paid to the developmental patterns that emerge within and across these areas of face perception. We conclude that the developmental origins of the inversion effect begin in the first few months of life and grow stronger over the first year, culminating in effects that are commonly thought to indicate adult-like expertise. We posit that by the end of the first year, infants' face-processing system has become specialized to upright faces and a foundation for adults' upright-face expertise has been established. Developmental mechanisms that may facilitate the emergence of this upright-face specialization are discussed, including the roles that physical and social development may play in upright faces' becoming more meaningful to infants during the first year. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Facial perception of conspecifics: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) preferentially attend to proper orientation and open eyes.

PubMed

Hirata, Satoshi; Fuwa, Koki; Sugama, Keiko; Kusunoki, Kiyo; Fujita, Shin

2010-09-01

This paper reports on the use of an eye-tracking technique to examine how chimpanzees look at facial photographs of conspecifics. Six chimpanzees viewed a sequence of pictures presented on a monitor while their eye movements were measured by an eye tracker. The pictures presented conspecific faces with open or closed eyes in an upright or inverted orientation in a frame. The results demonstrated that chimpanzees looked at the eyes, nose, and mouth more frequently than would be expected on the basis of random scanning of faces. More specifically, they looked at the eyes longer than they looked at the nose and mouth when photographs of upright faces with open eyes were presented, suggesting that particular attention to the eyes represents a spontaneous face-scanning strategy shared among monkeys, apes, and humans. In contrast to the results obtained for upright faces with open eyes, the viewing times for the eyes, nose, and mouth of inverted faces with open eyes did not differ from one another. The viewing times for the eyes, nose, and mouth of faces with closed eyes did not differ when faces with closed eyes were presented in either an upright or inverted orientation. These results suggest the possibility that open eyes play an important role in the configural processing of faces and that chimpanzees perceive and process open and closed eyes differently.

The Cambridge Face Memory Test: results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants.

PubMed

Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken

2006-01-01

The two standardized tests of face recognition that are widely used suffer from serious shortcomings [Duchaine, B. & Weidenfeld, A. (2003). An evaluation of two commonly used tests of unfamiliar face recognition. Neuropsychologia, 41, 713-720; Duchaine, B. & Nakayama, K. (2004). Developmental prosopagnosia and the Benton Facial Recognition Test. Neurology, 62, 1219-1220]. Images in the Warrington Recognition Memory for Faces test include substantial non-facial information, and the simultaneous presentation of faces in the Benton Facial Recognition Test allows feature matching. Here, we present results from a new test, the Cambridge Face Memory Test, which builds on the strengths of the previous tests. In the test, participants are introduced to six target faces, and then they are tested with forced choice items consisting of three faces, one of which is a target. For each target face, three test items contain views identical to those studied in the introduction, five present novel views, and four present novel views with noise. There are a total of 72 items, and 50 controls averaged 58. To determine whether the test requires the special mechanisms used to recognize upright faces, we conducted two experiments. We predicted that controls would perform much more poorly when the face images are inverted, and as predicted, inverted performance was much worse with a mean of 42. Next we assessed whether eight prosopagnosics would perform poorly on the upright version. The prosopagnosic mean was 37, and six prosopagnosics scored outside the normal range. In contrast, the Warrington test and the Benton test failed to classify a majority of the prosopagnosics as impaired. These results indicate that the new test effectively assesses face recognition across a wide range of abilities.

Efficient search for a face by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

PubMed

Tomonaga, Masaki; Imura, Tomoko

2015-07-16

The face is quite an important stimulus category for human and nonhuman primates in their social lives. Recent advances in comparative-cognitive research clearly indicate that chimpanzees and humans process faces in a special manner; that is, using holistic or configural processing. Both species exhibit the face-inversion effect in which the inverted presentation of a face deteriorates their perception and recognition. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that humans detect human faces among non-facial objects rapidly. We report that chimpanzees detected chimpanzee faces among non-facial objects quite efficiently. This efficient search was not limited to own-species faces. They also found human adult and baby faces--but not monkey faces--efficiently. Additional testing showed that a front-view face was more readily detected than a profile, suggesting the important role of eye-to-eye contact. Chimpanzees also detected a photograph of a banana as efficiently as a face, but a further examination clearly indicated that the banana was detected mainly due to a low-level feature (i.e., color). Efficient face detection was hampered by an inverted presentation, suggesting that configural processing of faces is a critical element of efficient face detection in both species. This conclusion was supported by a simple simulation experiment using the saliency model.

Efficient search for a face by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

PubMed Central

Tomonaga, Masaki; Imura, Tomoko

2015-01-01

The face is quite an important stimulus category for human and nonhuman primates in their social lives. Recent advances in comparative-cognitive research clearly indicate that chimpanzees and humans process faces in a special manner; that is, using holistic or configural processing. Both species exhibit the face-inversion effect in which the inverted presentation of a face deteriorates their perception and recognition. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that humans detect human faces among non-facial objects rapidly. We report that chimpanzees detected chimpanzee faces among non-facial objects quite efficiently. This efficient search was not limited to own-species faces. They also found human adult and baby faces-but not monkey faces-efficiently. Additional testing showed that a front-view face was more readily detected than a profile, suggesting the important role of eye-to-eye contact. Chimpanzees also detected a photograph of a banana as efficiently as a face, but a further examination clearly indicated that the banana was detected mainly due to a low-level feature (i.e., color). Efficient face detection was hampered by an inverted presentation, suggesting that configural processing of faces is a critical element of efficient face detection in both species. This conclusion was supported by a simple simulation experiment using the saliency model. PMID:26180944

Famous face recognition, face matching, and extraversion.

PubMed

Lander, Karen; Poyarekar, Siddhi

2015-01-01

It has been previously established that extraverts who are skilled at interpersonal interaction perform significantly better than introverts on a face-specific recognition memory task. In our experiment we further investigate the relationship between extraversion and face recognition, focusing on famous face recognition and face matching. Results indicate that more extraverted individuals perform significantly better on an upright famous face recognition task and show significantly larger face inversion effects. However, our results did not find an effect of extraversion on face matching or inverted famous face recognition.

Patterns of Visual Attention to Faces and Objects in Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPartland, James C.; Webb, Sara Jane; Keehn, Brandon; Dawson, Geraldine

2011-01-01

This study used eye-tracking to examine visual attention to faces and objects in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical peers. Point of gaze was recorded during passive viewing of images of human faces, inverted human faces, monkey faces, three-dimensional curvilinear objects, and two-dimensional geometric patterns.…

A Face Inversion Effect without a Face

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandman, Talia; Yovel, Galit

2012-01-01

Numerous studies have attributed the face inversion effect (FIE) to configural processing of internal facial features in upright but not inverted faces. Recent findings suggest that face mechanisms can be activated by faceless stimuli presented in the context of a body. Here we asked whether faceless stimuli with or without body context may induce…

The cerebral correlates of subliminal emotions: an eleoencephalographic study with emotional hybrid faces.

PubMed

Prete, Giulia; Capotosto, Paolo; Zappasodi, Filippo; Laeng, Bruno; Tommasi, Luca

2015-12-01

In a high-resolution electroencephalographic study, participants evaluated the friendliness level of upright and inverted 'hybrid faces', i.e. facial photos containing a subliminal emotional core in the low spatial frequencies (< 6 cycles/image), superimposed on a neutral expression in the rest of the spatial frequencies. Upright happy and angry faces were judged as more friendly or less friendly than neutral faces, respectively. We observed the time course of cerebral correlates of these stimuli with event-related potentials (ERPs), confirming that hybrid faces elicited the posterior emotion-related and face-related components (P1, N170 and P2), previously shown to be engaged by non-subliminal emotional stimuli. In addition, these components were stronger in the right hemisphere and were both enhanced and delayed by face inversion. A frontal positivity (210-300 ms) was stronger for emotional than for neutral faces, and for upright than for inverted faces. Hence, hybrid faces represent an original approach in the study of subliminal emotions, which appears promising for investigating their electrophysiological correlates. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sensitivity to spatial frequency content is not specific to face perception

PubMed Central

Williams, N. Rankin; Willenbockel, Verena; Gauthier, Isabel

2010-01-01

Prior work using a matching task between images that were complementary in spatial frequency and orientation information suggested that the representation of faces, but not objects, retains low-level spatial frequency (SF) information (Biederman & Kalocsai. 1997). In two experiments, we reexamine the claim that faces are uniquely sensitive to changes in SF. In contrast to prior work, we used a design allowing the computation of sensitivity and response criterion for each category, and in one experiment, equalized low-level image properties across object categories. In both experiments, we find that observers are sensitive to SF changes for upright and inverted faces and nonface objects. Differential response biases across categories contributed to a larger sensitivity for faces, but even sensitivity showed a larger effect for faces, especially when faces were upright and in a front-facing view. However, when objects were inverted, or upright but shown in a three-quarter view, the matching of objects and faces was equally sensitive to SF changes. Accordingly, face perception does not appear to be uniquely affected by changes in SF content. PMID:19576237

An Adult Face Bias in Infants That is Modulated by Face Race

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heron-Delaney, Michelle; Damon, Fabrice; Quinn, Paul C.; Méary, David; Xiao, Naiqi G.; Lee, Kang; Pascalis, Olivier

2017-01-01

The visual preferences of infants for adult versus infant faces were investigated. Caucasian 3.5- and 6-month-olds were presented with Caucasian adult vs. infant face pairs and Asian adult vs. infant face pairs, in both upright and inverted orientations. Both age groups showed a visual preference for upright adult over infant faces when the faces…

"Blindsight" and subjective awareness of fearful faces: Inversion reverses the deficits in fear perception associated with core psychopathic traits.

PubMed

Oliver, Lindsay D; Mao, Alexander; Mitchell, Derek G V

2015-01-01

Though emotional faces preferentially reach awareness, the present study utilised both objective and subjective indices of awareness to determine whether they enhance subjective awareness and "blindsight". Under continuous flash suppression, participants localised a disgusted, fearful or neutral face (objective index), and rated their confidence (subjective index). Psychopathic traits were also measured to investigate their influence on emotion perception. As predicted, fear increased localisation accuracy, subjective awareness and "blindsight" of upright faces. Coldhearted traits were inversely related to subjective awareness, but not "blindsight", of upright fearful faces. In a follow-up experiment using inverted faces, increased localisation accuracy and awareness, but not "blindsight", were observed for fear. Surprisingly, awareness of inverted fearful faces was positively correlated with coldheartedness. These results suggest that emotion enhances both pre-conscious processing and the qualitative experience of awareness, but that pre-conscious and conscious processing of emotional faces rely on at least partially dissociable cognitive mechanisms.

The Cambridge Face Memory Test for Children (CFMT-C): a new tool for measuring face recognition skills in childhood.

PubMed

Croydon, Abigail; Pimperton, Hannah; Ewing, Louise; Duchaine, Brad C; Pellicano, Elizabeth

2014-09-01

Face recognition ability follows a lengthy developmental course, not reaching maturity until well into adulthood. Valid and reliable assessments of face recognition memory ability are necessary to examine patterns of ability and disability in face processing, yet there is a dearth of such assessments for children. We modified a well-known test of face memory in adults, the Cambridge Face Memory Test (Duchaine & Nakayama, 2006, Neuropsychologia, 44, 576-585), to make it developmentally appropriate for children. To establish its utility, we administered either the upright or inverted versions of the computerised Cambridge Face Memory Test - Children (CFMT-C) to 401 children aged between 5 and 12 years. Our results show that the CFMT-C is sufficiently sensitive to demonstrate age-related gains in the recognition of unfamiliar upright and inverted faces, does not suffer from ceiling or floor effects, generates robust inversion effects, and is capable of detecting difficulties in face memory in children diagnosed with autism. Together, these findings indicate that the CFMT-C constitutes a new valid assessment tool for children's face recognition skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reevaluating the Selectivity of Face-Processing Difficulties in Children and Adolescents with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ewing, Louise; Pellicano, Elizabeth; Rhodes, Gillian

2013-01-01

There are few direct examinations of whether face-processing difficulties in autism are disproportionate to difficulties with other complex non-face stimuli. Here we examined discrimination ability and memory for faces, cars, and inverted faces in children and adolescents with and without autism. Results showed that, relative to typical children,…

Attention Misplaced: The Role of Diagnostic Features in the Face-Inversion Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hills, Peter J.; Ross, David A.; Lewis, Michael B.

2011-01-01

Inversion disproportionately impairs recognition of face stimuli compared to nonface stimuli arguably due to the holistic manner in which faces are processed. A qualification is put forward in which the first point fixated on is different for upright and inverted faces and this carries some of the face-inversion effect. Three experiments explored…

Spatio-temporal dynamics and laterality effects of face inversion, feature presence and configuration, and face outline

PubMed Central

Marinkovic, Ksenija; Courtney, Maureen G.; Witzel, Thomas; Dale, Anders M.; Halgren, Eric

2014-01-01

Although a crucial role of the fusiform gyrus (FG) in face processing has been demonstrated with a variety of methods, converging evidence suggests that face processing involves an interactive and overlapping processing cascade in distributed brain areas. Here we examine the spatio-temporal stages and their functional tuning to face inversion, presence and configuration of inner features, and face contour in healthy subjects during passive viewing. Anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) combines high-density whole-head MEG recordings and distributed source modeling with high-resolution structural MRI. Each person's reconstructed cortical surface served to constrain noise-normalized minimum norm inverse source estimates. The earliest activity was estimated to the occipital cortex at ~100 ms after stimulus onset and was sensitive to an initial coarse level visual analysis. Activity in the right-lateralized ventral temporal area (inclusive of the FG) peaked at ~160 ms and was largest to inverted faces. Images containing facial features in the veridical and rearranged configuration irrespective of the facial outline elicited intermediate level activity. The M160 stage may provide structural representations necessary for downstream distributed areas to process identity and emotional expression. However, inverted faces additionally engaged the left ventral temporal area at ~180 ms and were uniquely subserved by bilateral processing. This observation is consistent with the dual route model and spared processing of inverted faces in prosopagnosia. The subsequent deflection, peaking at ~240 ms in the anterior temporal areas bilaterally, was largest to normal, upright faces. It may reflect initial engagement of the distributed network subserving individuation and familiarity. These results support dynamic models suggesting that processing of unfamiliar faces in the absence of a cognitive task is subserved by a distributed and interactive neural circuit. PMID:25426044

Does Face Inversion Change Spatial Frequency Tuning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willenbockel, Verena; Fiset, Daniel; Chauvin, Alan; Blais, Caroline; Arguin, Martin; Tanaka, James W.; Bub, Daniel N.; Gosselin, Frederic

2010-01-01

The authors examined spatial frequency (SF) tuning of upright and inverted face identification using an SF variant of the Bubbles technique (F. Gosselin & P. G. Schyns, 2001). In Experiment 1, they validated the SF Bubbles technique in a plaid detection task. In Experiments 2a-c, the SFs used for identifying upright and inverted inner facial…

Configural and component processing in simultaneous and sequential lineup procedures.

PubMed

Flowe, Heather D; Smith, Harriet M J; Karoğlu, Nilda; Onwuegbusi, Tochukwu O; Rai, Lovedeep

2016-01-01

Configural processing supports accurate face recognition, yet it has never been examined within the context of criminal identification lineups. We tested, using the inversion paradigm, the role of configural processing in lineups. Recent research has found that face discrimination accuracy in lineups is better in a simultaneous compared to a sequential lineup procedure. Therefore, we compared configural processing in simultaneous and sequential lineups to examine whether there are differences. We had participants view a crime video, and then they attempted to identify the perpetrator from a simultaneous or sequential lineup. The test faces were presented either upright or inverted, as previous research has shown that inverting test faces disrupts configural processing. The size of the inversion effect for faces was the same across lineup procedures, indicating that configural processing underlies face recognition in both procedures. Discrimination accuracy was comparable across lineup procedures in both the upright and inversion condition. Theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

Reading sadness beyond human faces.

PubMed

Chammat, Mariam; Foucher, Aurélie; Nadel, Jacqueline; Dubal, Stéphanie

2010-08-12

Human faces are the main emotion displayers. Knowing that emotional compared to neutral stimuli elicit enlarged ERPs components at the perceptual level, one may wonder whether this has led to an emotional facilitation bias toward human faces. To contribute to this question, we measured the P1 and N170 components of the ERPs elicited by human facial compared to artificial stimuli, namely non-humanoid robots. Fifteen healthy young adults were shown sad and neutral, upright and inverted expressions of human versus robotic displays. An increase in P1 amplitude in response to sad displays compared to neutral ones evidenced an early perceptual amplification for sadness information. P1 and N170 latencies were delayed in response to robotic stimuli compared to human ones, while N170 amplitude was not affected by media. Inverted human stimuli elicited a longer latency of P1 and a larger N170 amplitude while inverted robotic stimuli did not. As a whole, our results show that emotion facilitation is not biased to human faces but rather extend to non-human displays, thus suggesting our capacity to read emotion beyond faces. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developmental Changes in Face Recognition during Childhood: Evidence from Upright and Inverted Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Heering, Adelaide; Rossion, Bruno; Maurer, Daphne

2012-01-01

Adults are experts at recognizing faces but there is controversy about how this ability develops with age. We assessed 6- to 12-year-olds and adults using a digitized version of the Benton Face Recognition Test, a sensitive tool for assessing face perception abilities. Children's response times for correct responses did not decrease between ages 6…

Access to Awareness for Faces during Continuous Flash Suppression Is Not Modulated by Affective Knowledge

PubMed Central

Rabovsky, Milena; Stein, Timo; Abdel Rahman, Rasha

2016-01-01

It is a controversially debated topic whether stimuli can be analyzed up to the semantic level when they are suppressed from visual awareness during continuous flash suppression (CFS). Here, we investigated whether affective knowledge, i.e., affective biographical information about faces, influences the time it takes for initially invisible faces with neutral expressions to overcome suppression and break into consciousness. To test this, we used negative, positive, and neutral famous faces as well as initially unfamiliar faces, which were associated with negative, positive or neutral biographical information. Affective knowledge influenced ratings of facial expressions, corroborating recent evidence and indicating the success of our affective learning paradigm. Furthermore, we replicated shorter suppression durations for upright than for inverted faces, demonstrating the suitability of our CFS paradigm. However, affective biographical information did not modulate suppression durations for newly learned faces, and even though suppression durations for famous faces were influenced by affective knowledge, these effects did not differ between upright and inverted faces, indicating that they might have been due to low-level visual differences. Thus, we did not obtain unequivocal evidence for genuine influences of affective biographical information on access to visual awareness for faces during CFS. PMID:27119743

A leftward bias however you look at it: Revisiting the emotional chimeric face task as a tool for measuring emotion lateralization.

PubMed

R Innes, Bobby; Burt, D Michael; Birch, Yan K; Hausmann, Markus

2015-12-28

Left hemiface biases observed within the Emotional Chimeric Face Task (ECFT) support emotional face perception models whereby all expressions are preferentially processed by the right hemisphere. However, previous research using this task has not considered that the visible midline between hemifaces might engage atypical facial emotion processing strategies in upright or inverted conditions, nor controlled for left visual field (thus right hemispheric) visuospatial attention biases. This study used novel emotional chimeric faces (blended at the midline) to examine laterality biases for all basic emotions. Left hemiface biases were demonstrated across all emotional expressions and were reduced, but not reversed, for inverted faces. The ECFT bias in upright faces was significantly increased in participants with a large attention bias. These results support the theory that left hemiface biases reflect a genuine bias in emotional face processing, and this bias can interact with attention processes similarly localized in the right hemisphere.

A survey of the dummy face and human face stimuli used in BCI paradigm.

PubMed

Chen, Long; Jin, Jing; Zhang, Yu; Wang, Xingyu; Cichocki, Andrzej

2015-01-15

It was proved that the human face stimulus were superior to the flash only stimulus in BCI system. However, human face stimulus may lead to copyright infringement problems and was hard to be edited according to the requirement of the BCI study. Recently, it was reported that facial expression changes could be done by changing a curve in a dummy face which could obtain good performance when it was applied to visual-based P300 BCI systems. In this paper, four different paradigms were presented, which were called dummy face pattern, human face pattern, inverted dummy face pattern and inverted human face pattern, to evaluate the performance of the dummy faces stimuli compared with the human faces stimuli. The key point that determined the value of dummy faces in BCI systems were whether dummy faces stimuli could obtain as good performance as human faces stimuli. Online and offline results of four different paradigms would have been obtained and comparatively analyzed. Online and offline results showed that there was no significant difference among dummy faces and human faces in ERPs, classification accuracy and information transfer rate when they were applied in BCI systems. Dummy faces stimuli could evoke large ERPs and obtain as high classification accuracy and information transfer rate as the human faces stimuli. Since dummy faces were easy to be edited and had no copyright infringement problems, it would be a good choice for optimizing the stimuli of BCI systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Eyes only? Perceiving eye contact is neither sufficient nor necessary for attentional capture by face direction.

PubMed

Böckler, Anne; van der Wel, Robrecht P R D; Welsh, Timothy N

2015-09-01

Direct eye contact and motion onset both constitute powerful cues that capture attention. Recent research suggests that (social) gaze and (non-social) motion onset influence information processing in parallel, even when combined as sudden onset direct gaze cues (i.e., faces suddenly establishing eye contact). The present study investigated the role of eye visibility for attention capture by these sudden onset face cues. To this end, face direction was manipulated (away or towards onlooker) while faces had closed eyes (eliminating visibility of eyes, Experiment 1), wore sunglasses (eliminating visible eyes, but allowing for the expectation of eyes to be open, Experiment 2), and were inverted with visible eyes (disrupting the integration of eyes and faces, Experiment 3). Participants classified targets appearing on one of four faces. Initially, two faces were oriented towards participants and two faces were oriented away from participants. Simultaneous to target presentation, one averted face became directed and one directed face became averted. Attention capture by face direction (i.e., facilitation for faces directed towards participants) was absent when eyes were closed, but present when faces wore sunglasses. Sudden onset direct faces can, hence, induce attentional capture, even when lacking eye cues. Inverted faces, by contrast, did not elicit attentional capture. Thus, when eyes cannot be integrated into a holistic face representation they are not sufficient to capture attention. Overall, the results suggest that visibility of eyes is neither necessary nor sufficient for the sudden direct face effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Task-irrelevant own-race faces capture attention: eye-tracking evidence.

PubMed

Cao, Rong; Wang, Shuzhen; Rao, Congquan; Fu, Jia

2013-04-01

To investigate attentional capture by face's race, the current study recorded saccade latencies of eye movement measurements in an inhibition of return (IOR) task. Compared to Caucasian (other-race) faces, Chinese (own-race) faces elicited longer saccade latency. This phenomenon disappeared when faces were inverted. The results indicated that own-race faces capture attention automatically with high-level configural processing. © 2013 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Preference for Attractive Faces in Human Infants Extends beyond Conspecifics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Paul C.; Kelly, David J.; Lee, Kang; Pascalis, Olivier; Slater, Alan M.

2008-01-01

Human infants, just a few days of age, are known to prefer attractive human faces. We examined whether this preference is human-specific. Three- to 4-month-olds preferred attractive over unattractive domestic and wild cat (tiger) faces (Experiments 1 and 3). The preference was not observed when the faces were inverted, suggesting that it did not…

The Effect of Inversion on Face Recognition in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedley, Darren; Brewer, Neil; Young, Robyn

2015-01-01

Face identity recognition has widely been shown to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study we examined the influence of inversion on face recognition in 26 adults with ASD and 33 age and IQ matched controls. Participants completed a recognition test comprising upright and inverted faces. Participants with ASD…

Brief Report: Perception of Body Posture--What Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Might Be Missing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Catherine L.; Beall, Paula M.; Stone, Valerie E.; Kopelioff, Lila; Pulham, Danielle J.; Hepburn, Susan L.

2007-01-01

Autism has been associated with atypical face and configural processing, as indicated by the lack of a face inversion effect (better recognition of upright than inverted faces). We investigated whether such atypical processing was restricted to the face or extended to social information found in body postures. An inversion paradigm compared…

Being BOLD: The neural dynamics of face perception.

PubMed

Gentile, Francesco; Ales, Justin; Rossion, Bruno

2017-01-01

According to a non-hierarchical view of human cortical face processing, selective responses to faces may emerge in a higher-order area of the hierarchy, in the lateral part of the middle fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area [FFA]) independently from face-selective responses in the lateral inferior occipital gyrus (occipital face area [OFA]), a lower order area. Here we provide a stringent test of this hypothesis by gradually revealing segmented face stimuli throughout strict linear descrambling of phase information [Ales et al., 2012]. Using a short sampling rate (500 ms) of fMRI acquisition and single subject statistical analysis, we show a face-selective responses emerging earlier, that is, at a lower level of structural (i.e., phase) information, in the FFA compared with the OFA. In both regions, a face detection response emerging at a lower level of structural information for upright than inverted faces, both in the FFA and OFA, in line with behavioral responses and with previous findings of delayed responses to inverted faces with direct recordings of neural activity were also reported. Overall, these results support the non-hierarchical view of human cortical face processing and open new perspectives for time-resolved analysis at the single subject level of fMRI data obtained during continuously evolving visual stimulation. Hum Brain Mapp 38:120-139, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of configural processing on the perceptual spatial resolution for face features.

PubMed

Namdar, Gal; Avidan, Galia; Ganel, Tzvi

2015-11-01

Configural processing governs human perception across various domains, including face perception. An established marker of configural face perception is the face inversion effect, in which performance is typically better for upright compared to inverted faces. In two experiments, we tested whether configural processing could influence basic visual abilities such as perceptual spatial resolution (i.e., the ability to detect spatial visual changes). Face-related perceptual spatial resolution was assessed by measuring the just noticeable difference (JND) to subtle positional changes between specific features in upright and inverted faces. The results revealed robust inversion effect for spatial sensitivity to configural-based changes, such as the distance between the mouth and the nose, or the distance between the eyes and the nose. Critically, spatial resolution for face features within the region of the eyes (e.g., the interocular distance between the eyes) was not affected by inversion, suggesting that the eye region operates as a separate 'gestalt' unit which is relatively immune to manipulations that would normally hamper configural processing. Together these findings suggest that face orientation modulates fundamental psychophysical abilities including spatial resolution. Furthermore, they indicate that classic psychophysical methods can be used as a valid measure of configural face processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bidirectional electric communication between the inferior occipital gyrus and the amygdala during face processing.

PubMed

Sato, Wataru; Kochiyama, Takanori; Uono, Shota; Matsuda, Kazumi; Usui, Keiko; Usui, Naotaka; Inoue, Yushi; Toichi, Motomi

2017-09-01

Faces contain multifaceted information that is important for human communication. Neuroimaging studies have revealed face-specific activation in multiple brain regions, including the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and amygdala; it is often assumed that these regions constitute the neural network responsible for the processing of faces. However, it remains unknown whether and how these brain regions transmit information during face processing. This study investigated these questions by applying dynamic causal modeling of induced responses to human intracranial electroencephalography data recorded from the IOG and amygdala during the observation of faces, mosaics, and houses in upright and inverted orientations. Model comparisons assessing the experimental effects of upright faces versus upright houses and upright faces versus upright mosaics consistently indicated that the model having face-specific bidirectional modulatory effects between the IOG and amygdala was the most probable. The experimental effect between upright versus inverted faces also favored the model with bidirectional modulatory effects between the IOG and amygdala. The spectral profiles of modulatory effects revealed both same-frequency (e.g., gamma-gamma) and cross-frequency (e.g., theta-gamma) couplings. These results suggest that the IOG and amygdala communicate rapidly with each other using various types of oscillations for the efficient processing of faces. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4511-4524, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Qualitative Impairment in Face Perception in Alzheimer's Disease: Evidence from a Reduced Face Inversion Effect.

PubMed

Lavallée, Marie Maxime; Gandini, Delphine; Rouleau, Isabelle; Vallet, Guillaume T; Joannette, Maude; Kergoat, Marie-Jeanne; Busigny, Thomas; Rossion, Bruno; Joubert, Sven

2016-01-01

Prevalent face recognition difficulties in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have typically been attributed to the underlying episodic and semantic memory impairment. The aim of the current study was to determine if AD patients are also impaired at the perceptual level for faces, more specifically at extracting a visual representation of an individual face. To address this question, we investigated the matching of simultaneously presented individual faces and of other nonface familiar shapes (cars), at both upright and inverted orientation, in a group of mild AD patients and in a group of healthy older controls matched for age and education. AD patients showed a reduced inversion effect (i.e., larger performance for upright than inverted stimuli) for faces, but not for cars, both in terms of error rates and response times. While healthy participants showed a much larger decrease in performance for faces than for cars with inversion, the inversion effect did not differ significantly for faces and cars in AD. This abnormal inversion effect for faces was observed in a large subset of individual patients with AD. These results suggest that AD patients have deficits in higher-level visual processes, more specifically at perceiving individual faces, a function that relies on holistic representations specific to upright face stimuli. These deficits, combined with their memory impairment, may contribute to the difficulties in recognizing familiar people that are often reported in patients suffering from the disease and by their caregivers.

Implicit Processing of the Eyes and Mouth: Evidence from Human Electrophysiology.

PubMed

Pesciarelli, Francesca; Leo, Irene; Sarlo, Michela

2016-01-01

The current study examined the time course of implicit processing of distinct facial features and the associate event-related potential (ERP) components. To this end, we used a masked priming paradigm to investigate implicit processing of the eyes and mouth in upright and inverted faces, using a prime duration of 33 ms. Two types of prime-target pairs were used: 1. congruent (e.g., open eyes only in both prime and target or open mouth only in both prime and target); 2. incongruent (e.g., open mouth only in prime and open eyes only in target or open eyes only in prime and open mouth only in target). The identity of the faces changed between prime and target. Participants pressed a button when the target face had the eyes open and another button when the target face had the mouth open. The behavioral results showed faster RTs for the eyes in upright faces than the eyes in inverted faces, the mouth in upright and inverted faces. Moreover they also revealed a congruent priming effect for the mouth in upright faces. The ERP findings showed a face orientation effect across all ERP components studied (P1, N1, N170, P2, N2, P3) starting at about 80 ms, and a congruency/priming effect on late components (P2, N2, P3), starting at about 150 ms. Crucially, the results showed that the orientation effect was driven by the eye region (N170, P2) and that the congruency effect started earlier (P2) for the eyes than for the mouth (N2). These findings mark the time course of the processing of internal facial features and provide further evidence that the eyes are automatically processed and that they are very salient facial features that strongly affect the amplitude, latency, and distribution of neural responses to faces.

Implicit Processing of the Eyes and Mouth: Evidence from Human Electrophysiology

PubMed Central

Pesciarelli, Francesca; Leo, Irene; Sarlo, Michela

2016-01-01

The current study examined the time course of implicit processing of distinct facial features and the associate event-related potential (ERP) components. To this end, we used a masked priming paradigm to investigate implicit processing of the eyes and mouth in upright and inverted faces, using a prime duration of 33 ms. Two types of prime-target pairs were used: 1. congruent (e.g., open eyes only in both prime and target or open mouth only in both prime and target); 2. incongruent (e.g., open mouth only in prime and open eyes only in target or open eyes only in prime and open mouth only in target). The identity of the faces changed between prime and target. Participants pressed a button when the target face had the eyes open and another button when the target face had the mouth open. The behavioral results showed faster RTs for the eyes in upright faces than the eyes in inverted faces, the mouth in upright and inverted faces. Moreover they also revealed a congruent priming effect for the mouth in upright faces. The ERP findings showed a face orientation effect across all ERP components studied (P1, N1, N170, P2, N2, P3) starting at about 80 ms, and a congruency/priming effect on late components (P2, N2, P3), starting at about 150 ms. Crucially, the results showed that the orientation effect was driven by the eye region (N170, P2) and that the congruency effect started earlier (P2) for the eyes than for the mouth (N2). These findings mark the time course of the processing of internal facial features and provide further evidence that the eyes are automatically processed and that they are very salient facial features that strongly affect the amplitude, latency, and distribution of neural responses to faces. PMID:26790153

Environmental Inversion Effects in Face Perception

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidenko, Nicolas; Flusberg, Stephen J.

2012-01-01

Visual processing is highly sensitive to stimulus orientation; for example, face perception is drastically worse when faces are oriented inverted vs. upright. However, stimulus orientation must be established in relation to a particular reference frame, and in most studies, several reference frames are conflated. Which reference frame(s) matter in…

Combined Effects of Inversion and Feature Removal on N170 Responses Elicited by Faces and Car Fronts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kloth, Nadine; Itier, Roxane J.; Schweinberger, Stefan R.

2013-01-01

The face-sensitive N170 is typically enhanced for inverted compared to upright faces. Itier, Alain, Sedore, and McIntosh (2007) recently suggested that this N170 inversion effect is mainly driven by the eye region which becomes salient when the face configuration is disrupted. Here we tested whether similar effects could be observed with non-face…

Low nonalloyed Ohmic contact resistance to nitride high electron mobility transistors using N-face growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Man Hoi; Pei, Yi; Palacios, Tomás; Shen, Likun; Chakraborty, Arpan; McCarthy, Lee S.; Keller, Stacia; DenBaars, Steven P.; Speck, James S.; Mishra, Umesh K.

2007-12-01

Nonalloyed Ohmic contacts on Ga-face n+-GaN/AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures typically have significant contact resistance to the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) due to the AlGaN barrier. By growing the HEMT structure inverted on the N-face, electrons from the contacts were able to access the 2DEG without going through an AlGaN layer. A low contact resistance of 0.16Ωmm and specific contact resistivity of 5.5×10-7Ωcm2 were achieved without contact annealing on the inverted HEMT structure.

Pareidolia in infants.

PubMed

Kato, Masaharu; Mugitani, Ryoko

2015-01-01

Faces convey primal information for our social life. This information is so primal that we sometimes find faces in non-face objects. Such illusory perception is called pareidolia. In this study, using infants' orientation behavior toward a sound source, we demonstrated that infants also perceive pareidolic faces. An image formed by four blobs and an outline was shown to infants with or without pure tones, and the time they spent looking at each blob was compared. Since the mouth is the unique sound source in a face and the literature has shown that infants older than 6 months already have sound-mouth association, increased looking time towards the bottom blob (pareidolic mouth area) during sound presentation indicated that they illusorily perceive a face in the image. Infants aged 10 and 12 months looked longer at the bottom blob under the upright-image condition, whereas no differences in looking time were observed for any blob under the inverted-image condition. However, 8-month-olds did not show any difference in looking time under both the upright and inverted conditions, suggesting that the perception of pareidolic faces, through sound association, comes to develop at around 8 to 10 months after birth.

Pareidolia in Infants

PubMed Central

Kato, Masaharu; Mugitani, Ryoko

2015-01-01

Faces convey primal information for our social life. This information is so primal that we sometimes find faces in non-face objects. Such illusory perception is called pareidolia. In this study, using infants’ orientation behavior toward a sound source, we demonstrated that infants also perceive pareidolic faces. An image formed by four blobs and an outline was shown to infants with or without pure tones, and the time they spent looking at each blob was compared. Since the mouth is the unique sound source in a face and the literature has shown that infants older than 6 months already have sound-mouth association, increased looking time towards the bottom blob (pareidolic mouth area) during sound presentation indicated that they illusorily perceive a face in the image. Infants aged 10 and 12 months looked longer at the bottom blob under the upright-image condition, whereas no differences in looking time were observed for any blob under the inverted-image condition. However, 8-month-olds did not show any difference in looking time under both the upright and inverted conditions, suggesting that the perception of pareidolic faces, through sound association, comes to develop at around 8 to 10 months after birth. PMID:25689630

Face and Object Discrimination in Autism, and Relationship to IQ and Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallett, Pamela M.; Cohen, Shereen J.; Dobkins, Karen R.

2014-01-01

The current study tested fine discrimination of upright and inverted faces and objects in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as compared to age- and IQ-matched controls. Discrimination sensitivity was tested using morphed faces and morphed objects, and all stimuli were equated in low-level visual characteristics (luminance, contrast,…

Rapid, high-frequency, and theta-coupled gamma oscillations in the inferior occipital gyrus during face processing.

PubMed

Sato, Wataru; Kochiyama, Takanori; Uono, Shota; Matsuda, Kazumi; Usui, Keiko; Inoue, Yushi; Toichi, Motomi

2014-11-01

Neuroimaging studies have found greater activation in the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), or occipital face area, in response to faces relative to non-facial stimuli. However, the temporal, frequency, and functional profiles of IOG activity during face processing remain unclear. Here, this issue was investigated by recording intracranial field potentials in the IOG during the presentation of faces, mosaics, and houses in upright and inverted orientations. Time-frequency statistical parametric mapping analyses revealed greater gamma-band activation in the IOG beginning at 110 msec and covering 40-300 Hz in response to upright faces relative to upright houses and mosaics. Phase-amplitude cross-frequency coupling analyses revealed more evident theta-gamma couplings at 115-256 msec during the processing of upright faces as compared with that of upright houses and mosaics. Comparable gamma-band activity was observed during the processing of inverted and upright faces at about 100-200 msec, but weaker activity and different coupling with theta-band activity after 200 msec. These patterns of activity were more evident in the right than in the left IOG. These results, together with other evidence on neural communication, suggest that broadband gamma oscillations in the right IOG conduct rapid and multistage (i.e., both featural and configural) face processing in collaboration with theta oscillations transmitted from other brain regions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do neural correlates of face expertise vary with task demands? Event-related potential correlates of own- and other-race face inversion

PubMed Central

Wiese, Holger

2013-01-01

We are typically more accurate at remembering own- than other-race faces. This “own-race bias” has been suggested to result from enhanced expertise with and more efficient perceptual processing of own-race than other-race faces. In line with this idea, the N170, an event-related potential correlate of face perception, has been repeatedly found to be larger for other-race faces. Other studies, however, found no difference in N170 amplitude for faces from diverse ethnic groups. The present study tested whether these seemingly incongruent findings can be explained by varying task demands. European participants were presented with upright and inverted European and Asian faces (as well as European and Asian houses), and asked to either indicate the ethnicity or the orientation of the stimuli. Larger N170s for other-race faces were observed in the ethnicity but not in the orientation task, suggesting that the necessity to process facial category information is a minimum prerequisite for the occurrence of the effect. In addition, N170 inversion effects, with larger amplitudes for inverted relative to upright stimuli, were more pronounced for own- relative to other-race faces in both tasks. Overall, the present findings suggest that the occurrence of ethnicity effects in N170 for upright faces depends on the amount of facial detail required for the task at hand. At the same time, the larger inversion effects for own- than other-race faces occur independent of task and may reflect the fine-tuning of perceptual processing to faces of maximum expertise. PMID:24399955

Altered Automatic Face Processing in Individuals with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence from Visual Evoked Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fujita, Takako; Kamio, Yoko; Yamasaki, Takao; Yasumoto, Sawa; Hirose, Shinichi; Tobimatsu, Shozo

2013-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have different automatic responses to faces than typically developing (TD) individuals. We recorded visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in 10 individuals with high-functioning ASD (HFASD) and 10 TD individuals. Visual stimuli consisted of upright and inverted faces (fearful and neutral) and objects…

The Relationship between Processing Facial Identity and Emotional Expression in 8-Month-Old Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwarzer, Gudrun; Jovanovic, Bianca

2010-01-01

In Experiment 1, it was investigated whether infants process facial identity and emotional expression independently or in conjunction with one another. Eight-month-old infants were habituated to two upright or two inverted faces varying in facial identity and emotional expression. Infants were tested with a habituation face, a switch face, and a…

Recognition of Immaturity and Emotional Expressions in Blended Faces by Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Thomas F.

2008-01-01

The recognition of facial immaturity and emotional expression by children with autism, language disorders, mental retardation, and non-disabled controls was studied in two experiments. Children identified immaturity and expression in upright and inverted faces. The autism group identified fewer immature faces and expressions than control (Exp. 1 &…

Early sensitivity for eyes within faces: a new neuronal account of holistic and featural processing

PubMed Central

Nemrodov, Dan; Anderson, Thomas; Preston, Frank F.; Itier, Roxane J.

2017-01-01

Eyes are central to face processing however their role in early face encoding as reflected by the N170 ERP component is unclear. Using eye tracking to enforce fixation on specific facial features, we found that the N170 was larger for fixation on the eyes compared to fixation on the forehead, nasion, nose or mouth, which all yielded similar amplitudes. This eye sensitivity was seen in both upright and inverted faces and was lost in eyeless faces, demonstrating it was due to the presence of eyes at fovea. Upright eyeless faces elicited largest N170 at nose fixation. Importantly, the N170 face inversion effect (FIE) was strongly attenuated in eyeless faces when fixation was on the eyes but was less attenuated for nose fixation and was normal when fixation was on the mouth. These results suggest the impact of eye removal on the N170 FIE is a function of the angular distance between the fixated feature and the eye location. We propose the Lateral Inhibition, Face Template and Eye Detector based (LIFTED) model which accounts for all the present N170 results including the FIE and its interaction with eye removal. Although eyes elicit the largest N170 response, reflecting the activity of an eye detector, the processing of upright faces is holistic and entails an inhibitory mechanism from neurons coding parafoveal information onto neurons coding foveal information. The LIFTED model provides a neuronal account of holistic and featural processing involved in upright and inverted faces and offers precise predictions for further testing. PMID:24768932

Developmental changes in analytic and holistic processes in face perception.

PubMed

Joseph, Jane E; DiBartolo, Michelle D; Bhatt, Ramesh S

2015-01-01

Although infants demonstrate sensitivity to some kinds of perceptual information in faces, many face capacities continue to develop throughout childhood. One debate is the degree to which children perceive faces analytically versus holistically and how these processes undergo developmental change. In the present study, school-aged children and adults performed a perceptual matching task with upright and inverted face and house pairs that varied in similarity of featural or 2(nd) order configural information. Holistic processing was operationalized as the degree of serial processing when discriminating faces and houses [i.e., increased reaction time (RT), as more features or spacing relations were shared between stimuli]. Analytical processing was operationalized as the degree of parallel processing (or no change in RT as a function of greater similarity of features or spatial relations). Adults showed the most evidence for holistic processing (most strongly for 2(nd) order faces) and holistic processing was weaker for inverted faces and houses. Younger children (6-8 years), in contrast, showed analytical processing across all experimental manipulations. Older children (9-11 years) showed an intermediate pattern with a trend toward holistic processing of 2(nd) order faces like adults, but parallel processing in other experimental conditions like younger children. These findings indicate that holistic face representations emerge around 10 years of age. In adults both 2(nd) order and featural information are incorporated into holistic representations, whereas older children only incorporate 2(nd) order information. Holistic processing was not evident in younger children. Hence, the development of holistic face representations relies on 2(nd) order processing initially then incorporates featural information by adulthood.

Own-race faces capture attention faster than other-race faces: evidence from response time and the N2pc.

PubMed

Zhou, Guomei; Cheng, Zhijie; Yue, Zhenzhu; Tredoux, Colin; He, Jibo; Wang, Ling

2015-01-01

Studies have shown that people are better at recognizing human faces from their own-race than from other-races, an effect often termed the Own-Race Advantage. The current study investigates whether there is an Own-Race Advantage in attention and its neural correlates. Participants were asked to search for a human face among animal faces. Experiment 1 showed a classic Own-Race Advantage in response time both for Chinese and Black South African participants. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), Experiment 2 showed a similar Own-Race Advantage in response time for both upright faces and inverted faces. Moreover, the latency of N2pc for own-race faces was earlier than that for other-race faces. These results suggested that own-race faces capture attention more efficiently than other-race faces.

The temporal advantage for individuating objects of expertise: perceptual expertise is an early riser.

PubMed

Curby, Kim M; Gauthier, Isabel

2009-06-10

The identification of faces has a temporal advantage over that of other object categories. The orientation-specific nature of this advantage suggests that it stems from our extensive experience and resulting expertise with upright faces. While experts can identify objects faster than novices, it is unclear exactly how the temporal dynamics of identification are changed by expertise and whether the nature of this temporal advantage is similar for face and non-face objects of expertise. Here, we titrated encoding time using a backward-masking paradigm with variable stimulus-mask onset-asynchronies and mapped the resulting effect on recognition for upright and inverted faces (Experiment 1) and for cars among car experts and car novices (Experiment 2). Performance for upright faces and cars among car experts rose above chance between 33 and 70 ms before that for inverted faces or cars among car novices. A shifted exponential function fitted to these data suggested that performance started to rise earlier for experts than for novices, but that additional encoding time increased performance at a similar rate. Experience influences the availability of information early in processing, possibly through the recruitment of more category-selective neurons, while the rate of perceptual processing may be less flexible and limited by inherent physiological constraints.

Interfering with memory for faces: The cost of doing two things at once.

PubMed

Wammes, Jeffrey D; Fernandes, Myra A

2016-01-01

We inferred the processes critical for episodic retrieval of faces by measuring susceptibility to memory interference from different distracting tasks. Experiment 1 examined recognition of studied faces under full attention (FA) or each of two divided attention (DA) conditions requiring concurrent decisions to auditorily presented letters. Memory was disrupted in both DA relative to FA conditions, a result contrary to a material-specific account of interference effects. Experiment 2 investigated whether the magnitude of interference depended on competition between concurrent tasks for common processing resources. Studied faces were presented either upright (configurally processed) or inverted (featurally processed). Recognition was completed under FA, or DA with one of two face-based distracting tasks requiring either featural or configural processing. We found an interaction: memory for upright faces was lower under DA when the distracting task required configural than featural processing, while the reverse was true for memory of inverted faces. Across experiments, the magnitude of memory interference was similar (a 19% or 20% decline from FA) regardless of whether the materials in the distracting task overlapped with the to-be-remembered information. Importantly, interference was significantly larger (42%) when the processing demands of the distracting and target retrieval task overlapped, suggesting a processing-specific account of memory interference.

Interactions between concentric form-from-structure and face perception revealed by visual masking but not adaptation

PubMed Central

Feczko, Eric; Shulman, Gordon L.; Petersen, Steven E.; Pruett, John R.

2014-01-01

Findings from diverse subfields of vision research suggest a potential link between high-level aspects of face perception and concentric form-from-structure perception. To explore this relationship, typical adults performed two adaptation experiments and two masking experiments to test whether concentric, but not nonconcentric, Glass patterns (a type of form-from-structure stimulus) utilize a processing mechanism shared by face perception. For the adaptation experiments, subjects were presented with an adaptor for 5 or 20 s, prior to discriminating a target. In the masking experiments, subjects saw a mask, then a target, and then a second mask. Measures of discriminability and bias were derived and repeated measures analysis of variance tested for pattern-specific masking and adaptation effects. Results from Experiment 1 show no Glass pattern-specific effect of adaptation to faces; results from Experiment 2 show concentric Glass pattern masking, but not adaptation, may impair upright/inverted face discrimination; results from Experiment 3 show concentric and radial Glass pattern masking impaired subsequent upright/inverted face discrimination more than translational Glass pattern masking; and results from Experiment 4 show concentric and radial Glass pattern masking impaired subsequent face gender discrimination more than translational Glass pattern masking. Taken together, these findings demonstrate interactions between concentric form-from-structure and face processing, suggesting a possible common processing pathway. PMID:24563526

Upright face-preferential high-gamma responses in lower-order visual areas: evidence from intracranial recordings in children

PubMed Central

Matsuzaki, Naoyuki; Schwarzlose, Rebecca F.; Nishida, Masaaki; Ofen, Noa; Asano, Eishi

2015-01-01

Behavioral studies demonstrate that a face presented in the upright orientation attracts attention more rapidly than an inverted face. Saccades toward an upright face take place in 100-140 ms following presentation. The present study using electrocorticography determined whether upright face-preferential neural activation, as reflected by augmentation of high-gamma activity at 80-150 Hz, involved the lower-order visual cortex within the first 100 ms post-stimulus presentation. Sampled lower-order visual areas were verified by the induction of phosphenes upon electrical stimulation. These areas resided in the lateral-occipital, lingual, and cuneus gyri along the calcarine sulcus, roughly corresponding to V1 and V2. Measurement of high-gamma augmentation during central (circular) and peripheral (annular) checkerboard reversal pattern stimulation indicated that central-field stimuli were processed by the more polar surface whereas peripheral-field stimuli by the more anterior medial surface. Upright face stimuli, compared to inverted ones, elicited up to 23% larger augmentation of high-gamma activity in the lower-order visual regions at 40-90 ms. Upright face-preferential high-gamma augmentation was more highly correlated with high-gamma augmentation for central than peripheral stimuli. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that lower-order visual regions, especially those for the central field, are involved in visual cues for rapid detection of upright face stimuli. PMID:25579446

Time course of gamma-band oscillation associated with face processing in the inferior occipital gyrus and fusiform gyrus: A combined fMRI and MEG study.

PubMed

Uono, Shota; Sato, Wataru; Kochiyama, Takanori; Kubota, Yasutaka; Sawada, Reiko; Yoshimura, Sayaka; Toichi, Motomi

2017-04-01

Debate continues over whether the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) or the fusiform gyrus (FG) represents the first stage of face processing and what role these brain regions play. We investigated this issue by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) in normal adults. Participants passively observed upright and inverted faces and houses. First, we identified the IOG and FG as face-specific regions using fMRI. We applied beamforming source reconstruction and time-frequency analysis to MEG source signals to reveal the time course of gamma-band activations in these regions. The results revealed that the right IOG showed higher gamma-band activation in response to upright faces than to upright houses at 100 ms from the stimulus onset. Subsequently, the right FG showed greater gamma-band response to upright faces versus upright houses at around 170 ms. The gamma-band activation in the right IOG and right FG was larger in response to inverted faces than to upright faces at the later time window. These results suggest that (1) the gamma-band activities occurs rapidly first in the IOG and next in the FG and (2) the gamma-band activity in the right IOG at later time stages is involved in configuration processing for faces. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2067-2079, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Beyond U-Shaped Development in Infants' Processing of Faces: An Information-Processing Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cashon, Cara H.; Cohen, Leslie B.

2004-01-01

The development of the "inversion" effect in face processing was examined in infants 3 to 6 months of age by testing their integration of the internal and external features of upright and inverted faces using a variation of the "switch" visual habituation paradigm. When combined with previous findings showing that 7-month-olds use integrative…

Orientation During Initial Learning and Subsequent Discrimination of Faces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, Malcolm M.; Holton, Emily M. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Discrimination of facial features degrades with stimulus rotation (e.g., the "Margaret Thatcher" effect). Thirty-two observers learned to discriminate between two upright, or two inverted, faces. Images, erect and rotated by +/-45deg, +/-90deg, +/-135deg and 180deg about the line of sight, were presented on a computer screen. Initial discriminative reaction times increased with stimulus rotation only for observers who learned the upright faces. Orientation during learning is critical in identifying faces subsequently seen at different orientations.

The role of experience-based perceptual learning in the face inversion effect.

PubMed

Civile, Ciro; Obhi, Sukhvinder S; McLaren, I P L

2018-04-03

Perceptual learning of the type we consider here is a consequence of experience with a class of stimuli. It amounts to an enhanced ability to discriminate between stimuli. We argue that it contributes to the ability to distinguish between faces and recognize individuals, and in particular contributes to the face inversion effect (better recognition performance for upright vs inverted faces). Previously, we have shown that experience with a prototype defined category of checkerboards leads to perceptual learning, that this produces an inversion effect, and that this effect can be disrupted by Anodal tDCS to Fp3 during pre-exposure. If we can demonstrate that the same tDCS manipulation also disrupts the inversion effect for faces, then this will strengthen the claim that perceptual learning contributes to that effect. The important question, then, is whether this tDCS procedure would significantly reduce the inversion effect for faces; stimuli that we have lifelong expertise with and for which perceptual learning has already occurred. Consequently, in the experiment reported here we investigated the effects of anodal tDCS at Fp3 during an old/new recognition task for upright and inverted faces. Our results show that stimulation significantly reduced the face inversion effect compared to controls. The effect was one of reducing recognition performance for upright faces. This result is the first to show that tDCS affects perceptual learning that has already occurred, disrupting individuals' ability to recognize upright faces. It provides further support for our account of perceptual learning and its role as a key factor in face recognition. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developmental changes in analytic and holistic processes in face perception

PubMed Central

Joseph, Jane E.; DiBartolo, Michelle D.; Bhatt, Ramesh S.

2015-01-01

Although infants demonstrate sensitivity to some kinds of perceptual information in faces, many face capacities continue to develop throughout childhood. One debate is the degree to which children perceive faces analytically versus holistically and how these processes undergo developmental change. In the present study, school-aged children and adults performed a perceptual matching task with upright and inverted face and house pairs that varied in similarity of featural or 2nd order configural information. Holistic processing was operationalized as the degree of serial processing when discriminating faces and houses [i.e., increased reaction time (RT), as more features or spacing relations were shared between stimuli]. Analytical processing was operationalized as the degree of parallel processing (or no change in RT as a function of greater similarity of features or spatial relations). Adults showed the most evidence for holistic processing (most strongly for 2nd order faces) and holistic processing was weaker for inverted faces and houses. Younger children (6–8 years), in contrast, showed analytical processing across all experimental manipulations. Older children (9–11 years) showed an intermediate pattern with a trend toward holistic processing of 2nd order faces like adults, but parallel processing in other experimental conditions like younger children. These findings indicate that holistic face representations emerge around 10 years of age. In adults both 2nd order and featural information are incorporated into holistic representations, whereas older children only incorporate 2nd order information. Holistic processing was not evident in younger children. Hence, the development of holistic face representations relies on 2nd order processing initially then incorporates featural information by adulthood. PMID:26300838

Cognitive behavioural therapy attenuates the enhanced early facial stimuli processing in social anxiety disorders: an ERP investigation.

PubMed

Cao, Jianqin; Liu, Quanying; Li, Yang; Yang, Jun; Gu, Ruolei; Liang, Jin; Qi, Yanyan; Wu, Haiyan; Liu, Xun

2017-07-28

Previous studies of patients with social anxiety have demonstrated abnormal early processing of facial stimuli in social contexts. In other words, patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) tend to exhibit enhanced early facial processing when compared to healthy controls. Few studies have examined the temporal electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP)-indexed profiles when an individual with SAD compares faces to objects in SAD. Systematic comparisons of ERPs to facial/object stimuli before and after therapy are also lacking. We used a passive visual detection paradigm with upright and inverted faces/objects, which are known to elicit early P1 and N170 components, to study abnormal early face processing and subsequent improvements in this measure in patients with SAD. Seventeen patients with SAD and 17 matched control participants performed a passive visual detection paradigm task while undergoing EEG. The healthy controls were compared to patients with SAD pre-therapy to test the hypothesis that patients with SAD have early hypervigilance to facial cues. We compared patients with SAD before and after therapy to test the hypothesis that the early hypervigilance to facial cues in patients with SAD can be alleviated. Compared to healthy control (HC) participants, patients with SAD had more robust P1-N170 slope but no amplitude effects in response to both upright and inverted faces and objects. Interestingly, we found that patients with SAD had reduced P1 responses to all objects and faces after therapy, but had selectively reduced N170 responses to faces, and especially inverted faces. Interestingly, the slope from P1 to N170 in patients with SAD was flatter post-therapy than pre-therapy. Furthermore, the amplitude of N170 evoked by the facial stimuli was correlated with scores on the interaction anxiousness scale (IAS) after therapy. Our results did not provide electrophysiological support for the early hypervigilance hypothesis in SAD to faces, but confirm that cognitive-behavioural therapy can reduce the early visual processing of faces. These findings have potentially important therapeutic implications in the assessment and treatment of social anxiety. Trial registration HEBDQ2014021.

Bonder for Solar-Cell Strings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garwood, G.; Frasch, W.

1982-01-01

String bonder for solar-cell arrays eliminates tedious manual assembly procedure that could damage cell face. Vacuum arm picks up face-down cell from cell-inverting work station and transfers it to string conveyor without changing cell orientation. Arm is activated by signal from microprocessor.

Super-recognizers: People with extraordinary face recognition ability

PubMed Central

Russell, Richard; Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken

2014-01-01

We tested four people who claimed to have significantly better than ordinary face recognition ability. Exceptional ability was confirmed in each case. On two very different tests of face recognition, all four experimental subjects performed beyond the range of control subject performance. They also scored significantly better than average on a perceptual discrimination test with faces. This effect was larger with upright than inverted faces, and the four subjects showed a larger ‘inversion effect’ than control subjects, who in turn showed a larger inversion effect than developmental prosopagnosics. This indicates an association between face recognition ability and the magnitude of the inversion effect. Overall, these ‘super-recognizers’ are about as good at face recognition and perception as developmental prosopagnosics are bad. Our findings demonstrate the existence of people with exceptionally good face recognition ability, and show that the range of face recognition and face perception ability is wider than previously acknowledged. PMID:19293090

Super-recognizers: people with extraordinary face recognition ability.

PubMed

Russell, Richard; Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken

2009-04-01

We tested 4 people who claimed to have significantly better than ordinary face recognition ability. Exceptional ability was confirmed in each case. On two very different tests of face recognition, all 4 experimental subjects performed beyond the range of control subject performance. They also scored significantly better than average on a perceptual discrimination test with faces. This effect was larger with upright than with inverted faces, and the 4 subjects showed a larger "inversion effect" than did control subjects, who in turn showed a larger inversion effect than did developmental prosopagnosics. This result indicates an association between face recognition ability and the magnitude of the inversion effect. Overall, these "super-recognizers" are about as good at face recognition and perception as developmental prosopagnosics are bad. Our findings demonstrate the existence of people with exceptionally good face recognition ability and show that the range of face recognition and face perception ability is wider than has been previously acknowledged.

Neural representations of faces and body parts in macaque and human cortex: a comparative FMRI study.

PubMed

Pinsk, Mark A; Arcaro, Michael; Weiner, Kevin S; Kalkus, Jan F; Inati, Souheil J; Gross, Charles G; Kastner, Sabine

2009-05-01

Single-cell studies in the macaque have reported selective neural responses evoked by visual presentations of faces and bodies. Consistent with these findings, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in humans and monkeys indicate that regions in temporal cortex respond preferentially to faces and bodies. However, it is not clear how these areas correspond across the two species. Here, we directly compared category-selective areas in macaques and humans using virtually identical techniques. In the macaque, several face- and body part-selective areas were found located along the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). In the human, similar to previous studies, face-selective areas were found in ventral occipital and temporal cortex and an additional face-selective area was found in the anterior temporal cortex. Face-selective areas were also found in lateral temporal cortex, including the previously reported posterior STS area. Body part-selective areas were identified in the human fusiform gyrus and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. In a first experiment, both monkey and human subjects were presented with pictures of faces, body parts, foods, scenes, and man-made objects, to examine the response profiles of each category-selective area to the five stimulus types. In a second experiment, face processing was examined by presenting upright and inverted faces. By comparing the responses and spatial relationships of the areas, we propose potential correspondences across species. Adjacent and overlapping areas in the macaque anterior STS/MTG responded strongly to both faces and body parts, similar to areas in the human fusiform gyrus and posterior STS. Furthermore, face-selective areas on the ventral bank of the STS/MTG discriminated both upright and inverted faces from objects, similar to areas in the human ventral temporal cortex. Overall, our findings demonstrate commonalities and differences in the wide-scale brain organization between the two species and provide an initial step toward establishing functionally homologous category-selective areas.

Neural Representations of Faces and Body Parts in Macaque and Human Cortex: A Comparative fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Pinsk, Mark A.; Arcaro, Michael; Weiner, Kevin S.; Kalkus, Jan F.; Inati, Souheil J.; Gross, Charles G.; Kastner, Sabine

2009-01-01

Single-cell studies in the macaque have reported selective neural responses evoked by visual presentations of faces and bodies. Consistent with these findings, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in humans and monkeys indicate that regions in temporal cortex respond preferentially to faces and bodies. However, it is not clear how these areas correspond across the two species. Here, we directly compared category-selective areas in macaques and humans using virtually identical techniques. In the macaque, several face- and body part–selective areas were found located along the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG). In the human, similar to previous studies, face-selective areas were found in ventral occipital and temporal cortex and an additional face-selective area was found in the anterior temporal cortex. Face-selective areas were also found in lateral temporal cortex, including the previously reported posterior STS area. Body part–selective areas were identified in the human fusiform gyrus and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. In a first experiment, both monkey and human subjects were presented with pictures of faces, body parts, foods, scenes, and man-made objects, to examine the response profiles of each category-selective area to the five stimulus types. In a second experiment, face processing was examined by presenting upright and inverted faces. By comparing the responses and spatial relationships of the areas, we propose potential correspondences across species. Adjacent and overlapping areas in the macaque anterior STS/MTG responded strongly to both faces and body parts, similar to areas in the human fusiform gyrus and posterior STS. Furthermore, face-selective areas on the ventral bank of the STS/MTG discriminated both upright and inverted faces from objects, similar to areas in the human ventral temporal cortex. Overall, our findings demonstrate commonalities and differences in the wide-scale brain organization between the two species and provide an initial step toward establishing functionally homologous category-selective areas. PMID:19225169

Neural processing of high and low spatial frequency information in faces changes across development: qualitative changes in face processing during adolescence.

PubMed

Peters, Judith C; Vlamings, Petra; Kemner, Chantal

2013-05-01

Face perception in adults depends on skilled processing of interattribute distances ('configural' processing), which is disrupted for faces presented in inverted orientation (face inversion effect or FIE). Children are not proficient in configural processing, and this might relate to an underlying immaturity to use facial information in low spatial frequency (SF) ranges, which capture the coarse information needed for configural processing. We hypothesized that during adolescence a shift from use of high to low SF information takes place. Therefore, we studied the influence of SF content on neural face processing in groups of children (9-10 years), adolescents (14-15 years) and young adults (21-29 years) by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) to upright and inverted faces which varied in SF content. Results revealed that children show a neural FIE in early processing stages (i.e. P1; generated in early visual areas), suggesting a superficial, global facial analysis. In contrast, ERPs of adults revealed an FIE at later processing stages (i.e. N170; generated in face-selective, higher visual areas). Interestingly, adolescents showed FIEs in both processing stages, suggesting a hybrid developmental stage. Furthermore, adolescents and adults showed FIEs for stimuli containing low SF information, whereas such effects were driven by both low and high SF information in children. These results indicate that face processing has a protracted maturational course into adolescence, and is dependent on changes in SF processing. During adolescence, sensitivity to configural cues is developed, which aids the fast and holistic processing that is so special for faces. © 2013 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

No Own-Age Bias in 3-Year-Old Children: More Evidence for the Role of Early Experience in Building Face-Processing Biases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cassia, Viola Macchi; Pisacane, Antonella; Gava, Lucia

2012-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the presence of an own-age bias in young children who accumulated different amounts of early experience with child faces. Discrimination abilities for upright and inverted adult and child faces were tested using a delayed two-alternative, forced-choice matching-to-sample task in two groups of 3-year-old children,…

Horizontal tuning for faces originates in high-level Fusiform Face Area.

PubMed

Goffaux, Valerie; Duecker, Felix; Hausfeld, Lars; Schiltz, Christine; Goebel, Rainer

2016-01-29

Recent work indicates that the specialization of face visual perception relies on the privileged processing of horizontal angles of facial information. This suggests that stimulus properties assumed to be fully resolved in primary visual cortex (V1; e.g., orientation) in fact determine human vision until high-level stages of processing. To address this hypothesis, the present fMRI study explored the orientation sensitivity of V1 and high-level face-specialized ventral regions such as the Occipital Face Area (OFA) and Fusiform Face Area (FFA) to different angles of face information. Participants viewed face images filtered to retain information at horizontal, vertical or oblique angles. Filtered images were viewed upright, inverted and (phase-)scrambled. FFA responded most strongly to the horizontal range of upright face information; its activation pattern reliably separated horizontal from oblique ranges, but only when faces were upright. Moreover, activation patterns induced in the right FFA and the OFA by upright and inverted faces could only be separated based on horizontal information. This indicates that the specialized processing of upright face information in the OFA and FFA essentially relies on the encoding of horizontal facial cues. This pattern was not passively inherited from V1, which was found to respond less strongly to horizontal than other orientations likely due to adaptive whitening. Moreover, we found that orientation decoding accuracy in V1 was impaired for stimuli containing no meaningful shape. By showing that primary coding in V1 is influenced by high-order stimulus structure and that high-level processing is tuned to selective ranges of primary information, the present work suggests that primary and high-level levels of the visual system interact in order to modulate the processing of certain ranges of primary information depending on their relevance with respect to the stimulus and task at hand. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holistic processing of static and moving faces.

PubMed

Zhao, Mintao; Bülthoff, Isabelle

2017-07-01

Humans' face ability develops and matures with extensive experience in perceiving, recognizing, and interacting with faces that move most of the time. However, how facial movements affect 1 core aspect of face ability-holistic face processing-remains unclear. Here we investigated the influence of rigid facial motion on holistic and part-based face processing by manipulating the presence of facial motion during study and at test in a composite face task. The results showed that rigidly moving faces were processed as holistically as static faces (Experiment 1). Holistic processing of moving faces persisted whether facial motion was presented during study, at test, or both (Experiment 2). Moreover, when faces were inverted to eliminate the contributions of both an upright face template and observers' expertise with upright faces, rigid facial motion facilitated holistic face processing (Experiment 3). Thus, holistic processing represents a general principle of face perception that applies to both static and dynamic faces, rather than being limited to static faces. These results support an emerging view that both perceiver-based and face-based factors contribute to holistic face processing, and they offer new insights on what underlies holistic face processing, how information supporting holistic face processing interacts with each other, and why facial motion may affect face recognition and holistic face processing differently. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Finding a face in the crowd: testing the anger superiority effect in Asperger Syndrome.

PubMed

Ashwin, Chris; Wheelwright, Sally; Baron-Cohen, Simon

2006-06-01

Social threat captures attention and is processed rapidly and efficiently, with many lines of research showing involvement of the amygdala. Visual search paradigms looking at social threat have shown angry faces 'pop-out' in a crowd, compared to happy faces. Autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS) are neurodevelopmental conditions characterised by social deficits, abnormal face processing, and amygdala dysfunction. We tested adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and AS using a facial visual search paradigm with schematic neutral and emotional faces. We found, contrary to predictions, that people with HFA/AS performed similarly to controls in many conditions. However, the effect was reduced in the HFA/AS group when using widely varying crowd sizes and when faces were inverted, suggesting a difference in face-processing style may be evident even with simple schematic faces. We conclude there are intact threat detection mechanisms in AS, under simple and predictable conditions, but that like other face-perception tasks, the visual search of threat faces task reveals atypical face-processing in HFA/AS.

Phasic alertness enhances processing of face and non-face stimuli in congenital prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Tanzer, Michal; Weinbach, Noam; Mardo, Elite; Henik, Avishai; Avidan, Galia

2016-08-01

Congenital prosopagnosia (CP) is a severe face processing impairment that occurs in the absence of any obvious brain damage and has often been associated with a more general deficit in deriving holistic relations between facial features or even between non-face shape dimensions. Here we further characterized this deficit and examined a potential way to ameliorate it. To this end we manipulated phasic alertness using alerting cues previously shown to modulate attention and enhance global processing of visual stimuli in normal observers. Specifically, we first examined whether individuals with CP, similarly to controls, would show greater global processing when exposed to an alerting cue in the context of a non-facial task (Navon global/local task). We then explored the effect of an alerting cue on face processing (upright/inverted face discrimination). Confirming previous findings, in the absence of alerting cues, controls showed a typical global bias in the Navon task and an inversion effect indexing holistic processing in the upright/inverted task, while CP failed to show these effects. Critically, when alerting cues preceded the experimental trials, both groups showed enhanced global interference and a larger inversion effect. These results suggest that phasic alertness may modulate visual processing and consequently, affect global/holistic perception. Hence, these findings further reinforce the notion that global/holistic processing may serve as a possible mechanism underlying the face processing deficit in CP. Moreover, they imply a possible route for enhancing face processing in individuals with CP and thus shed new light on potential amelioration of this disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Face recognition in newly hatched chicks at the onset of vision.

PubMed

Wood, Samantha M W; Wood, Justin N

2015-04-01

How does face recognition emerge in the newborn brain? To address this question, we used an automated controlled-rearing method with a newborn animal model: the domestic chick (Gallus gallus). This automated method allowed us to examine chicks' face recognition abilities at the onset of both face experience and object experience. In the first week of life, newly hatched chicks were raised in controlled-rearing chambers that contained no objects other than a single virtual human face. In the second week of life, we used an automated forced-choice testing procedure to examine whether chicks could distinguish that familiar face from a variety of unfamiliar faces. Chicks successfully distinguished the familiar face from most of the unfamiliar faces-for example, chicks were sensitive to changes in the face's age, gender, and orientation (upright vs. inverted). Thus, chicks can build an accurate representation of the first face they see in their life. These results show that the initial state of face recognition is surprisingly powerful: Newborn visual systems can begin encoding and recognizing faces at the onset of vision. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Face inversion increases attractiveness.

PubMed

Leder, Helmut; Goller, Juergen; Forster, Michael; Schlageter, Lena; Paul, Matthew A

2017-07-01

Assessing facial attractiveness is a ubiquitous, inherent, and hard-wired phenomenon in everyday interactions. As such, it has highly adapted to the default way that faces are typically processed: viewing faces in upright orientation. By inverting faces, we can disrupt this default mode, and study how facial attractiveness is assessed. Faces, rotated at 90 (tilting to either side) and 180°, were rated on attractiveness and distinctiveness scales. For both orientations, we found that faces were rated more attractive and less distinctive than upright faces. Importantly, these effects were more pronounced for faces rated low in upright orientation, and smaller for highly attractive faces. In other words, the less attractive a face was, the more it gained in attractiveness by inversion or rotation. Based on these findings, we argue that facial attractiveness assessments might not rely on the presence of attractive facial characteristics, but on the absence of distinctive, unattractive characteristics. These unattractive characteristics are potentially weighed against an individual, attractive prototype in assessing facial attractiveness. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Configural information in gender categorisation.

PubMed

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Humphreys, Glyn W

2006-01-01

The role of configural information in gender categorisation was studied by aligning the top half of one face with the bottom half of another. The two faces had the same or different genders. Experiment 1 shows that participants were slower and made more errors in categorising the gender in either half of these composite faces when the two faces had a different gender, relative to control conditions where the two faces were nonaligned or had the same gender. This result parallels the composite effect for face recognition (Young et al, 1987 Perception 16 747-759) and facial-expression recognition (Calder et al, 2000 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 26 527-551). Similarly to responses to face identity and expression, the composite effect on gender discrimination was disrupted by inverting the faces (experiment 2). Both experiments also show that the composite paradigm is sensitive to general contextual interference in gender categorisation.

Structure and molecular mechanism of a nucleobase-cation-symport-1 family transporter.

PubMed

Weyand, Simone; Shimamura, Tatsuro; Yajima, Shunsuke; Suzuki, Shun'ichi; Mirza, Osman; Krusong, Kuakarun; Carpenter, Elisabeth P; Rutherford, Nicholas G; Hadden, Jonathan M; O'Reilly, John; Ma, Pikyee; Saidijam, Massoud; Patching, Simon G; Hope, Ryan J; Norbertczak, Halina T; Roach, Peter C J; Iwata, So; Henderson, Peter J F; Cameron, Alexander D

2008-10-31

The nucleobase-cation-symport-1 (NCS1) transporters are essential components of salvage pathways for nucleobases and related metabolites. Here, we report the 2.85-angstrom resolution structure of the NCS1 benzyl-hydantoin transporter, Mhp1, from Microbacterium liquefaciens. Mhp1 contains 12 transmembrane helices, 10 of which are arranged in two inverted repeats of five helices. The structures of the outward-facing open and substrate-bound occluded conformations were solved, showing how the outward-facing cavity closes upon binding of substrate. Comparisons with the leucine transporter LeuT(Aa) and the galactose transporter vSGLT reveal that the outward- and inward-facing cavities are symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the membrane. The reciprocal opening and closing of these cavities is synchronized by the inverted repeat helices 3 and 8, providing the structural basis of the alternating access model for membrane transport.

Neural Correlate of the Thatcher Face Illusion in a Monkey Face-Selective Patch.

PubMed

Taubert, Jessica; Van Belle, Goedele; Vanduffel, Wim; Rossion, Bruno; Vogels, Rufin

2015-07-08

Compelling evidence that our sensitivity to facial structure is conserved across the primate order comes from studies of the "Thatcher face illusion": humans and monkeys notice changes in the orientation of facial features (e.g., the eyes) only when faces are upright, not when faces are upside down. Although it is presumed that face perception in primates depends on face-selective neurons in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex, it is not known whether these neurons respond differentially to upright faces with inverted features. Using microelectrodes guided by functional MRI mapping, we recorded cell responses in three regions of monkey IT cortex. We report an interaction in the middle lateral face patch (ML) between the global orientation of a face and the local orientation of its eyes, a response profile consistent with the perception of the Thatcher illusion. This increased sensitivity to eye orientation in upright faces resisted changes in screen location and was not found among face-selective neurons in other areas of IT cortex, including neurons in another face-selective region, the anterior lateral face patch. We conclude that the Thatcher face illusion is correlated with a pattern of activity in the ML that encodes faces according to a flexible holistic template. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/359872-07$15.00/0.

The hows and whys of face memory: level of construal influences the recognition of human faces

PubMed Central

Wyer, Natalie A.; Hollins, Timothy J.; Pahl, Sabine; Roper, Jean

2015-01-01

Three experiments investigated the influence of level of construal (i.e., the interpretation of actions in terms of their meaning or their details) on different stages of face memory. We employed a standard multiple-face recognition paradigm, with half of the faces inverted at test. Construal level was manipulated prior to recognition (Experiment 1), during study (Experiment 2) or both (Experiment 3). The results support a general advantage for high-level construal over low-level construal at both study and at test, and suggest that matching processing style between study and recognition has no advantage. These experiments provide additional evidence in support of a link between semantic processing (i.e., construal) and visual (i.e., face) processing. We conclude with a discussion of implications for current theories relating to both construal and face processing. PMID:26500586

Interactions between facial emotion and identity in face processing: evidence based on redundancy gains.

PubMed

Yankouskaya, Alla; Booth, David A; Humphreys, Glyn

2012-11-01

Interactions between the processing of emotion expression and form-based information from faces (facial identity) were investigated using the redundant-target paradigm, in which we specifically tested whether identity and emotional expression are integrated in a superadditive manner (Miller, Cognitive Psychology 14:247-279, 1982). In Experiments 1 and 2, participants performed emotion and face identity judgments on faces with sad or angry emotional expressions. Responses to redundant targets were faster than responses to either single target when a universal emotion was conveyed, and performance violated the predictions from a model assuming independent processing of emotion and face identity. Experiment 4 showed that these effects were not modulated by varying interstimulus and nontarget contingencies, and Experiment 5 demonstrated that the redundancy gains were eliminated when faces were inverted. Taken together, these results suggest that the identification of emotion and facial identity interact in face processing.

Face Inversion Disproportionately Disrupts Sensitivity to Vertical over Horizontal Changes in Eye Position

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crookes, Kate; Hayward, William G.

2012-01-01

Presenting a face inverted (upside down) disrupts perceptual sensitivity to the spacing between the features. Recently, it has been shown that this disruption is greater for vertical than horizontal changes in eye position. One explanation for this effect proposed that inversion disrupts the processing of long-range (e.g., eye-to-mouth distance)…

Global shape information increases but color information decreases the composite face effect.

PubMed

Retter, Talia L; Rossion, Bruno

2015-01-01

The separation of visual shape and surface information may be useful for understanding holistic face perception--that is, the perception of a face as a single unit (Jiang, Blanz, & Rossion, 2011, Visual Cognition, 19, 1003-1034). A widely used measure of holistic face perception is the composite face effect (CFE), in which identical top face halves appear different when aligned with bottom face halves from different identities. In the present study the influences of global face shape (ie contour of the face) and color information on the CFE are investigated, with the hypothesis that global face shape supports but color impairs holistic face perception as measured in this paradigm. In experiment 1 the CFE is significantly increased when face stimuli possess natural global shape information than when cropped to a generic (ie oval) global shape; this effect is not found when the stimuli are presented inverted. In experiment 2 the CFE is significantly decreased when face stimuli are presented with color information than when presented in grayscale. These findings indicate that grayscale stimuli maintaining natural global face shape information provide the most adept measure of holistic face perception in the behavioral composite face paradigm. More generally, they show that reducing different types of information diagnostic for individual face perception can have opposite effects on the CFE, illustrating the functional dissociation between shape and surface information in face perception.

Differences between perception of human faces and body shapes: evidence from the composite illusion.

PubMed

Soria Bauser, Denise A; Suchan, Boris; Daum, Irene

2011-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate whether human body forms--like human faces--undergo holistic processing. Evidence for holistic face processing comes from the face composite effect: two identical top halves of a face are perceived as being different if they are presented with different bottom parts. This effect disappears if both bottom halves are shifted laterally (misaligned) or if the stimulus is rotated by 180°. We investigated whether comparable composite effects are observed for human faces and human body forms. Matching of upright faces was more accurate and faster for misaligned compared to aligned presentations. By contrast, there were no processing differences between aligned and misaligned bodies. An inversion effect emerged, with better recognition performance for upright compared to inverted bodies but not faces. The present findings provide evidence for the assumption that holistic processing--investigated with the composite illusion--is not involved in the perception of human body forms. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Early Bilingualism on Face Recognition Processes.

PubMed

Kandel, Sonia; Burfin, Sabine; Méary, David; Ruiz-Tada, Elisa; Costa, Albert; Pascalis, Olivier

2016-01-01

Early linguistic experience has an impact on the way we decode audiovisual speech in face-to-face communication. The present study examined whether differences in visual speech decoding could be linked to a broader difference in face processing. To identify a phoneme we have to do an analysis of the speaker's face to focus on the relevant cues for speech decoding (e.g., locating the mouth with respect to the eyes). Face recognition processes were investigated through two classic effects in face recognition studies: the Other-Race Effect (ORE) and the Inversion Effect. Bilingual and monolingual participants did a face recognition task with Caucasian faces (own race), Chinese faces (other race), and cars that were presented in an Upright or Inverted position. The results revealed that monolinguals exhibited the classic ORE. Bilinguals did not. Overall, bilinguals were slower than monolinguals. These results suggest that bilinguals' face processing abilities differ from monolinguals'. Early exposure to more than one language may lead to a perceptual organization that goes beyond language processing and could extend to face analysis. We hypothesize that these differences could be due to the fact that bilinguals focus on different parts of the face than monolinguals, making them more efficient in other race face processing but slower. However, more studies using eye-tracking techniques are necessary to confirm this explanation.

Neural and cognitive face-selective markers: An integrative review.

PubMed

Yovel, Galit

2016-03-01

Faces elicit robust and selective neural responses in the primate brain. These neural responses have been investigated with functional MRI and EEG in numerous studies, which have reported face-selective activations in the occipital-temporal cortex and an electrophysiological face-selective response that peaks 170 ms after stimulus onset at occipital-temporal sites. Evidence for face-selective processes has also been consistently reported in cognitive studies, which investigated the face inversion effect, the composite face effect and the left visual field (LVF) superiority. These cognitive effects indicate that the perceptual representation that we generate for faces differs from the representation that is generated for inverted faces or non-face objects. In this review, I will show that the fMRI and ERP face-selective responses are strongly associated with these three well-established behavioral face-selective measures. I will further review studies that examined the relationship between fMRI and EEG face-selective measures suggesting that they are strongly linked. Taken together these studies imply that a holistic representation of a face is generated at 170 ms after stimulus onset over the right hemisphere. These findings, which reveal a strong link between the various and complementary cognitive and neural measures of face processing, allow to characterize where, when and how faces are represented during the first 200 ms of face processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attention Priority Map of Face Images in Human Early Visual Cortex.

PubMed

Mo, Ce; He, Dongjun; Fang, Fang

2018-01-03

Attention priority maps are topographic representations that are used for attention selection and guidance of task-related behavior during visual processing. Previous studies have identified attention priority maps of simple artificial stimuli in multiple cortical and subcortical areas, but investigating neural correlates of priority maps of natural stimuli is complicated by the complexity of their spatial structure and the difficulty of behaviorally characterizing their priority map. To overcome these challenges, we reconstructed the topographic representations of upright/inverted face images from fMRI BOLD signals in human early visual areas primary visual cortex (V1) and the extrastriate cortex (V2 and V3) based on a voxelwise population receptive field model. We characterized the priority map behaviorally as the first saccadic eye movement pattern when subjects performed a face-matching task relative to the condition in which subjects performed a phase-scrambled face-matching task. We found that the differential first saccadic eye movement pattern between upright/inverted and scrambled faces could be predicted from the reconstructed topographic representations in V1-V3 in humans of either sex. The coupling between the reconstructed representation and the eye movement pattern increased from V1 to V2/3 for the upright faces, whereas no such effect was found for the inverted faces. Moreover, face inversion modulated the coupling in V2/3, but not in V1. Our findings provide new evidence for priority maps of natural stimuli in early visual areas and extend traditional attention priority map theories by revealing another critical factor that affects priority maps in extrastriate cortex in addition to physical salience and task goal relevance: image configuration. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Prominent theories of attention posit that attention sampling of visual information is mediated by a series of interacting topographic representations of visual space known as attention priority maps. Until now, neural evidence of attention priority maps has been limited to studies involving simple artificial stimuli and much remains unknown about the neural correlates of priority maps of natural stimuli. Here, we show that attention priority maps of face stimuli could be found in primary visual cortex (V1) and the extrastriate cortex (V2 and V3). Moreover, representations in extrastriate visual areas are strongly modulated by image configuration. These findings extend our understanding of attention priority maps significantly by showing that they are modulated, not only by physical salience and task-goal relevance, but also by the configuration of stimuli images. Copyright © 2018 the authors 0270-6474/18/380149-09$15.00/0.

Holistic processing of face configurations and components.

PubMed

Hayward, William G; Crookes, Kate; Chu, Ming Hon; Favelle, Simone K; Rhodes, Gillian

2016-10-01

Although many researchers agree that faces are processed holistically, we know relatively little about what information holistic processing captures from a face. Most studies that assess the nature of holistic processing do so with changes to the face affecting many different aspects of face information (e.g., different identities). Does holistic processing affect every aspect of a face? We used the composite task, a common means of examining the strength of holistic processing, with participants making same-different judgments about configuration changes or component changes to 1 portion of a face. Configuration changes involved changes in spatial position of the eyes, whereas component changes involved lightening or darkening the eyebrows. Composites were either aligned or misaligned, and were presented either upright or inverted. Both configuration judgments and component judgments showed evidence of holistic processing, and in both cases it was strongest for upright face composites. These results suggest that holistic processing captures a broad range of information about the face, including both configuration-based and component-based information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Configural face processing impacts race disparities in humanization and trust

PubMed Central

Cassidy, Brittany S.; Krendl, Anne C.; Stanko, Kathleen A.; Rydell, Robert J.; Young, Steven G.; Hugenberg, Kurt

2018-01-01

The dehumanization of Black Americans is an ongoing societal problem. Reducing configural face processing, a well-studied aspect of typical face encoding, decreases the activation of human-related concepts to White faces, suggesting that the extent that faces are configurally processed contributes to dehumanization. Because Black individuals are more dehumanized relative to White individuals, the current work examined how configural processing might contribute to their greater dehumanization. Study 1 showed that inverting faces (which reduces configural processing) reduced the activation of human-related concepts toward Black more than White faces. Studies 2a and 2b showed that reducing configural processing affects dehumanization by decreasing trust and increasing homogeneity among Black versus White faces. Studies 3a–d showed that configural processing effects emerge in racial outgroups for whom untrustworthiness may be a more salient group stereotype (i.e., Black, but not Asian, faces). Study 4 provided evidence that these effects are specific to reduced configural processing versus more general perceptual disfluency. Reduced configural processing may thus contribute to the greater dehumanization of Black relative to White individuals. PMID:29910510

The other-race and other-species effects in face perception – a subordinate-level analysis

PubMed Central

Dahl, Christoph D.; Rasch, Malte J.; Chen, Chien-Chung

2014-01-01

The ability of face discrimination is modulated by the frequency of exposure to a category of faces. In other words, lower discrimination performance was measured for infrequently encountered faces as opposed to frequently encountered ones. This phenomenon has been described in the literature: the own-race advantage, a benefit in processing own-race as opposed to the other-race faces, and the own-species advantage, a benefit in processing the conspecific type of faces as opposed to the heterospecific type. So far, the exact parameters that drive either of these two effects are not fully understood. In the following we present a full assessment of data in human participants describing the discrimination performances across two races (Asian and Caucasian) as well as a range of non-human primate faces (chimpanzee, Rhesus macaque and marmoset). We measured reaction times of Asian participants performing a delayed matching-to-sample task, and correlated the results with similarity estimates of facial configuration and face parts. We found faster discrimination of own-race above other-race/species faces. Further, we found a strong reliance on configural information in upright own-species/-race faces and on individual face parts in all inverted face classes, supporting the assumption of specialized processing for the face class of most frequent exposure. PMID:25285092

The role of movement in the recognition of famous faces.

PubMed

Lander, K; Christie, F; Bruce, V

1999-11-01

The effects of movement on the recognition of famous faces shown in difficult conditions were investigated. Images were presented as negatives, upside down (inverted), and thresholded. Results indicate that, under all these conditions, moving faces were recognized significantly better than static ones. One possible explanation of this effect could be that a moving sequence contains more static information about the different views and expressions of the face than does a single static image. However, even when the amount of static information was equated (Experiments 3 and 4), there was still an advantage for moving sequences that contained their original dynamic properties. The results suggest that the dynamics of the motion provide additional information, helping to access an established familiar face representation. Both the theoretical and the practical implications for these findings are discussed.

The Idea Is Good, but…: Failure to Replicate Associations of Oxytocinergic Polymorphisms with Face-Inversion in the N170

PubMed Central

Munk, Aisha J. L.; Hermann, Andrea; El Shazly, Jasmin; Grant, Phillip; Hennig, Jürgen

2016-01-01

Background In event-related potentials, the N170 manifests itself especially in reaction to faces. In the healthy population, face-inversion leads to stronger negative amplitudes and prolonged latencies of the N170, effects not being present in patients with autism-spectrum-disorder (ASD). ASD has frequently been associated with differences in oxytocinergic neurotransmission. This ERP-study aimed to investigate the face-inversion effect in association with oxytocinergic candidate genes. It was expected that risk-allele-carriers of the oxytocin-receptor-gene-polymorphism (rs53576) and of CD38 (rs379863) responded similar to upright and inverted faces as persons with ASD. Additionally, reactions to different facial emotional expressions were studied. As there have been difficulties with replications of those molecular genetic association studies, we aimed to replicate our findings in a second study. Method Seventy-two male subjects in the first-, and seventy-eight young male subjects in the replication-study conducted a face-inversion-paradigm, while recording EEG. DNA was extracted from buccal cells. Results Results revealed stronger N170-amplitudes and longer latencies in reaction to inverted faces in comparison to upright ones. Furthermore, effects of emotion on N170 were evident. Those effects were present in the first and in the second study. Whereas we found molecular-genetic associations of oxytocinergic polymorphisms with the N170 in the first study, we failed to do so in the replication sample. Conclusion Results indicate that a deeper theoretical understanding of this research-field is needed, in order to generate possible explanations for these findings. Results, furthermore, support the hypotheses that success of reproducibility is correlated with strength of lower original p-values and larger effect sizes in the original study. PMID:27015428

Effects of Orientation on Recognition of Facial Affect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, M. M.; Mealey, J. B.; Hargens, Alan R. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

The ability to discriminate facial features is often degraded when the orientation of the face and/or the observer is altered. Previous studies have shown that gross distortions of facial features can go unrecognized when the image of the face is inverted, as exemplified by the 'Margaret Thatcher' effect. This study examines how quickly erect and supine observers can distinguish between smiling and frowning faces that are presented at various orientations. The effects of orientation are of particular interest in space, where astronauts frequently view one another in orientations other than the upright. Sixteen observers viewed individual facial images of six people on a computer screen; on a given trial, the image was either smiling or frowning. Each image was viewed when it was erect and when it was rotated (rolled) by 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, 180 degrees, 225 degrees and 270 degrees about the line of sight. The observers were required to respond as rapidly and accurately as possible to identify if the face presented was smiling or frowning. Measures of reaction time were obtained when the observers were both upright and supine. Analyses of variance revealed that mean reaction time, which increased with stimulus rotation (F=18.54, df 7/15, p (is less than) 0.001), was 22% longer when the faces were inverted than when they were erect, but that the orientation of the observer had no significant effect on reaction time (F=1.07, df 1/15, p (is greater than) .30). These data strongly suggest that the orientation of the image of a face on the observer's retina, but not its orientation with respect to gravity, is important in identifying the expression on the face.

Large Capacity of Conscious Access for Incidental Memories in Natural Scenes.

PubMed

Kaunitz, Lisandro N; Rowe, Elise G; Tsuchiya, Naotsugu

2016-09-01

When searching a crowd, people can detect a target face only by direct fixation and attention. Once the target is found, it is consciously experienced and remembered, but what is the perceptual fate of the fixated nontarget faces? Whereas introspection suggests that one may remember nontargets, previous studies have proposed that almost no memory should be retained. Using a gaze-contingent paradigm, we asked subjects to visually search for a target face within a crowded natural scene and then tested their memory for nontarget faces, as well as their confidence in those memories. Subjects remembered up to seven fixated, nontarget faces with more than 70% accuracy. Memory accuracy was correlated with trial-by-trial confidence ratings, which implies that the memory was consciously maintained and accessed. When the search scene was inverted, no more than three nontarget faces were remembered. These findings imply that incidental memory for faces, such as those recalled by eyewitnesses, is more reliable than is usually assumed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Face perception is tuned to horizontal orientation in the N170 time window.

PubMed

Jacques, Corentin; Schiltz, Christine; Goffaux, Valerie

2014-02-07

The specificity of face perception is thought to reside both in its dramatic vulnerability to picture-plane inversion and its strong reliance on horizontally oriented image content. Here we asked when in the visual processing stream face-specific perception is tuned to horizontal information. We measured the behavioral performance and scalp event-related potentials (ERP) when participants viewed upright and inverted images of faces and cars (and natural scenes) that were phase-randomized in a narrow orientation band centered either on vertical or horizontal orientation. For faces, the magnitude of the inversion effect (IE) on behavioral discrimination performance was significantly reduced for horizontally randomized compared to vertically or nonrandomized images, confirming the importance of horizontal information for the recruitment of face-specific processing. Inversion affected the processing of nonrandomized and vertically randomized faces early, in the N170 time window. In contrast, the magnitude of the N170 IE was much smaller for horizontally randomized faces. The present research indicates that the early face-specific neural representations are preferentially tuned to horizontal information and offers new perspectives for a description of the visual information feeding face-specific perception.

Individual differences and the effect of face configuration information in the McGurk effect.

PubMed

Ujiie, Yuta; Asai, Tomohisa; Wakabayashi, Akio

2018-04-01

The McGurk effect, which denotes the influence of visual information on audiovisual speech perception, is less frequently observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to those without it; the reason for this remains unclear. Several studies have suggested that facial configuration context might play a role in this difference. More specifically, people with ASD show a local processing bias for faces-that is, they process global face information to a lesser extent. This study examined the role of facial configuration context in the McGurk effect in 46 healthy students. Adopting an analogue approach using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), we sought to determine whether this facial configuration context is crucial to previously observed reductions in the McGurk effect in people with ASD. Lip-reading and audiovisual syllable identification tasks were assessed via presentation of upright normal, inverted normal, upright Thatcher-type, and inverted Thatcher-type faces. When the Thatcher-type face was presented, perceivers were found to be sensitive to the misoriented facial characteristics, causing them to perceive a weaker McGurk effect than when the normal face was presented (this is known as the McThatcher effect). Additionally, the McGurk effect was weaker in individuals with high AQ scores than in those with low AQ scores in the incongruent audiovisual condition, regardless of their ability to read lips or process facial configuration contexts. Our findings, therefore, do not support the assumption that individuals with ASD show a weaker McGurk effect due to a difficulty in processing facial configuration context.

Getting to the Bottom of Face Processing. Species-Specific Inversion Effects for Faces and Behinds in Humans and Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes).

PubMed

Kret, Mariska E; Tomonaga, Masaki

2016-01-01

For social species such as primates, the recognition of conspecifics is crucial for their survival. As demonstrated by the 'face inversion effect', humans are experts in recognizing faces and unlike objects, recognize their identity by processing it configurally. The human face, with its distinct features such as eye-whites, eyebrows, red lips and cheeks signals emotions, intentions, health and sexual attraction and, as we will show here, shares important features with the primate behind. Chimpanzee females show a swelling and reddening of the anogenital region around the time of ovulation. This provides an important socio-sexual signal for group members, who can identify individuals by their behinds. We hypothesized that chimpanzees process behinds configurally in a way humans process faces. In four different delayed matching-to-sample tasks with upright and inverted body parts, we show that humans demonstrate a face, but not a behind inversion effect and that chimpanzees show a behind, but no clear face inversion effect. The findings suggest an evolutionary shift in socio-sexual signalling function from behinds to faces, two hairless, symmetrical and attractive body parts, which might have attuned the human brain to process faces, and the human face to become more behind-like.

The man who mistook his neuropsychologist for a popstar: when configural processing fails in acquired prosopagnosia

PubMed Central

Jansari, Ashok; Miller, Scott; Pearce, Laura; Cobb, Stephanie; Sagiv, Noam; Williams, Adrian L.; Tree, Jeremy J.; Hanley, J. Richard

2015-01-01

We report the case of an individual with acquired prosopagnosia who experiences extreme difficulties in recognizing familiar faces in everyday life despite excellent object recognition skills. Formal testing indicates that he is also severely impaired at remembering pre-experimentally unfamiliar faces and that he takes an extremely long time to identify famous faces and to match unfamiliar faces. Nevertheless, he performs as accurately and quickly as controls at identifying inverted familiar and unfamiliar faces and can recognize famous faces from their external features. He also performs as accurately as controls at recognizing famous faces when fracturing conceals the configural information in the face. He shows evidence of impaired global processing but normal local processing of Navon figures. This case appears to reflect the clearest example yet of an acquired prosopagnosic patient whose familiar face recognition deficit is caused by a severe configural processing deficit in the absence of any problems in featural processing. These preserved featural skills together with apparently intact visual imagery for faces allow him to identify a surprisingly large number of famous faces when unlimited time is available. The theoretical implications of this pattern of performance for understanding the nature of acquired prosopagnosia are discussed. PMID:26236212

The Influence of Flankers on Race Categorization of Faces

PubMed Central

Sun, Hsin-Mei; Balas, Benjamin

2012-01-01

Context affects multiple cognitive and perceptual processes. In the present study, we asked how the context of a set of faces affected the perception of a target face’s race in two distinct tasks. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants categorized target faces according to perceived racial category (Black or White). In Experiment 1, the target face was presented alone, or with Black or White flanker faces. The orientation of flanker faces was also manipulated to investigate how face inversion effect interacts with the influences of flanker faces on the target face. The results showed that participants were more likely to categorize the target face as White when it was surrounded by inverted White faces (an assimilation effect). Experiment 2 further examined how different aspects of the visual context affect the perception of the target face by manipulating flanker faces’ shape and pigmentation as well as their orientation. The results showed that flanker faces’ shape and pigmentation affected the perception of the target face differently. While shape elicited a contrast effect, pigmentation appeared to be assimilative. These novel findings suggest that the perceived race of a face is modulated by the appearance of other faces and their distinct shape and pigmentation properties. However, the contrast and assimilation effects elicited by flanker faces’ shape and pigmentation may be specific to race categorization, since the same stimuli used in a delayed matching task (Experiment 3) revealed that flanker pigmentation induced a contrast effect on the perception of target pigmentation. PMID:22825930

Disordered high-frequency oscillation in face processing in schizophrenia patients

PubMed Central

Liu, Miaomiao; Pei, Guangying; Peng, Yinuo; Wang, Changming; Yan, Tianyi; Wu, Jinglong

2018-01-01

Abstract Schizophrenia is a complex disorder characterized by marked social dysfunctions, but the neural mechanism underlying this deficit is unknown. To investigate whether face-specific perceptual processes are influenced in schizophrenia patients, both face detection and configural analysis were assessed in normal individuals and schizophrenia patients by recording electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Here, a face processing model was built based on the frequency oscillations, and the evoked power (theta, alpha, and beta bands) and the induced power (gamma bands) were recorded while the subjects passively viewed face and nonface images presented in upright and inverted orientations. The healthy adults showed a significant face-specific effect in the alpha, beta, and gamma bands, and an inversion effect was observed in the gamma band in the occipital lobe and right temporal lobe. Importantly, the schizophrenia patients showed face-specific deficits in the low-frequency beta and gamma bands, and the face inversion effect in the gamma band was absent from the occipital lobe. All these results revealed face-specific processing in patients due to the disorder of high-frequency EEG, providing additional evidence to enrich future studies investigating neural mechanisms and serving as a marked diagnostic basis. PMID:29419668

Optimal Eye-Gaze Fixation Position for Face-Related Neural Responses

PubMed Central

Zerouali, Younes; Lina, Jean-Marc; Jemel, Boutheina

2013-01-01

It is generally agreed that some features of a face, namely the eyes, are more salient than others as indexed by behavioral diagnosticity, gaze-fixation patterns and evoked-neural responses. However, because previous studies used unnatural stimuli, there is no evidence so far that the early encoding of a whole face in the human brain is based on the eyes or other facial features. To address this issue, scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye gaze-fixations were recorded simultaneously in a gaze-contingent paradigm while observers viewed faces. We found that the N170 indexing the earliest face-sensitive response in the human brain was the largest when the fixation position is located around the nasion. Interestingly, for inverted faces, this optimal fixation position was more variable, but mainly clustered in the upper part of the visual field (around the mouth). These observations extend the findings of recent behavioral studies, suggesting that the early encoding of a face, as indexed by the N170, is not driven by the eyes per se, but rather arises from a general perceptual setting (upper-visual field advantage) coupled with the alignment of a face stimulus to a stored face template. PMID:23762224

Optimal eye-gaze fixation position for face-related neural responses.

PubMed

Zerouali, Younes; Lina, Jean-Marc; Jemel, Boutheina

2013-01-01

It is generally agreed that some features of a face, namely the eyes, are more salient than others as indexed by behavioral diagnosticity, gaze-fixation patterns and evoked-neural responses. However, because previous studies used unnatural stimuli, there is no evidence so far that the early encoding of a whole face in the human brain is based on the eyes or other facial features. To address this issue, scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye gaze-fixations were recorded simultaneously in a gaze-contingent paradigm while observers viewed faces. We found that the N170 indexing the earliest face-sensitive response in the human brain was the largest when the fixation position is located around the nasion. Interestingly, for inverted faces, this optimal fixation position was more variable, but mainly clustered in the upper part of the visual field (around the mouth). These observations extend the findings of recent behavioral studies, suggesting that the early encoding of a face, as indexed by the N170, is not driven by the eyes per se, but rather arises from a general perceptual setting (upper-visual field advantage) coupled with the alignment of a face stimulus to a stored face template.

A novel BCI based on ERP components sensitive to configural processing of human faces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yu; Zhao, Qibin; Jing, Jin; Wang, Xingyu; Cichocki, Andrzej

2012-04-01

This study introduces a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) based on an oddball paradigm using stimuli of facial images with loss of configural face information (e.g., inversion of face). To the best of our knowledge, till now the configural processing of human faces has not been applied to BCI but widely studied in cognitive neuroscience research. Our experiments confirm that the face-sensitive event-related potential (ERP) components N170 and vertex positive potential (VPP) have reflected early structural encoding of faces and can be modulated by the configural processing of faces. With the proposed novel paradigm, we investigate the effects of ERP components N170, VPP and P300 on target detection for BCI. An eight-class BCI platform is developed to analyze ERPs and evaluate the target detection performance using linear discriminant analysis without complicated feature extraction processing. The online classification accuracy of 88.7% and information transfer rate of 38.7 bits min-1 using stimuli of inverted faces with only single trial suggest that the proposed paradigm based on the configural processing of faces is very promising for visual stimuli-driven BCI applications.

A novel BCI based on ERP components sensitive to configural processing of human faces.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Zhao, Qibin; Jin, Jing; Wang, Xingyu; Cichocki, Andrzej

2012-04-01

This study introduces a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) based on an oddball paradigm using stimuli of facial images with loss of configural face information (e.g., inversion of face). To the best of our knowledge, till now the configural processing of human faces has not been applied to BCI but widely studied in cognitive neuroscience research. Our experiments confirm that the face-sensitive event-related potential (ERP) components N170 and vertex positive potential (VPP) have reflected early structural encoding of faces and can be modulated by the configural processing of faces. With the proposed novel paradigm, we investigate the effects of ERP components N170, VPP and P300 on target detection for BCI. An eight-class BCI platform is developed to analyze ERPs and evaluate the target detection performance using linear discriminant analysis without complicated feature extraction processing. The online classification accuracy of 88.7% and information transfer rate of 38.7 bits min(-1) using stimuli of inverted faces with only single trial suggest that the proposed paradigm based on the configural processing of faces is very promising for visual stimuli-driven BCI applications.

Electrical Stimulation over Bilateral Occipito-Temporal Regions Reduces N170 in the Right Hemisphere and the Composite Face Effect

PubMed Central

Yang, Li-Zhuang; Zhang, Wei; Shi, Bin; Yang, Zhiyu; Wei, Zhengde; Gu, Feng; Zhang, Jing; Cui, Guanbao; Liu, Ying; Zhou, Yifeng; Zhang, Xiaochu; Rao, Hengyi

2014-01-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that can modulate cortical excitability. Although the clinical value of tDCS has been advocated, the potential of tDCS in cognitive rehabilitation of face processing deficits is less understood. Face processing has been associated with the occipito-temporal cortex (OT). The present study investigated whether face processing in healthy adults can be modulated by applying tDCS over the OT. Experiment 1 investigated whether tDCS can affect N170, a face-sensitive ERP component, with a face orientation judgment task. The N170 in the right hemisphere was reduced in active stimulation conditions compared with the sham stimulation condition for both upright faces and inverted faces. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that tDCS can modulate the composite face effect, a type of holistic processing that reflects the obligatory attention to all parts of a face. The composite face effect was reduced in active stimulation conditions compared with the sham stimulation condition. Additionally, the current polarity did not modulate the effect of tDCS in the two experiments. The present study demonstrates that N170 can be causally manipulated by stimulating the OT with weak currents. Furthermore, our study provides evidence that obligatory attention to all parts of a face can be affected by the commonly used tDCS parameter setting. PMID:25531112

Brain noise is task dependent and region specific.

PubMed

Misić, Bratislav; Mills, Travis; Taylor, Margot J; McIntosh, Anthony R

2010-11-01

The emerging organization of anatomical and functional connections during human brain development is thought to facilitate global integration of information. Recent empirical and computational studies have shown that this enhanced capacity for information processing enables a diversified dynamic repertoire that manifests in neural activity as irregularity and noise. However, transient functional networks unfold over multiple time, scales and the embedding of a particular region depends not only on development, but also on the manner in which sensory and cognitive systems are engaged. Here we show that noise is a facet of neural activity that is also sensitive to the task context and is highly region specific. Children (6-16 yr) and adults (20-41 yr) performed a one-back face recognition task with inverted and upright faces. Neuromagnetic activity was estimated at several hundred sources in the brain by applying a beamforming technique to the magnetoencephalogram (MEG). During development, neural activity became more variable across the whole brain, with most robust increases in medial parietal regions, such as the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex. For young children and adults, activity evoked by upright faces was more variable and noisy compared with inverted faces, and this effect was reliable only in the right fusiform gyrus. These results are consistent with the notion that upright faces engender a variety of integrative neural computations, such as the relations among facial features and their holistic constitution. This study shows that transient changes in functional integration modulated by task demand are evident in the variability of regional neural activity.

A New Look at Social Attention: Orienting to the Eyes Is Not (Entirely) under Volitional Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laidlaw, Kaitlin E. W.; Risko, Evan F.; Kingstone, Alan

2012-01-01

People tend to look at other people's eyes, but whether this bias is automatic or volitional is unclear. To discriminate between these two possibilities, we used a "don't look" (DL) paradigm. Participants looked at a series of upright or inverted faces, and were asked either to freely view the faces or to avoid looking at the eyes, or as a…

The "parts and wholes" of face recognition: A review of the literature.

PubMed

Tanaka, James W; Simonyi, Diana

2016-10-01

It has been claimed that faces are recognized as a "whole" rather than by the recognition of individual parts. In a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 1993, Martha Farah and I attempted to operationalize the holistic claim using the part/whole task. In this task, participants studied a face and then their memory presented in isolation and in the whole face. Consistent with the holistic view, recognition of the part was superior when tested in the whole-face condition compared to when it was tested in isolation. The "whole face" or holistic advantage was not found for faces that were inverted, or scrambled, nor for non-face objects, suggesting that holistic encoding was specific to normal, intact faces. In this paper, we reflect on the part/whole paradigm and how it has contributed to our understanding of what it means to recognize a face as a "whole" stimulus. We describe the value of part/whole task for developing theories of holistic and non-holistic recognition of faces and objects. We discuss the research that has probed the neural substrates of holistic processing in healthy adults and people with prosopagnosia and autism. Finally, we examine how experience shapes holistic face recognition in children and recognition of own- and other-race faces in adults. The goal of this article is to summarize the research on the part/whole task and speculate on how it has informed our understanding of holistic face processing.

Holistic Face Categorization in Higher Order Visual Areas of the Normal and Prosopagnosic Brain: Toward a Non-Hierarchical View of Face Perception

PubMed Central

Rossion, Bruno; Dricot, Laurence; Goebel, Rainer; Busigny, Thomas

2011-01-01

How a visual stimulus is initially categorized as a face in a network of human brain areas remains largely unclear. Hierarchical neuro-computational models of face perception assume that the visual stimulus is first decomposed in local parts in lower order visual areas. These parts would then be combined into a global representation in higher order face-sensitive areas of the occipito-temporal cortex. Here we tested this view in fMRI with visual stimuli that are categorized as faces based on their global configuration rather than their local parts (two-tones Mooney figures and Arcimboldo's facelike paintings). Compared to the same inverted visual stimuli that are not categorized as faces, these stimuli activated the right middle fusiform gyrus (“Fusiform face area”) and superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), with no significant activation in the posteriorly located inferior occipital gyrus (i.e., no “occipital face area”). This observation is strengthened by behavioral and neural evidence for normal face categorization of these stimuli in a brain-damaged prosopagnosic patient whose intact right middle fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus are devoid of any potential face-sensitive inputs from the lesioned right inferior occipital cortex. Together, these observations indicate that face-preferential activation may emerge in higher order visual areas of the right hemisphere without any face-preferential inputs from lower order visual areas, supporting a non-hierarchical view of face perception in the visual cortex. PMID:21267432

Effect of study context on item recollection.

PubMed

Skinner, Erin I; Fernandes, Myra A

2010-07-01

We examined how visual context information provided during encoding, and unrelated to the target word, affected later recollection for words presented alone using a remember-know paradigm. Experiments 1A and 1B showed that participants had better overall memory-specifically, recollection-for words studied with pictures of intact faces than for words studied with pictures of scrambled or inverted faces. Experiment 2 replicated these results and showed that recollection was higher for words studied with pictures of faces than when no image accompanied the study word. In Experiment 3 participants showed equivalent memory for words studied with unique faces as for those studied with a repeatedly presented face. Results suggest that recollection benefits when visual context information high in meaningful content accompanies study words and that this benefit is not related to the uniqueness of the context. We suggest that participants use elaborative processes to integrate item and meaningful contexts into ensemble information, improving subsequent item recollection.

Familiarity enhances visual working memory for faces.

PubMed

Jackson, Margaret C; Raymond, Jane E

2008-06-01

Although it is intuitive that familiarity with complex visual objects should aid their preservation in visual working memory (WM), empirical evidence for this is lacking. This study used a conventional change-detection procedure to assess visual WM for unfamiliar and famous faces in healthy adults. Across experiments, faces were upright or inverted and a low- or high-load concurrent verbal WM task was administered to suppress contribution from verbal WM. Even with a high verbal memory load, visual WM performance was significantly better and capacity estimated as significantly greater for famous versus unfamiliar faces. Face inversion abolished this effect. Thus, neither strategic, explicit support from verbal WM nor low-level feature processing easily accounts for the observed benefit of high familiarity for visual WM. These results demonstrate that storage of items in visual WM can be enhanced if robust visual representations of them already exist in long-term memory.

Normal composite face effects in developmental prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Biotti, Federica; Wu, Esther; Yang, Hua; Jiahui, Guo; Duchaine, Bradley; Cook, Richard

2017-10-01

Upright face perception is thought to involve holistic processing, whereby local features are integrated into a unified whole. Consistent with this view, the top half of one face appears to fuse perceptually with the bottom half of another, when aligned spatially and presented upright. This 'composite face effect' reveals a tendency to integrate information from disparate regions when faces are presented canonically. In recent years, the relationship between susceptibility to the composite effect and face recognition ability has received extensive attention both in participants with normal face recognition and participants with developmental prosopagnosia. Previous results suggest that individuals with developmental prosopagnosia may show reduced susceptibility to the effect suggestive of diminished holistic face processing. Here we describe two studies that examine whether developmental prosopagnosia is associated with reduced composite face effects. Despite using independent samples of developmental prosopagnosics and different composite procedures, we find no evidence for reduced composite face effects. The experiments yielded similar results; highly significant composite effects in both prosopagnosic groups that were similar in magnitude to the effects found in participants with normal face processing. The composite face effects exhibited by both samples and the controls were greatly diminished when stimulus arrangements were inverted. Our finding that the whole-face binding process indexed by the composite effect is intact in developmental prosopagnosia indicates that other factors are responsible for developmental prosopagnosia. These results are also inconsistent with suggestions that susceptibility to the composite face effect and face recognition ability are tightly linked. While the holistic process revealed by the composite face effect may be necessary for typical face perception, it is not sufficient; individual differences in face recognition ability likely reflect variability in multiple sequential processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The “parts and wholes” of face recognition: a review of the literature

PubMed Central

Tanaka, James W.; Simonyi, Diana

2016-01-01

It has been claimed that faces are recognized as a “whole” rather than the recognition of individual parts. In a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 1993, Martha Farah and I attempted to operationalize the holistic claim using the part/whole task. In this task, participants studied a face and then their memory presented in isolation and in the whole face. Consistent with the holistic view, recognition of the part was superior when tested in the whole-face condition compared to when it was tested in isolation. The “whole face” or holistic advantage was not found for faces that were inverted, or scrambled, nor for non-face objects suggesting that holistic encoding was specific to normal, intact faces. In this paper, we reflect on the part/whole paradigm and how it has contributed to our understanding of what it means to recognize a face as a “whole” stimulus. We describe the value of part/whole task for developing theories of holistic and non-holistic recognition of faces and objects. We discuss the research that has probed the neural substrates of holistic processing in healthy adults and people with prosopagnosia and autism. Finally, we examine how experience shapes holistic face recognition in children and recognition of own- and other-race faces in adults. The goal of this article is to summarize the research on the part/whole task and speculate on how it has informed our understanding of holistic face processing. PMID:26886495

Motion facilitates face perception across changes in viewpoint and expression in older adults.

PubMed

Maguinness, Corrina; Newell, Fiona N

2014-12-01

Faces are inherently dynamic stimuli. However, face perception in younger adults appears to be mediated by the ability to extract structural cues from static images and a benefit of motion is inconsistent. In contrast, static face processing is poorer and more image-dependent in older adults. We therefore compared the role of facial motion in younger and older adults to assess whether motion can enhance perception when static cues are insufficient. In our studies, older and younger adults learned faces presented in motion or in a sequence of static images, containing rigid (viewpoint) or nonrigid (expression) changes. Immediately following learning, participants matched a static test image to the learned face which varied by viewpoint (Experiment 1) or expression (Experiment 2) and was either learned or novel. First, we found an age effect with better face matching performance in younger than in older adults. However, we observed face matching performance improved in the older adult group, across changes in viewpoint and expression, when faces were learned in motion relative to static presentation. There was no benefit for facial (nonrigid) motion when the task involved matching inverted faces (Experiment 3), suggesting that the ability to use dynamic face information for the purpose of recognition reflects motion encoding which is specific to upright faces. Our results suggest that ageing may offer a unique insight into how dynamic cues support face processing, which may not be readily observed in younger adults' performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Knowing how you are feeling depends on what's on my mind: Cognitive load and expression categorization.

PubMed

Ahmed, Lubna

2018-03-01

The ability to correctly interpret facial expressions is key to effective social interactions. People are well rehearsed and generally very efficient at correctly categorizing expressions. However, does their ability to do so depend on how cognitively loaded they are at the time? Using repeated-measures designs, we assessed the sensitivity of facial expression categorization to cognitive resources availability by measuring people's expression categorization performance during concurrent low and high cognitive load situations. In Experiment1, participants categorized the 6 basic upright facial expressions in a 6-automated-facial-coding response paradigm while maintaining low or high loading information in working memory (N = 40; 60 observations per load condition). In Experiment 2, they did so for both upright and inverted faces (N = 46; 60 observations per load and inversion condition). In both experiments, expression categorization for upright faces was worse during high versus low load. Categorization rates actually improved with increased load for the inverted faces. The opposing effects of cognitive load on upright and inverted expressions are explained in terms of a cognitive load-related dispersion in the attentional window. Overall, the findings support that expression categorization is sensitive to cognitive resources availability and moreover suggest that, in this paradigm, it is the perceptual processing stage of expression categorization that is affected by cognitive load. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Inversion effect in the visual processing of Chinese character: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Zhao, Jizheng; Liu, Jiangang; Li, Jun; Liang, Jimin; Feng, Lu; Ai, Lin; Tian, Jie

2010-07-05

Chinese people engage long-term processing of characters. It has been demonstrated that the presented orientation affects the perception of several types of stimuli when people have possessed expertise with them, e.g. face, body, and scene. However, the influence of inversion on the neural mechanism of Chinese character processing has not been sufficiently discussed. In the present study, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment is performed to examine the effect of inversion on Chinese character processing, which employs Chinese character, face and house as stimuli. The region of interest analysis demonstrates inversion leads to neural response increases for Chinese character in left fusiform character-preferential area, bilateral fusiform object-preferential area and bilateral occipital object-preferential area, and such inversion-caused changes in the response pattern of characters processing are highly similar to those of faces processing but quiet different from those of houses processing. Whole brain analysis reveals the upright characters recruit several language regions for phonology and semantic processing, however, the inverted characters activated extensive regions related to the visual information processing. Our findings reveal a shift from the character-preferential processing route to the generic object processing steam within visual cortex when the characters are inverted, and suggest that different mechanisms may underlie the upright and the inverted Chinese character, respectively. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep and shallow encoding effects on face recognition: an ERP study.

PubMed

Marzi, Tessa; Viggiano, Maria Pia

2010-12-01

Event related potentials (ERPs) were employed to investigate whether and when brain activity related to face recognition varies according to the processing level undertaken at encoding. Recognition was assessed when preceded by a "shallow" (orientation judgement) or by a "deep" study task (occupation judgement). Moreover, we included a further manipulation by presenting at encoding faces either in the upright or inverted orientation. As expected, deeply encoded faces were recognized more accurately and more quickly with respect to shallowly encoded faces. The ERP showed three main findings: i) as witnessed by more positive-going potentials for deeply encoded faces, at early and later processing stage, face recognition was influenced by the processing strategy adopted during encoding; ii) structural encoding, indexed by the N170, turned out to be "cognitively penetrable" showing repetition priming effects for deeply encoded faces; iii) face inversion, by disrupting configural processing during encoding, influenced memory related processes for deeply encoded faces and impaired the recognition of faces shallowly processed. The present study adds weight to the concept that the depth of processing during memory encoding affects retrieval. We found that successful retrieval following deep encoding involved both familiarity- and recollection-related processes showing from 500 ms a fronto-parietal distribution, whereas shallow encoding affected only earlier processing stages reflecting perceptual priming. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perceptual dehumanization of faces is activated by norm violations and facilitates norm enforcement.

PubMed

Fincher, Katrina M; Tetlock, Philip E

2016-02-01

This article uses methods drawn from perceptual psychology to answer a basic social psychological question: Do people process the faces of norm violators differently from those of others--and, if so, what is the functional significance? Seven studies suggest that people process these faces different and the differential processing makes it easier to punish norm violators. Studies 1 and 2 use a recognition-recall paradigm that manipulated facial-inversion and spatial frequency to show that people rely upon face-typical processing less when they perceive norm violators' faces. Study 3 uses a facial composite task to demonstrate that the effect is actor dependent, not action dependent, and to suggest that configural processing is the mechanism of perceptual change. Studies 4 and 5 use offset faces to show that configural processing is only attenuated when they belong to perpetrators who are culpable. Studies 6 and 7 show that people find it easier to punish inverted faces and harder to punish faces displayed in low spatial frequency. Taken together, these data suggest a bidirectional flow of causality between lower-order perceptual and higher-order cognitive processes in norm enforcement. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Face and body perception in schizophrenia: a configural processing deficit?

PubMed

Soria Bauser, Denise; Thoma, Patrizia; Aizenberg, Victoria; Brüne, Martin; Juckel, Georg; Daum, Irene

2012-01-30

Face and body perception rely on common processing mechanisms and activate similar but not identical brain networks. Patients with schizophrenia show impaired face perception, and the present study addressed for the first time body perception in this group. Seventeen patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were compared to 17 healthy controls on standardized tests assessing basic face perception skills (identity discrimination, memory for faces, recognition of facial affect). A matching-to-sample task including emotional and neutral faces, bodies and cars either in an upright or in an inverted position was administered to assess potential category-specific performance deficits and impairments of configural processing. Relative to healthy controls, schizophrenia patients showed poorer performance on the tasks assessing face perception skills. In the matching-to-sample task, they also responded more slowly and less accurately than controls, regardless of the stimulus category. Accuracy analysis showed significant inversion effects for faces and bodies across groups, reflecting configural processing mechanisms; however reaction time analysis indicated evidence of reduced inversion effects regardless of category in schizophrenia patients. The magnitude of the inversion effects was not related to clinical symptoms. Overall, the data point towards reduced configural processing, not only for faces but also for bodies and cars in individuals with schizophrenia. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Further evidence of early development of attention to dynamic facial emotions: Reply to Grossmann and Jessen.

PubMed

Heck, Alison; Hock, Alyson; White, Hannah; Jubran, Rachel; Bhatt, Ramesh S

2017-01-01

Adults exhibit enhanced attention to negative emotions like fear, which is thought to be an adaptive reaction to emotional information. Previous research, mostly conducted with static faces, suggests that infants exhibit an attentional bias toward fearful faces only at around 7months of age. In a recent study (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2016, Vol. 147, pp. 100-110), we found that 5-month-olds also exhibit heightened attention to fear when tested with dynamic face videos. This indication of an earlier development of an attention bias to fear raises questions about developmental mechanisms that have been proposed to underlie this function. However, Grossmann and Jessen (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2016, Vol. 153, pp. 149-154) argued that this result may have been due to differences in the amount of movement in the videos rather than a response to emotional information. To examine this possibility, we tested a new sample of 5-month-olds exactly as in the original study (Heck, Hock, White, Jubran, & Bhatt, 2016) but with inverted faces. We found that the fear bias seen in our study was no longer apparent with inverted faces. Therefore, it is likely that infants' enhanced attention to fear in our study was indeed a response to emotions rather than a reaction to arbitrary low-level stimulus features. This finding indicates enhanced attention to fear at 5months and underscores the need to find mechanisms that engender the development of emotion knowledge early in life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Discrimination of human and dog faces and inversion responses in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

PubMed

Racca, Anaïs; Amadei, Eleonora; Ligout, Séverine; Guo, Kun; Meints, Kerstin; Mills, Daniel

2010-05-01

Although domestic dogs can respond to many facial cues displayed by other dogs and humans, it remains unclear whether they can differentiate individual dogs or humans based on facial cues alone and, if so, whether they would demonstrate the face inversion effect, a behavioural hallmark commonly used in primates to differentiate face processing from object processing. In this study, we first established the applicability of the visual paired comparison (VPC or preferential looking) procedure for dogs using a simple object discrimination task with 2D pictures. The animals demonstrated a clear looking preference for novel objects when simultaneously presented with prior-exposed familiar objects. We then adopted this VPC procedure to assess their face discrimination and inversion responses. Dogs showed a deviation from random behaviour, indicating discrimination capability when inspecting upright dog faces, human faces and object images; but the pattern of viewing preference was dependent upon image category. They directed longer viewing time at novel (vs. familiar) human faces and objects, but not at dog faces, instead, a longer viewing time at familiar (vs. novel) dog faces was observed. No significant looking preference was detected for inverted images regardless of image category. Our results indicate that domestic dogs can use facial cues alone to differentiate individual dogs and humans and that they exhibit a non-specific inversion response. In addition, the discrimination response by dogs of human and dog faces appears to differ with the type of face involved.

Detection of emotional faces: salient physical features guide effective visual search.

PubMed

Calvo, Manuel G; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2008-08-01

In this study, the authors investigated how salient visual features capture attention and facilitate detection of emotional facial expressions. In a visual search task, a target emotional face (happy, disgusted, fearful, angry, sad, or surprised) was presented in an array of neutral faces. Faster detection of happy and, to a lesser extent, surprised and disgusted faces was found both under upright and inverted display conditions. Inversion slowed down the detection of these faces less than that of others (fearful, angry, and sad). Accordingly, the detection advantage involves processing of featural rather than configural information. The facial features responsible for the detection advantage are located in the mouth rather than the eye region. Computationally modeled visual saliency predicted both attentional orienting and detection. Saliency was greatest for the faces (happy) and regions (mouth) that were fixated earlier and detected faster, and there was close correspondence between the onset of the modeled saliency peak and the time at which observers initially fixated the faces. The authors conclude that visual saliency of specific facial features--especially the smiling mouth--is responsible for facilitated initial orienting, which thus shortens detection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Early holistic face-like processing of Arcimboldo paintings in the right occipito-temporal cortex: evidence from the N170 ERP component.

PubMed

Caharel, Stéphanie; Leleu, Arnaud; Bernard, Christian; Viggiano, Maria-Pia; Lalonde, Robert; Rebaï, Mohamed

2013-11-01

The properties of the face-sensitive N170 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) were explored through an orientation discrimination task using natural faces, objects, and Arcimboldo paintings presented upright or inverted. Because Arcimboldo paintings are composed of non-face objects but have a global face configuration, they provide great control to disentangle high-level face-like or object-like visual processes at the level of the N170, and may help to examine the implication of each hemisphere in the global/holistic processing of face formats. For upright position, N170 amplitudes in the right occipito-temporal region did not differ between natural faces and Arcimboldo paintings but were larger for both of these categories than for objects, supporting the view that as early as the N170 time-window, the right hemisphere is involved in holistic perceptual processing of face-like configurations irrespective of their features. Conversely, in the left hemisphere, N170 amplitudes differed between Arcimboldo portraits and natural faces, suggesting that this hemisphere processes local facial features. For upside-down orientation in both hemispheres, N170 amplitudes did not differ between Arcimboldo paintings and objects, but were reduced for both categories compared to natural faces, indicating that the disruption of holistic processing with inversion leads to an object-like processing of Arcimboldo paintings due to the lack of local facial features. Overall, these results provide evidence that global/holistic perceptual processing of faces and face-like formats involves the right hemisphere as early as the N170 time-window, and that the local processing of face features is rather implemented in the left hemisphere. © 2013.

Start Position Strongly Influences Fixation Patterns during Face Processing: Difficulties with Eye Movements as a Measure of Information Use

PubMed Central

Arizpe, Joseph; Kravitz, Dwight J.; Yovel, Galit; Baker, Chris I.

2012-01-01

Fixation patterns are thought to reflect cognitive processing and, thus, index the most informative stimulus features for task performance. During face recognition, initial fixations to the center of the nose have been taken to indicate this location is optimal for information extraction. However, the use of fixations as a marker for information use rests on the assumption that fixation patterns are predominantly determined by stimulus and task, despite the fact that fixations are also influenced by visuo-motor factors. Here, we tested the effect of starting position on fixation patterns during a face recognition task with upright and inverted faces. While we observed differences in fixations between upright and inverted faces, likely reflecting differences in cognitive processing, there was also a strong effect of start position. Over the first five saccades, fixation patterns across start positions were only coarsely similar, with most fixations around the eyes. Importantly, however, the precise fixation pattern was highly dependent on start position with a strong tendency toward facial features furthest from the start position. For example, the often-reported tendency toward the left over right eye was reversed for the left starting position. Further, delayed initial saccades for central versus peripheral start positions suggest greater information processing prior to the initial saccade, highlighting the experimental bias introduced by the commonly used center start position. Finally, the precise effect of face inversion on fixation patterns was also dependent on start position. These results demonstrate the importance of a non-stimulus, non-task factor in determining fixation patterns. The patterns observed likely reflect a complex combination of visuo-motor effects and simple sampling strategies as well as cognitive factors. These different factors are very difficult to tease apart and therefore great caution must be applied when interpreting absolute fixation locations as indicative of information use, particularly at a fine spatial scale. PMID:22319606

Impaired holistic processing in congenital prosopagnosia

PubMed Central

Avidan, Galia; Tanzer, Michal; Behrmann, Marlene

2011-01-01

It has long been argued that face processing requires disproportionate reliance on holistic or configural processing, relative to that required for non-face object recognition, and that a disruption of such holistic processing may be causally implicated in prosopagnosia. Previously, we demonstrated that individuals with congenital prosopagnosia (CP) did not show the normal face inversion effect (better performance for upright compared to inverted faces) and evinced a local (rather than the normal global) bias in a compound letter global/local (GL) task, supporting the claim of disrupted holistic processing in prosopagnosia. Here, we investigate further the nature of holistic processing impairments in CP, first by confirming, in a large sample of CP individuals, the absence of the normal face inversion effect and the presence of the local bias on the GL task, and, second, by employing the composite face paradigm, often regarded as the gold standard for measuring holistic face processing. In this last task, we show that, in contrast with normal individuals, the CP group perform equivalently with aligned and misaligned faces and was impervious to (the normal) interference from the task-irrelevant bottom part of faces. Interestingly, the extent of the local bias evident in the composite task is correlated with the abnormality of performance on diagnostic face processing tasks. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between the magnitude of the local bias in the GL and performance on the composite task. These results provide further evidence for impaired holistic processing in CP and, moreover, corroborate the critical role of this type of processing for intact face recognition. PMID:21601583

Enhanced Facial Symmetry Assessment in Orthodontists

PubMed Central

Jackson, Tate H.; Clark, Kait; Mitroff, Stephen R.

2013-01-01

Assessing facial symmetry is an evolutionarily important process, which suggests that individual differences in this ability should exist. As existing data are inconclusive, the current study explored whether a group trained in facial symmetry assessment, orthodontists, possessed enhanced abilities. Symmetry assessment was measured using face and non-face stimuli among orthodontic residents and two control groups: university participants with no symmetry training and airport security luggage screeners, a group previously shown to possess expert visual search skills unrelated to facial symmetry. Orthodontic residents were more accurate at assessing symmetry in both upright and inverted faces compared to both control groups, but not for non-face stimuli. These differences are not likely due to motivational biases or a speed-accuracy tradeoff—orthodontic residents were slower than the university participants but not the security screeners. Understanding such individual differences in facial symmetry assessment may inform the perception of facial attractiveness. PMID:24319342

Hebb repetition effects in visual memory: the roles of verbal rehearsal and distinctiveness.

PubMed

Horton, Neil; Hay, Dennis C; Smyth, Mary M

2008-01-01

A version of the Hebb repetition task was used with faces to explore the generality of the effect in a nonverbal domain. In the baseline condition, a series of upright faces was presented, and participants were asked to reconstruct the original order. Performance in this condition was compared to another in which the same stimuli were accompanied by concurrent verbal rehearsal to examine whether Hebb learning is dependent on verbal processing. Baseline performance was also compared to a condition in which the same faces were presented inverted. This comparison was used to determine the importance in Hebb learning of being able to visually distinguish between the list items. The results produced classic serial position curves that were equivalent over conditions with Hebb repetition effects being in evidence only for upright faces and verbal suppression as having no effect. These findings are interpreted as posing a challenge to current models derived from verbal-domain data.

Orientation-sensitivity to facial features explains the Thatcher illusion.

PubMed

Psalta, Lilia; Young, Andrew W; Thompson, Peter; Andrews, Timothy J

2014-10-09

The Thatcher illusion provides a compelling example of the perceptual cost of face inversion. The Thatcher illusion is often thought to result from a disruption to the processing of spatial relations between face features. Here, we show the limitations of this account and instead demonstrate that the effect of inversion in the Thatcher illusion is better explained by a disruption to the processing of purely local facial features. Using a matching task, we found that participants were able to discriminate normal and Thatcherized versions of the same face when they were presented in an upright orientation, but not when the images were inverted. Next, we showed that the effect of inversion was also apparent when only the eye region or only the mouth region was visible. These results demonstrate that a key component of the Thatcher illusion is to be found in orientation-specific encoding of the expressive features (eyes and mouth) of the face. © 2014 ARVO.

From face processing to face recognition: Comparing three different processing levels.

PubMed

Besson, G; Barragan-Jason, G; Thorpe, S J; Fabre-Thorpe, M; Puma, S; Ceccaldi, M; Barbeau, E J

2017-01-01

Verifying that a face is from a target person (e.g. finding someone in the crowd) is a critical ability of the human face processing system. Yet how fast this can be performed is unknown. The 'entry-level shift due to expertise' hypothesis suggests that - since humans are face experts - processing faces should be as fast - or even faster - at the individual than at superordinate levels. In contrast, the 'superordinate advantage' hypothesis suggests that faces are processed from coarse to fine, so that the opposite pattern should be observed. To clarify this debate, three different face processing levels were compared: (1) a superordinate face categorization level (i.e. detecting human faces among animal faces), (2) a face familiarity level (i.e. recognizing famous faces among unfamiliar ones) and (3) verifying that a face is from a target person, our condition of interest. The minimal speed at which faces can be categorized (∼260ms) or recognized as familiar (∼360ms) has largely been documented in previous studies, and thus provides boundaries to compare our condition of interest to. Twenty-seven participants were included. The recent Speed and Accuracy Boosting procedure paradigm (SAB) was used since it constrains participants to use their fastest strategy. Stimuli were presented either upright or inverted. Results revealed that verifying that a face is from a target person (minimal RT at ∼260ms) was remarkably fast but longer than the face categorization level (∼240ms) and was more sensitive to face inversion. In contrast, it was much faster than recognizing a face as familiar (∼380ms), a level severely affected by face inversion. Face recognition corresponding to finding a specific person in a crowd thus appears achievable in only a quarter of a second. In favor of the 'superordinate advantage' hypothesis or coarse-to-fine account of the face visual hierarchy, these results suggest a graded engagement of the face processing system across processing levels as reflected by the face inversion effects. Furthermore, they underline how verifying that a face is from a target person and detecting a face as familiar - both often referred to as "Face Recognition" - in fact differs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do I Have My Attention? Speed of Processing Advantages for the Self-Face Are Not Driven by Automatic Attention Capture

PubMed Central

Keyes, Helen; Dlugokencka, Aleksandra

2014-01-01

We respond more quickly to our own face than to other faces, but there is debate over whether this is connected to attention-grabbing properties of the self-face. In two experiments, we investigate whether the self-face selectively captures attention, and the attentional conditions under which this might occur. In both experiments, we examined whether different types of face (self, friend, stranger) provide differential levels of distraction when processing self, friend and stranger names. In Experiment 1, an image of a distractor face appeared centrally – inside the focus of attention – behind a target name, with the faces either upright or inverted. In Experiment 2, distractor faces appeared peripherally – outside the focus of attention – in the left or right visual field, or bilaterally. In both experiments, self-name recognition was faster than other name recognition, suggesting a self-referential processing advantage. The presence of the self-face did not cause more distraction in the naming task compared to other types of face, either when presented inside (Experiment 1) or outside (Experiment 2) the focus of attention. Distractor faces had different effects across the two experiments: when presented inside the focus of attention (Experiment 1), self and friend images facilitated self and friend naming, respectively. This was not true for stranger stimuli, suggesting that faces must be robustly represented to facilitate name recognition. When presented outside the focus of attention (Experiment 2), no facilitation occurred. Instead, we report an interesting distraction effect caused by friend faces when processing strangers’ names. We interpret this as a “social importance” effect, whereby we may be tuned to pick out and pay attention to familiar friend faces in a crowd. We conclude that any speed of processing advantages observed in the self-face processing literature are not driven by automatic attention capture. PMID:25338170

Do I have my attention? Speed of processing advantages for the self-face are not driven by automatic attention capture.

PubMed

Keyes, Helen; Dlugokencka, Aleksandra

2014-01-01

We respond more quickly to our own face than to other faces, but there is debate over whether this is connected to attention-grabbing properties of the self-face. In two experiments, we investigate whether the self-face selectively captures attention, and the attentional conditions under which this might occur. In both experiments, we examined whether different types of face (self, friend, stranger) provide differential levels of distraction when processing self, friend and stranger names. In Experiment 1, an image of a distractor face appeared centrally - inside the focus of attention - behind a target name, with the faces either upright or inverted. In Experiment 2, distractor faces appeared peripherally - outside the focus of attention - in the left or right visual field, or bilaterally. In both experiments, self-name recognition was faster than other name recognition, suggesting a self-referential processing advantage. The presence of the self-face did not cause more distraction in the naming task compared to other types of face, either when presented inside (Experiment 1) or outside (Experiment 2) the focus of attention. Distractor faces had different effects across the two experiments: when presented inside the focus of attention (Experiment 1), self and friend images facilitated self and friend naming, respectively. This was not true for stranger stimuli, suggesting that faces must be robustly represented to facilitate name recognition. When presented outside the focus of attention (Experiment 2), no facilitation occurred. Instead, we report an interesting distraction effect caused by friend faces when processing strangers' names. We interpret this as a "social importance" effect, whereby we may be tuned to pick out and pay attention to familiar friend faces in a crowd. We conclude that any speed of processing advantages observed in the self-face processing literature are not driven by automatic attention capture.

Early (N170/M170) Face-Sensitivity Despite Right Lateral Occipital Brain Damage in Acquired Prosopagnosia

PubMed Central

Prieto, Esther Alonso; Caharel, Stéphanie; Henson, Richard; Rossion, Bruno

2011-01-01

Compared to objects, pictures of faces elicit a larger early electromagnetic response at occipito-temporal sites on the human scalp, with an onset of 130 ms and a peak at about 170 ms. This N170 face effect is larger in the right than the left hemisphere and has been associated with the early categorization of the stimulus as a face. Here we tested whether this effect can be observed in the absence of some of the visual areas showing a preferential response to faces as typically identified in neuroimaging. Event-related potentials were recorded in response to faces, cars, and their phase-scrambled versions in a well-known brain-damaged case of prosopagnosia (PS). Despite the patient’s right inferior occipital gyrus lesion encompassing the most posterior cortical area showing preferential response to faces (“occipital face area”), we identified an early face-sensitive component over the right occipito-temporal hemisphere of the patient that was identified as the N170. A second experiment supported this conclusion, showing the typical N170 increase of latency and amplitude in response to inverted faces. In contrast, there was no N170 in the left hemisphere, where PS has a lesion to the middle fusiform gyrus and shows no evidence of face-preferential response in neuroimaging (no left “fusiform face area”). These results were replicated by a magnetoencephalographic investigation of the patient, disclosing a M170 component only in the right hemisphere. These observations indicate that face-preferential activation in the inferior occipital cortex is not necessary to elicit early visual responses associated with face perception (N170/M170) on the human scalp. These results further suggest that when the right inferior occipital cortex is damaged, the integrity of the middle fusiform gyrus and/or the superior temporal sulcus – two areas showing face-preferential responses in the patient’s right hemisphere – might be necessary to generate the N170 effect. PMID:22275889

AUTISTIC TRAITS INFLUENCE GAZE-ORIENTED ATTENTION TO HAPPY BUT NOT FEARFUL FACES

PubMed Central

Lassalle, Amandine; Itier, Roxane J.

2017-01-01

The relationship between autistic traits and gaze-oriented attention to fearful and happy faces was investigated at the behavioral and neuronal levels. Upright and inverted dynamic face stimuli were used in a gaze-cueing paradigm while ERPs were recorded. Participants responded faster to gazed-at than to non-gazed-at targets and this Gaze Orienting Effect (GOE) diminished with inversion, suggesting it relies on facial configuration. It was also larger for fearful than happy faces but only in participants with high Autism Quotient (AQ) scores. While the GOE to fearful faces was of similar magnitude regardless of AQ scores, a diminished GOE to happy faces was found in participants with high AQ scores. At the ERP level, a congruency effect on target-elicited P1 component reflected enhanced visual processing of gazed-at targets. In addition, cue-triggered early directing attention negativity and anterior directing attention negativity reflected, respectively, attention orienting and attention holding at gazed-at locations. These neural markers of spatial attention orienting were not modulated by emotion and were not found in participants with high AQ scores. Together these findings suggest that autistic traits influence attention orienting to gaze and its modulation by social emotions such as happiness. PMID:25222883

Italian normative data and validation of two neuropsychological tests of face recognition: Benton Facial Recognition Test and Cambridge Face Memory Test.

PubMed

Albonico, Andrea; Malaspina, Manuela; Daini, Roberta

2017-09-01

The Benton Facial Recognition Test (BFRT) and Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) are two of the most common tests used to assess face discrimination and recognition abilities and to identify individuals with prosopagnosia. However, recent studies highlighted that participant-stimulus match ethnicity, as much as gender, has to be taken into account in interpreting results from these tests. Here, in order to obtain more appropriate normative data for an Italian sample, the CFMT and BFRT were administered to a large cohort of young adults. We found that scores from the BFRT are not affected by participants' gender and are only slightly affected by participant-stimulus ethnicity match, whereas both these factors seem to influence the scores of the CFMT. Moreover, the inclusion of a sample of individuals with suspected face recognition impairment allowed us to show that the use of more appropriate normative data can increase the BFRT efficacy in identifying individuals with face discrimination impairments; by contrast, the efficacy of the CFMT in classifying individuals with a face recognition deficit was confirmed. Finally, our data show that the lack of inversion effect (the difference between the total score of the upright and inverted versions of the CFMT) could be used as further index to assess congenital prosopagnosia. Overall, our results confirm the importance of having norms derived from controls with a similar experience of faces as the "potential" prosopagnosic individuals when assessing face recognition abilities.

Anisotropy of electrical conductivity of the excavation damaged zone in the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicollin, Florence; Gibert, Dominique; Lesparre, Nolwenn; Nussbaum, Christophe

2010-04-01

Electrical resistivity measurements were performed to characterize the anisotropy of electrical resistivity of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) at the end-face of a gallery in the Opalinus clay of the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory (URL). The data were acquired with a combination of square arrays in 18 zones on the gallery's face and in two series of four boreholes perpendicular to the face. Each data set is independently inverted using simulated annealing to recover the resistivity tensor. Both the stability and the non-uniqueness of the inverse problem are discussed with synthetic examples. The inversion of the data shows that the face is split in two domains separated by a tectonic fracture, with different resistivity values but with a common orientation. The direction of the maximum resistivity is found perpendicular to the bedding plane, and the direction of minimum resistivity is contained in the face's plane. These results show that the geo-electrical structure of the EDZ is controlled by a combination of effects due to tectonics, stratigraphy, and recent fracturing produced by the excavation of the gallery.

The perception of (naked only) bodies and faceless heads relies on holistic processing: Evidence from the inversion effect.

PubMed

Bonemei, Rob; Costantino, Andrea I; Battistel, Ilenia; Rivolta, Davide

2018-05-01

Faces and bodies are more difficult to perceive when presented inverted than when presented upright (i.e., stimulus inversion effect), an effect that has been attributed to the disruption of holistic processing. The features that can trigger holistic processing in faces and bodies, however, still remain elusive. In this study, using a sequential matching task, we tested whether stimulus inversion affects various categories of visual stimuli: faces, faceless heads, faceless heads in body context, headless bodies naked, whole bodies naked, headless bodies clothed, and whole bodies clothed. Both accuracy and inversion efficiency score results show inversion effects for all categories but for clothed bodies (with and without heads). In addition, the magnitude of the inversion effect for face, naked body, and faceless heads was similar. Our findings demonstrate that the perception of faces, faceless heads, and naked bodies relies on holistic processing. Clothed bodies (with and without heads), on the other side, may trigger clothes-sensitive rather than body-sensitive perceptual mechanisms. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

An inverse dynamics approach to face animation.

PubMed

Pitermann, M; Munhall, K G

2001-09-01

Muscle-based models of the human face produce high quality animation but rely on recorded muscle activity signals or synthetic muscle signals that are often derived by trial and error. This paper presents a dynamic inversion of a muscle-based model (Lucero and Munhall, 1999) that permits the animation to be created from kinematic recordings of facial movements. Using a nonlinear optimizer (Powell's algorithm), the inversion produces a muscle activity set for seven muscles in the lower face that minimize the root mean square error between kinematic data recorded with OPTOTRAK and the corresponding nodes of the modeled facial mesh. This inverted muscle activity is then used to animate the facial model. In three tests of the inversion, strong correlations were observed for kinematics produced from synthetic muscle activity, for OPTOTRAK kinematics recorded from a talker for whom the facial model is morphologically adapted and finally for another talker with the model morphology adapted to a different individual. The correspondence between the animation kinematics and the three-dimensional OPTOTRAK data are very good and the animation is of high quality. Because the kinematic to electromyography (EMG) inversion is ill posed, there is no relation between the actual EMG and the inverted EMG. The overall redundancy of the motor system means that many different EMG patterns can produce the same kinematic output.

Do people have insight into their face recognition abilities?

PubMed

Palermo, Romina; Rossion, Bruno; Rhodes, Gillian; Laguesse, Renaud; Tez, Tolga; Hall, Bronwyn; Albonico, Andrea; Malaspina, Manuela; Daini, Roberta; Irons, Jessica; Al-Janabi, Shahd; Taylor, Libby C; Rivolta, Davide; McKone, Elinor

2017-02-01

Diagnosis of developmental or congenital prosopagnosia (CP) involves self-report of everyday face recognition difficulties, which are corroborated with poor performance on behavioural tests. This approach requires accurate self-evaluation. We examine the extent to which typical adults have insight into their face recognition abilities across four experiments involving nearly 300 participants. The experiments used five tests of face recognition ability: two that tap into the ability to learn and recognize previously unfamiliar faces [the Cambridge Face Memory Test, CFMT; Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2006). The Cambridge Face Memory Test: Results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants. Neuropsychologia, 44(4), 576-585. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.07.001; and a newly devised test based on the CFMT but where the study phases involve watching short movies rather than viewing static faces-the CFMT-Films] and three that tap face matching [Benton Facial Recognition Test, BFRT; Benton, A., Sivan, A., Hamsher, K., Varney, N., & Spreen, O. (1983). Contribution to neuropsychological assessment. New York: Oxford University Press; and two recently devised sequential face matching tests]. Self-reported ability was measured with the 15-item Kennerknecht et al. questionnaire [Kennerknecht, I., Ho, N. Y., & Wong, V. C. (2008). Prevalence of hereditary prosopagnosia (HPA) in Hong Kong Chinese population. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 146A(22), 2863-2870. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.32552]; two single-item questions assessing face recognition ability; and a new 77-item meta-cognition questionnaire. Overall, we find that adults with typical face recognition abilities have only modest insight into their ability to recognize faces on behavioural tests. In a fifth experiment, we assess self-reported face recognition ability in people with CP and find that some people who expect to perform poorly on behavioural tests of face recognition do indeed perform poorly. However, it is not yet clear whether individuals within this group of poor performers have greater levels of insight (i.e., into their degree of impairment) than those with more typical levels of performance.

Behavioral dissociation between emotional and non-emotional facial expressions in congenital prosopagnosia

PubMed Central

Daini, Roberta; Comparetti, Chiara M.; Ricciardelli, Paola

2014-01-01

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that facial recognition and emotional expressions are dissociable. However, it is unknown if a single system supports the processing of emotional and non-emotional facial expressions. We aimed to understand if individuals with impairment in face recognition from birth (congenital prosopagnosia, CP) can use non-emotional facial expressions to recognize a face as an already seen one, and thus, process this facial dimension independently from features (which are impaired in CP), and basic emotional expressions. To this end, we carried out a behavioral study in which we compared the performance of 6 CP individuals to that of typical development individuals, using upright and inverted faces. Four avatar faces with a neutral expression were presented in the initial phase. The target faces presented in the recognition phase, in which a recognition task was requested (2AFC paradigm), could be identical (neutral) to those of the initial phase or present biologically plausible changes to features, non-emotional expressions, or emotional expressions. After this task, a second task was performed, in which the participants had to detect whether or not the recognized face exactly matched the study face or showed any difference. The results confirmed the CPs' impairment in the configural processing of the invariant aspects of the face, but also showed a spared configural processing of non-emotional facial expression (task 1). Interestingly and unlike the non-emotional expressions, the configural processing of emotional expressions was compromised in CPs and did not improve their change detection ability (task 2). These new results have theoretical implications for face perception models since they suggest that, at least in CPs, non-emotional expressions are processed configurally, can be dissociated from other facial dimensions, and may serve as a compensatory strategy to achieve face recognition. PMID:25520643

Behavioral dissociation between emotional and non-emotional facial expressions in congenital prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Daini, Roberta; Comparetti, Chiara M; Ricciardelli, Paola

2014-01-01

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that facial recognition and emotional expressions are dissociable. However, it is unknown if a single system supports the processing of emotional and non-emotional facial expressions. We aimed to understand if individuals with impairment in face recognition from birth (congenital prosopagnosia, CP) can use non-emotional facial expressions to recognize a face as an already seen one, and thus, process this facial dimension independently from features (which are impaired in CP), and basic emotional expressions. To this end, we carried out a behavioral study in which we compared the performance of 6 CP individuals to that of typical development individuals, using upright and inverted faces. Four avatar faces with a neutral expression were presented in the initial phase. The target faces presented in the recognition phase, in which a recognition task was requested (2AFC paradigm), could be identical (neutral) to those of the initial phase or present biologically plausible changes to features, non-emotional expressions, or emotional expressions. After this task, a second task was performed, in which the participants had to detect whether or not the recognized face exactly matched the study face or showed any difference. The results confirmed the CPs' impairment in the configural processing of the invariant aspects of the face, but also showed a spared configural processing of non-emotional facial expression (task 1). Interestingly and unlike the non-emotional expressions, the configural processing of emotional expressions was compromised in CPs and did not improve their change detection ability (task 2). These new results have theoretical implications for face perception models since they suggest that, at least in CPs, non-emotional expressions are processed configurally, can be dissociated from other facial dimensions, and may serve as a compensatory strategy to achieve face recognition.

Mixed emotions: Sensitivity to facial variance in a crowd of faces.

PubMed

Haberman, Jason; Lee, Pegan; Whitney, David

2015-01-01

The visual system automatically represents summary information from crowds of faces, such as the average expression. This is a useful heuristic insofar as it provides critical information about the state of the world, not simply information about the state of one individual. However, the average alone is not sufficient for making decisions about how to respond to a crowd. The variance or heterogeneity of the crowd--the mixture of emotions--conveys information about the reliability of the average, essential for determining whether the average can be trusted. Despite its importance, the representation of variance within a crowd of faces has yet to be examined. This is addressed here in three experiments. In the first experiment, observers viewed a sample set of faces that varied in emotion, and then adjusted a subsequent set to match the variance of the sample set. To isolate variance as the summary statistic of interest, the average emotion of both sets was random. Results suggested that observers had information regarding crowd variance. The second experiment verified that this was indeed a uniquely high-level phenomenon, as observers were unable to derive the variance of an inverted set of faces as precisely as an upright set of faces. The third experiment replicated and extended the first two experiments using method-of-constant-stimuli. Together, these results show that the visual system is sensitive to emergent information about the emotional heterogeneity, or ambivalence, in crowds of faces.

Asymmetric Preorganization of Inverted Pair Residues in the Sodium-Calcium Exchanger

PubMed Central

Giladi, Moshe; Almagor, Lior; van Dijk, Liat; Hiller, Reuben; Man, Petr; Forest, Eric; Khananshvili, Daniel

2016-01-01

In analogy with many other proteins, Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCX) adapt an inverted twofold symmetry of repeated structural elements, while exhibiting a functional asymmetry by stabilizing an outward-facing conformation. Here, structure-based mutant analyses of the Methanococcus jannaschii Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX_Mj) were performed in conjunction with HDX-MS (hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry) to identify the structure-dynamic determinants of functional asymmetry. HDX-MS identified hallmark differences in backbone dynamics at ion-coordinating residues of apo-NCX_Mj, whereas Na+or Ca2+ binding to the respective sites induced relatively small, but specific, changes in backbone dynamics. Mutant analysis identified ion-coordinating residues affecting the catalytic capacity (kcat/Km), but not the stability of the outward-facing conformation. In contrast, distinct “noncatalytic” residues (adjacent to the ion-coordinating residues) control the stability of the outward-facing conformation, but not the catalytic capacity. The helix-breaking signature sequences (GTSLPE) on the α1 and α2 repeats (at the ion-binding core) differ in their folding/unfolding dynamics, while providing asymmetric contributions to transport activities. The present data strongly support the idea that asymmetric preorganization of the ligand-free ion-pocket predefines catalytic reorganization of ion-bound residues, where secondary interactions with adjacent residues couple the alternating access. These findings provide a structure-dynamic basis for ion-coupled alternating access in NCX and similar proteins. PMID:26876271

Six-month-old infants' perception of the hollow face illusion: evidence for a general convexity bias.

PubMed

Corrow, Sherryse L; Mathison, Jordan; Granrud, Carl E; Yonas, Albert

2014-01-01

Corrow, Granrud, Mathison, and Yonas (2011, Perception, 40, 1376-1383) found evidence that 6-month-old infants perceive the hollow face illusion. In the present study we asked whether 6-month-old infants perceive illusory depth reversal for a nonface object and whether infants' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion. In experiment 1 infants viewed a concave bowl, and their reaches were recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions. Infants reached to the bowl as if it were convex significantly more often in the monocular than in the binocular viewing condition. These results suggest that infants perceive illusory depth reversal with a nonface stimulus and that the infant visual system has a bias to perceive objects as convex. Infants in experiment 2 viewed a concave face-like mask in upright and inverted orientations. Infants reached to the display as if it were convex more in the monocular than in the binocular condition; however, mask orientation had no effect on reaching. Previous findings that adults' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion have been interpreted as evidence of stored-knowledge influences on perception. However, we found no evidence of such influences in infants, suggesting that their perception of this illusion may not be affected by stored knowledge, and that perceived depth reversal is not face-specific in infants.

Developmental differences in the neural mechanisms of facial emotion labeling

PubMed Central

Adleman, Nancy E.; Kim, Pilyoung; Oakes, Allison H.; Hsu, Derek; Reynolds, Richard C.; Chen, Gang; Pine, Daniel S.; Brotman, Melissa A.; Leibenluft, Ellen

2016-01-01

Adolescence is a time of increased risk for the onset of psychological disorders associated with deficits in face emotion labeling. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine age-related differences in brain activation while adolescents and adults labeled the emotion on fearful, happy and angry faces of varying intensities [0% (i.e. neutral), 50%, 75%, 100%]. Adolescents and adults did not differ on accuracy to label emotions. In the superior temporal sulcus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus, adults show an inverted-U-shaped response to increasing intensities of fearful faces and a U-shaped response to increasing intensities of happy faces, whereas adolescents show the opposite patterns. In addition, adults, but not adolescents, show greater inferior occipital gyrus activation to negative (angry, fearful) vs positive (happy) emotions. In sum, when subjects classify subtly varying facial emotions, developmental differences manifest in several ‘ventral stream’ brain regions. Charting the typical developmental course of the brain mechanisms of socioemotional processes, such as facial emotion labeling, is an important focus for developmental psychopathology research. PMID:26245836

Ohmic contacts to N-face p-GaN using Ni/Au for the fabrication of polarization inverted light-emitting diodes.

PubMed

Han, Seung Cheol; Kim, Jae-Kwan; Kim, Jun Young; Lee, Dong Min; Yoon, Jae-Sik; Kim, Jong-Kyu; Schubert, E F; Lee, Ji-Myon

2013-08-01

The electrical properties of Ni-based ohmic contacts to N-face p-type GaN were investigated. The specific contact resistance of N-face p-GaN exhibits a linear decrease from 1.01 omega cm2 to 9.05 x 10(-3) omega cm2 for the as-deposited and the annealed Ni/Au contacts, respectively, with increasing annealing temperature. However, the specific contact resistance could be decreased down to 1.03 x 10(-4) omega cm2 by means of surface treatment using an alcohol-based (NH4)2S solution. The depth profile data measured from the intensity of O1s peak in the X-ray photoemission spectra showed that the alcohol-based (NH4)2S treatment was effective in removing the surface oxide layer of GaN.

Sclera-directed knot technique for securing an encircling band in retinal surgery.

PubMed

Bartov, E; Ginsburg, L H; Ashkenazi, I; Treister, G

1991-10-01

The protruding ends of sutures used to secure the ends of the silicone rubber band placed during many retinal surgical procedures may cause postsurgical irritation, since with presently used suturing techniques, the knot of the suture remains on top of the band, facing the conjunctiva. We describe a suturing technique which, by inverting the band when suturing its ends and then allowing the band to return to its original position, places the knot on the undersurface of the band, against the sclera. Thus, no protruding suture ends are left facing the conjunctiva and the irritation resulting from such a protrusion is averted.

Asymmetry of inverted-topology repeats in the AE1 anion exchanger suggests an elevator-like mechanism

PubMed Central

Faraldo-Gómez, José D.

2017-01-01

The membrane transporter anion exchanger 1 (AE1), or band 3, is a key component in the processes of carbon-dioxide transport in the blood and urinary acidification in the renal collecting duct. In both erythrocytes and the basolateral membrane of the collecting-duct α-intercalated cells, the role of AE1 is to catalyze a one-for-one exchange of chloride for bicarbonate. After decades of biochemical and functional studies, the structure of the transmembrane region of AE1, which catalyzes the anion-exchange reaction, has finally been determined. Each protomer of the AE1 dimer comprises two repeats with inverted transmembrane topologies, but the structures of these repeats differ. This asymmetry causes the putative substrate-binding site to be exposed only to the extracellular space, consistent with the expectation that anion exchange occurs via an alternating-access mechanism. Here, we hypothesize that the unknown, inward-facing conformation results from inversion of this asymmetry, and we propose a model of this state constructed using repeat-swap homology modeling. By comparing this inward-facing model with the outward-facing experimental structure, we predict that the mechanism of AE1 involves an elevator-like motion of the substrate-binding domain relative to the nearly stationary dimerization domain and to the membrane plane. This hypothesis is in qualitative agreement with a wide range of biochemical and functional data, which we review in detail, and suggests new avenues of experimentation. PMID:29167180

Perceptual and decisional factors influencing the discrimination of inversion in the Thatcher illusion.

PubMed

Cornes, Katherine; Donnelly, Nick; Godwin, Hayward; Wenger, Michael J

2011-06-01

The Thatcher illusion (Thompson, 1980) is considered to be a prototypical illustration of the notion that face perception is dependent on configural processes and representations. We explored this idea by examining the relative contributions of perceptual and decisional processes to the ability of observers to identify the orientation of two classes of forms-faces and churches-and a set of their component features. Observers were presented with upright and inverted images of faces and churches in which the components (eyes, mouth, windows, doors) were presented either upright or inverted. Observers first rated the subjective grotesqueness of all of the images and then performed a complete identification task in which they had to identify the orientation of the overall form and the orientation of each of the interior features. Grotesqueness ratings for both classes of image showed the standard modulation of rated grotesqueness as a function of orientation. The complete identification results revealed violations of both perceptual and decisional separability but failed to reveal any violations of within-stimulus (perceptual) independence. In addition, exploration of a simple bivariate Gaussian signal detection model of the relationship between identification performance and judged grotesqueness suggests that within-stimulus violations of perceptual independence on their own are insufficient for producing the illusion. This lack of evidence for within-stimulus configurality suggests the need for a critical reevaluation of the role of configural processing in the Thatcher illusion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental differences in the neural mechanisms of facial emotion labeling.

PubMed

Wiggins, Jillian Lee; Adleman, Nancy E; Kim, Pilyoung; Oakes, Allison H; Hsu, Derek; Reynolds, Richard C; Chen, Gang; Pine, Daniel S; Brotman, Melissa A; Leibenluft, Ellen

2016-01-01

Adolescence is a time of increased risk for the onset of psychological disorders associated with deficits in face emotion labeling. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine age-related differences in brain activation while adolescents and adults labeled the emotion on fearful, happy and angry faces of varying intensities [0% (i.e. neutral), 50%, 75%, 100%]. Adolescents and adults did not differ on accuracy to label emotions. In the superior temporal sulcus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus, adults show an inverted-U-shaped response to increasing intensities of fearful faces and a U-shaped response to increasing intensities of happy faces, whereas adolescents show the opposite patterns. In addition, adults, but not adolescents, show greater inferior occipital gyrus activation to negative (angry, fearful) vs positive (happy) emotions. In sum, when subjects classify subtly varying facial emotions, developmental differences manifest in several 'ventral stream' brain regions. Charting the typical developmental course of the brain mechanisms of socioemotional processes, such as facial emotion labeling, is an important focus for developmental psychopathology research. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Infants' Perception of Emotion from Body Movements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zieber, Nicole; Kangas, Ashley; Hock, Alyson; Bhatt, Ramesh S.

2014-01-01

Adults recognize emotions conveyed by bodies with comparable accuracy to facial emotions. However, no prior study has explored infants' perception of body emotions. In Experiment 1, 6.5-month-olds (n = 32) preferred happy over neutral actions of actors with covered faces in upright but not inverted silent videos. In Experiment 2, infants…

ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY OF ELECTRIC ORGAN IN GYMNOTUS CARAPO

PubMed Central

Bennett, Michael V. L.; Grundfest, Harry

1959-01-01

The electric organ of G. carapo is formed by linearly arrayed electroplaques which lie in four tubes on each side of the fish. In one tube the electroplaques are innervated on their rostral surfaces, in the others on the caudal. Both surfaces of each electroplaque produce spikes, and either can be excited alone by a suitably oriented externally applied stimulating current. The innervated surface, however, has a lower threshold, and in the normal organ activity, which is a continuous discharge at 35 to 60/sec., it is always fired first by the large neurally evoked postsynaptic potential. The spike of the innervated face then fires the opposite face. The potential recorded external to the innervated face is initially negative and becomes positive when the other face fires. The potential outside the other face is inverted. The p.s.p.'s are electrically inexcitable, have short duration, and are augmented by hyperpolarization. A single electroplaque is innervated by several nerve fibers, which produce summative p.s.p.'s. Homosynaptic facilitation of p.s.p.'s is common. The synapses are cholinoceptive. The organ discharge begins with synchronized activity in the rostrally innervated electroplaques. After a brief interval, the electroplaques in the other three tubes fire. The organ discharge therefore is triphasic, resulting from the summation of the two diphasic components that are oppositely directed and asynchronous. Observations on the sensory role of the organ are included. PMID:13654750

Internal curvature signal and noise in low- and high-level vision

PubMed Central

Grabowecky, Marcia; Kim, Yee Joon; Suzuki, Satoru

2011-01-01

How does internal processing contribute to visual pattern perception? By modeling visual search performance, we estimated internal signal and noise relevant to perception of curvature, a basic feature important for encoding of three-dimensional surfaces and objects. We used isolated, sparse, crowded, and face contexts to determine how internal curvature signal and noise depended on image crowding, lateral feature interactions, and level of pattern processing. Observers reported the curvature of a briefly flashed segment, which was presented alone (without lateral interaction) or among multiple straight segments (with lateral interaction). Each segment was presented with no context (engaging low-to-intermediate-level curvature processing), embedded within a face context as the mouth (engaging high-level face processing), or embedded within an inverted-scrambled-face context as a control for crowding. Using a simple, biologically plausible model of curvature perception, we estimated internal curvature signal and noise as the mean and standard deviation, respectively, of the Gaussian-distributed population activity of local curvature-tuned channels that best simulated behavioral curvature responses. Internal noise was increased by crowding but not by face context (irrespective of lateral interactions), suggesting prevention of noise accumulation in high-level pattern processing. In contrast, internal curvature signal was unaffected by crowding but modulated by lateral interactions. Lateral interactions (with straight segments) increased curvature signal when no contextual elements were added, but equivalent interactions reduced curvature signal when each segment was presented within a face. These opposing effects of lateral interactions are consistent with the phenomena of local-feature contrast in low-level processing and global-feature averaging in high-level processing. PMID:21209356

Sputter deposition of indium tin oxide onto zinc pthalocyanine: Chemical and electronic properties of the interface studied by photoelectron spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gassmann, Jürgen; Brötz, Joachim; Klein, Andreas

2012-02-01

The interface chemistry and the energy band alignment at the interface formed during sputter deposition of transparent conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) onto the organic semiconductor zinc phtalocyanine (ZnPc), which is important for inverted, transparent, and stacked organic light emitting diodes, is studied by in situ photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS and UPS). ITO was sputtered at room temperature and a low power density with a face to face arrangement of the target and substrate. With these deposition conditions, no chemical reaction and a low barrier height for charge injection at this interface are observed. The barrier height is comparable to those observed for the reverse deposition sequence, which also confirms the absence of sputter damage.

Does the perception of moving eyes trigger reflexive visual orienting in autism?

PubMed Central

Swettenham, John; Condie, Samantha; Campbell, Ruth; Milne, Elizabeth; Coleman, Mike

2003-01-01

Does movement of the eyes in one or another direction function as an automatic attentional cue to a location of interest? Two experiments explored the directional movement of the eyes in a full face for speed of detection of an aftercoming location target in young people with autism and in control participants. Our aim was to investigate whether a low-level perceptual impairment underlies the delay in gaze following characteristic of autism. The participants' task was to detect a target appearing on the left or right of the screen either 100 ms or 800 ms after a face cue appeared with eyes averting to the left or right. Despite instructions to ignore eye-movement in the face cue, people with autism and control adolescents were quicker to detect targets that had been preceded by an eye movement cue congruent with target location compared with targets preceded by an incongruent eye movement cue. The attention shifts are thought to be reflexive because the cue was to be ignored, and because the effect was found even when cue-target duration was short (100 ms). Because (experiment two) the effect persisted even when the face was inverted, it would seem that the direction of movement of eyes can provide a powerful (involuntary) cue to a location. PMID:12639330

Substrate Control in Stereoselective Lanthionine Biosynthesis

PubMed Central

Tang, Weixin; Jiménez-Osés, Gonzalo; Houk, K. N.; van der Donk, Wilfred A.

2014-01-01

Enzymes are typically highly stereoselective catalysts that enforce a reactive conformation on their native substrates. We report here a rare example where the substrate controls the stereoselectivity of an enzyme-catalyzed Michael-type addition during the biosynthesis of lanthipeptides. These natural products contain thioether crosslinks formed by cysteine attack on dehydrated Ser and Thr residues. We demonstrate that several lanthionine synthetases catalyze highly selective anti additions in which the substrate (and not the enzyme) determines whether the addition occurs from the Re or Si face. A single point mutation in the peptide substrate completely inverted the stereochemical outcome of the enzymatic modification. Quantum mechanical calculations reproduced the experimentally observed selectivity and suggest that conformational restraints imposed by the amino acid sequence on the transition states determine the face selectivity of the Michael-type cyclization. PMID:25515891

Morphological quantitative criteria and aesthetic evaluation of eight female Han face types.

PubMed

Zhao, Qiming; Zhou, Rongrong; Zhang, XuDong; Sun, Huafeng; Lu, Xin; Xia, Dongsheng; Song, Mingli; Liang, Yang

2013-04-01

Human facial aesthetics relies on the classification of facial features and standards of attractiveness. However, there are no widely accepted quantitative criteria for facial attractiveness, particularly for Chinese Han faces. Establishing quantitative standards of attractiveness for facial landmarks within facial types is important for planning outcomes in cosmetic plastic surgery. The aim of this study was to determine quantitatively the criteria for attractiveness of eight female Chinese Han facial types. A photographic database of young Chinese Han women's faces was created. Photographed faces (450) were classified based on eight established types and scored for attractiveness. Measurements taken at seven standard facial landmarks and their relative proportions were analyzed for correlations to attractiveness scores. Attractive faces of each type were averaged via an image-morphing algorithm to generate synthetic facial types. Results were compared with the neoclassical ideal and data for Caucasians. Morphological proportions corresponding to the highest attractiveness scores for Chinese Han women differed from the neoclassical ideal. In our population of young, normal, healthy Han women, high attractiveness ratings were given to those with greater temporal width and pogonion-gonion distance, and smaller bizygomatic and bigonial widths. As attractiveness scores increased, the ratio of the temporal to bizygomatic widths increased, and the ratio of the distance between the pogonion and gonion to the bizygomatic width also increased slightly. Among the facial types, the oval and inverted triangular were the most attractive. The neoclassical ideal of attractiveness does not apply to Han faces. However, the proportion of faces considered attractive in this population was similar to that of Caucasian populations. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Breaking Continuous Flash Suppression: A New Measure of Unconscious Processing during Interocular Suppression?

PubMed Central

Stein, Timo; Hebart, Martin N.; Sterzer, Philipp

2011-01-01

Until recently, it has been thought that under interocular suppression high-level visual processing is strongly inhibited if not abolished. With the development of continuous flash suppression (CFS), a variant of binocular rivalry, this notion has now been challenged by a number of reports showing that even high-level aspects of visual stimuli, such as familiarity, affect the time stimuli need to overcome CFS and emerge into awareness. In this “breaking continuous flash suppression” (b-CFS) paradigm, differential unconscious processing during suppression is inferred when (a) speeded detection responses to initially invisible stimuli differ, and (b) no comparable differences are found in non-rivalrous control conditions supposed to measure non-specific threshold differences between stimuli. The aim of the present study was to critically evaluate these assumptions. In six experiments we compared the detection of upright and inverted faces. We found that not only under CFS, but also in control conditions upright faces were detected faster and more accurately than inverted faces, although the effect was larger during CFS. However, reaction time (RT) distributions indicated critical differences between the CFS and the control condition. When RT distributions were matched, similar effect sizes were obtained in both conditions. Moreover, subjective ratings revealed that CFS and control conditions are not perceptually comparable. These findings cast doubt on the usefulness of non-rivalrous control conditions to rule out non-specific threshold differences as a cause of shorter detection latencies during CFS. Thus, at least in its present form, the b-CFS paradigm cannot provide unequivocal evidence for unconscious processing under interocular suppression. Nevertheless, our findings also demonstrate that the b-CFS paradigm can be fruitfully applied as a highly sensitive device to probe differences between stimuli in their potency to gain access to awareness. PMID:22194718

The impact of the stimulus features and task instructions on facial processing in social anxiety: an ERP investigation.

PubMed

Peschard, Virginie; Philippot, Pierre; Joassin, Frédéric; Rossignol, Mandy

2013-04-01

Social anxiety has been characterized by an attentional bias towards threatening faces. Electrophysiological studies have demonstrated modulations of cognitive processing from 100 ms after stimulus presentation. However, the impact of the stimulus features and task instructions on facial processing remains unclear. Event-related potentials were recorded while high and low socially anxious individuals performed an adapted Stroop paradigm that included a colour-naming task with non-emotional stimuli, an emotion-naming task (the explicit task) and a colour-naming task (the implicit task) on happy, angry and neutral faces. Whereas the impact of task factors was examined by contrasting an explicit and an implicit emotional task, the effects of perceptual changes on facial processing were explored by including upright and inverted faces. The findings showed an enhanced P1 in social anxiety during the three tasks, without a moderating effect of the type of task or stimulus. These results suggest a global modulation of attentional processing in performance situations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inverted follicular keratosis: dermoscopic and reflectance confocal microscopic features.

PubMed

Armengot-Carbo, M; Abrego, A; Gonzalez, T; Alarcon, I; Alos, L; Carrera, C; Malvehy, J; Puig, S

2013-01-01

Inverted follicular keratosis (IFK) is a rare benign tumor which usually appears as a firm papule on the face. The diagnosis is generally made by histopathology because the clinical appearance is difficult to differentiate from other lesions. Dermoscopic features of IFK have not been established to date. Herein we describe the dermoscopic findings of 4 cases of IFK. Radial peripheral hairpin vessels surrounded by a whitish halo arranged around a central white-yellowish amorphous area were observed in 3 cases, and glomerular vessels were present in the central area of one of them. The fourth case also presented a central white amorphous area but showed arborizing vessels. Reflectance confocal microscopy (available in 1 case) revealed a broadened honeycomb pattern, epidermal projections and hairpin and glomerular vessels. To our knowledge this is the first case series describing the dermoscopic features of inverted follicular keratosis and the first confocal microscopy description of this entity.

Abnormalities in the Visual Processing of Viewing Complex Visual Stimuli Amongst Individuals With Body Image Concern.

PubMed

Duncum, A J F; Atkins, K J; Beilharz, F L; Mundy, M E

2016-01-01

Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and clinically concerning body-image concern (BIC) appear to possess abnormalities in the way they perceive visual information in the form of a bias towards local visual processing. As inversion interrupts normal global processing, forcing individuals to process locally, an upright-inverted stimulus discrimination task was used to investigate this phenomenon. We examined whether individuals with nonclinical, yet high levels of BIC would show signs of this bias, in the form of reduced inversion effects (i.e., increased local processing). Furthermore, we assessed whether this bias appeared for general visual stimuli or specifically for appearance-related stimuli, such as faces and bodies. Participants with high-BIC (n = 25) and low-BIC (n = 30) performed a stimulus discrimination task with upright and inverted faces, scenes, objects, and bodies. Unexpectedly, the high-BIC group showed an increased inversion effect compared to the low-BIC group, indicating perceptual abnormalities may not be present as local processing biases, as originally thought. There was no significant difference in performance across stimulus types, signifying that any visual processing abnormalities may be general rather than appearance-based. This has important implications for whether visual processing abnormalities are predisposing factors for BDD or develop throughout the disorder.

On Response Bias in the Face Congruency Effect for Internal and External Features

PubMed Central

Meinhardt, Günter; Meinhardt-Injac, Bozana; Persike, Malte

2017-01-01

Some years ago Cheung et al. (2008) proposed the complete design (CD) for measuring the failure of selective attention in composite objects. Since the CD is a fully balanced design, analysis of response bias may reveal potential effects of the experimental manipulation, the stimulus material, and/or attributes of the observers. Here we used the CD to prove whether external features modulate perception of internal features with the context congruency paradigm (Nachson et al., 1995; Meinhardt-Injac et al., 2010) in a larger sample of N = 303 subjects. We found a large congruency effect (Cohen's d = 1.78), which was attenuated by face inversion (d = 1.32). The congruency relation also strongly modulated response bias. In incongruent trials the proportion of “different” responses was much larger than in congruent trials (d = 0.79), which was again attenuated by face inversion (d = 0.43). Because in incongruent trials the wholes formed by integrating external and internal features are always different, while in congruent trials same and different wholes occur with the same frequency, a congruency related bias effect is expected from holistic integration. Our results suggest two behavioral markers of holistic processing in the context congruency paradigm: a performance advantage in congruent compared to incongruent trials, and a tendency toward more “different” responses in incongruent, compared to congruent trials. Since the results for both markers differed only quantitatively in upright and inverted presentation, our findings indicate no change of the face processing mode by picture plane rotation. A potential transfer to the composite face paradigm is discussed. PMID:29089880

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faham, S.; Watanabe, A.; Besserer, G.M.

Membrane transporters that use energy stored in sodium gradients to drive nutrients into cells constitute a major class of proteins. We report the crystal structure of a member of the solute sodium symporters (SSS), the Vibrio parahaemolyticus sodium/galactose symporter (vSGLT). The -3.0 angstrom structure contains 14 transmembrane (TM) helices in an inward-facing conformation with a core structure of inverted repeats of 5 TM helices (TM2 to TM6 and TM7 to TM11). Galactose is bound in the center of the core, occluded from the outside solutions by hydrophobic residues. Surprisingly, the architecture of the core is similar to that of themore » leucine transporter (LeuT) from a different gene family. Modeling the outward-facing conformation based on the LeuT structure, in conjunction with biophysical data, provides insight into structural rearrangements for active transport.« less

Power processing and control requirements of dispersed solar thermal electric generation systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Das, R. L.

1980-01-01

Power Processing and Control requirements of Dispersed Receiver Solar Thermal Electric Generation Systems are presented. Kinematic Stirling Engines, Brayton Engines and Rankine Engines are considered as prime movers. Various types of generators are considered for ac and dc link generations. It is found that ac-ac Power Conversion is not suitable for implementation at this time. It is also found that ac-dc-ac Power Conversion with a large central inverter is more efficient than ac-dc-ac Power Conversion using small dispersed inverters. Ac-link solar thermal electric plants face potential stability and synchronization problems. Research and development efforts are needed in improving component performance characteristics and generation efficiency to make Solar Thermal Electric Generation economically attractive.

Inverting the Army Intelligence Pyramid

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-19

Intelligence for Counterinsurgency," Military Review 86, no. 5 (2006): 25. U.S. Army forces adapted well over the past nine years of the conflict and have...David H. Petraeus, "COMISAF’s Counterinsurgency Guidance,"(2010); Brian Burton and John Nagl, "Learning as We Go: The US Army Adapts to... adaptive and evolving enemies it faced by introducing the concept of “Every Soldier a Sensor.” With this concept, the Army sought to inculcate

An Introduction to the Inverted/Flipped Classroom Model in Education and Advanced Training in Medicine and in the Healthcare Professions.

PubMed

Tolks, Daniel; Schäfer, Christine; Raupach, Tobias; Kruse, Leona; Sarikas, Antonio; Gerhardt-Szép, Susanne; Kllauer, Gertrud; Lemos, Martin; Fischer, Martin R; Eichner, Barbara; Sostmann, Kai; Hege, Inga

2016-01-01

In describing the inverted classroom model (ICM), the following paper is meant to provide an introduction to the subject matter and to serve as a practical guide for those wishing to employ its methods in basic and advanced medical training and education. The ICM is a blended-learning method in which a self-directed learning phase (individual phase) precedes the classroom-instruction phase. During the online phase, factual knowledge is imparted that serves as a basis for the classroom phase. The classroom phase should subsequently be used to assimilate and implement the previously gained knowledge. In contrast, traditional course concepts impart factual knowledge in lectures, for example, or in other face-to-face teaching formats and are followed by the students' self-instruction in order to assimilate this knowledge. The goal of the ICM is the shift from passive learning to accelerated learning in order to foster learning at cognitively demanding levels such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The concurrent increase in production and use of screencasts and educational videos, the Open Educational Resources "movement" and the widespread use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) have contributed to the increased dissemination of the inverted-classroom method. The intention of the present paper is to provide an introduction to the subject matter and simultaneously to offer a short overview of important projects and research results in the field of medical education and other health professions. Furthermore, an outline is given of the advantages and disadvantages of the model as well as its potential benefit to the future of medical education and training.

An Introduction to the Inverted/Flipped Classroom Model in Education and Advanced Training in Medicine and in the Healthcare Professions

PubMed Central

Tolks, Daniel; Schäfer, Christine; Raupach, Tobias; Kruse, Leona; Sarikas, Antonio; Gerhardt-Szép, Susanne; Kllauer, Gertrud; Lemos, Martin; Fischer, Martin R.; Eichner, Barbara; Sostmann, Kai; Hege, Inga

2016-01-01

In describing the inverted classroom model (ICM), the following paper is meant to provide an introduction to the subject matter and to serve as a practical guide for those wishing to employ its methods in basic and advanced medical training and education. The ICM is a blended-learning method in which a self-directed learning phase (individual phase) precedes the classroom-instruction phase. During the online phase, factual knowledge is imparted that serves as a basis for the classroom phase. The classroom phase should subsequently be used to assimilate and implement the previously gained knowledge. In contrast, traditional course concepts impart factual knowledge in lectures, for example, or in other face-to-face teaching formats and are followed by the students’ self-instruction in order to assimilate this knowledge. The goal of the ICM is the shift from passive learning to accelerated learning in order to foster learning at cognitively demanding levels such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The concurrent increase in production and use of screencasts and educational videos, the Open Educational Resources “movement” and the widespread use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) have contributed to the increased dissemination of the inverted-classroom method. The intention of the present paper is to provide an introduction to the subject matter and simultaneously to offer a short overview of important projects and research results in the field of medical education and other health professions. Furthermore, an outline is given of the advantages and disadvantages of the model as well as its potential benefit to the future of medical education and training. PMID:27275511

Holistic processing of fingerprints by expert forensic examiners.

PubMed

Vogelsang, Macgregor D; Palmeri, Thomas J; Busey, Thomas A

2017-01-01

Holistic processing is often characterized as a process by which objects are perceived as a whole rather than a compilation of individual features. This mechanism may play an important role in the development of perceptual expertise because it allows for rapid integration across image regions. The present work explores whether holistic processing is present in latent fingerprint examiners, who compare fingerprints collected from crime scenes against a set of standards taken from a suspect. We adapted a composite task widely used in the face recognition and perceptual expertise literatures, in which participants were asked to match only a particular half of a fingerprint with a previous image while ignoring the other half. We tested both experts and novices, using both upright and inverted fingerprints. For upright fingerprints, we found weak evidence for holistic processing, but with no differences between experts and novices with respect to holistic processing. For inverted fingerprints, we found stronger evidence of holistic processing, with weak evidence for differences between experts and novices. These relatively weak holistic processing effects contrast with robust evidence for holistic processing with faces and with objects in other domains of perceptual expertise. The data constrain models of holistic processing by demonstrating that latent fingerprint experts and novices may not substantively differ in terms of the amount of holistic processing and that inverted stimuli actually produced more evidence for holistic processing than upright stimuli. Important differences between the present fingerprint stimuli and those in the literature include the lack of verbal labels for experts and the absence of strong vertical asymmetries, both of which might contribute to stronger holistic processing signatures in other stimulus domains.

Long-Range Reduced Predictive Information Transfers of Autistic Youths in EEG Sensor-Space During Face Processing.

PubMed

Khadem, Ali; Hossein-Zadeh, Gholam-Ali; Khorrami, Anahita

2016-03-01

The majority of previous functional/effective connectivity studies conducted on the autistic patients converged to the underconnectivity theory of ASD: "long-range underconnectivity and sometimes short-rang overconnectivity". However, to the best of our knowledge the total (linear and nonlinear) predictive information transfers (PITs) of autistic patients have not been investigated yet. Also, EEG data have rarely been used for exploring the information processing deficits in autistic subjects. This study is aimed at comparing the total (linear and nonlinear) PITs of autistic and typically developing healthy youths during human face processing by using EEG data. The ERPs of 12 autistic youths and 19 age-matched healthy control (HC) subjects were recorded while they were watching upright and inverted human face images. The PITs among EEG channels were quantified using two measures separately: transfer entropy with self-prediction optimality (TESPO), and modified transfer entropy with self-prediction optimality (MTESPO). Afterwards, the directed differential connectivity graphs (dDCGs) were constructed to characterize the significant changes in the estimated PITs of autistic subjects compared with HC ones. By using both TESPO and MTESPO, long-range reduction of PITs of ASD group during face processing was revealed (particularly from frontal channels to right temporal channels). Also, it seemed the orientation of face images (upright or upside down) did not modulate the binary pattern of PIT-based dDCGs, significantly. Moreover, compared with TESPO, the results of MTESPO were more compatible with the underconnectivity theory of ASD in the sense that MTESPO showed no long-range increase in PIT. It is also noteworthy that to the best of our knowledge it is the first time that a version of MTE is applied for patients (here ASD) and it is also its first use for EEG data analysis.

Global Genetic Variations Predict Brain Response to Faces

PubMed Central

Dickie, Erin W.; Tahmasebi, Amir; French, Leon; Kovacevic, Natasa; Banaschewski, Tobias; Barker, Gareth J.; Bokde, Arun; Büchel, Christian; Conrod, Patricia; Flor, Herta; Garavan, Hugh; Gallinat, Juergen; Gowland, Penny; Heinz, Andreas; Ittermann, Bernd; Lawrence, Claire; Mann, Karl; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Nees, Frauke; Nichols, Thomas; Lathrop, Mark; Loth, Eva; Pausova, Zdenka; Rietschel, Marcela; Smolka, Michal N.; Ströhle, Andreas; Toro, Roberto; Schumann, Gunter; Paus, Tomáš

2014-01-01

Face expressions are a rich source of social signals. Here we estimated the proportion of phenotypic variance in the brain response to facial expressions explained by common genetic variance captured by ∼500,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Using genomic-relationship-matrix restricted maximum likelihood (GREML), we related this global genetic variance to that in the brain response to facial expressions, as assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a community-based sample of adolescents (n = 1,620). Brain response to facial expressions was measured in 25 regions constituting a face network, as defined previously. In 9 out of these 25 regions, common genetic variance explained a significant proportion of phenotypic variance (40–50%) in their response to ambiguous facial expressions; this was not the case for angry facial expressions. Across the network, the strength of the genotype-phenotype relationship varied as a function of the inter-individual variability in the number of functional connections possessed by a given region (R2 = 0.38, p<0.001). Furthermore, this variability showed an inverted U relationship with both the number of observed connections (R2 = 0.48, p<0.001) and the magnitude of brain response (R2 = 0.32, p<0.001). Thus, a significant proportion of the brain response to facial expressions is predicted by common genetic variance in a subset of regions constituting the face network. These regions show the highest inter-individual variability in the number of connections with other network nodes, suggesting that the genetic model captures variations across the adolescent brains in co-opting these regions into the face network. PMID:25122193

Optical chirality of achiral three-dimensional photonic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanov, Sergei G.

2017-04-01

Extrinsic optical chirality in a form of the asymmetric transmission of circularly polarized light at the oblique light incidence has been observed in three-dimensional opal photonic crystals assembled from monodisperse polymer spheres in the closely packed face-centered-cubic lattice. This effect has been assigned to the translation-rotation symmetry of the lattice. The cross-polarization conversion of the circularly polarized light and the related asymmetry of the transmission of the inverted circularly polarized light have been demonstrated.

Floating seal system for rotary devices

DOEpatents

Banasiuk, Hubert A.

1983-01-01

This invention relates to a floating seal system for rotary devices to reduce gas leakage around the rotary device in a duct and across the face of the rotary device to an adjacent duct. The peripheral seal bodies are made of resilient material having a generally U-shaped cross section wherein one of the legs is secured to a support member and the other of the legs forms a contacting seal against the rotary device. The legs of the peripheral seal form an extended angle of intersection of about 10.degree. to about 30.degree. in the unloaded condition to provide even sealing forces around the periphery of the rotary device. The peripheral seal extends around the periphery of the support member except where intersected by radial seals which reduce gas leakage across the face of the rotary device and between adjacent duct portions. The radial seal assembly is fabricated from channel bars, the smaller channel bar being secured to the divider of the support member and a larger inverted rigid floating channel bar having its legs freely movable over the legs of the smaller channel bar forming therewith a tubular channel. A resilient flexible tube is positioned within the tubular channel for substantially its full length to reduce gas leakage across the tubular channel. A spacer extends beyond the face of the floating channel near each end of the floating channel a distance to provide desired clearance between the floating channel and the face of the rotary device.

Floating seal system for rotary devices

DOEpatents

Banasiuk, H.A.

1983-08-23

This invention relates to a floating seal system for rotary devices to reduce gas leakage around the rotary device in a duct and across the face of the rotary device to an adjacent duct. The peripheral seal bodies are made of resilient material having a generally U-shaped cross section wherein one of the legs is secured to a support member and the other of the legs forms a contacting seal against the rotary device. The legs of the peripheral seal form an extended angle of intersection of about 10[degree] to about 30[degree] in the unloaded condition to provide even sealing forces around the periphery of the rotary device. The peripheral seal extends around the periphery of the support member except where intersected by radial seals which reduce gas leakage across the face of the rotary device and between adjacent duct portions. The radial seal assembly is fabricated from channel bars, the smaller channel bar being secured to the divider of the support member and a larger inverted rigid floating channel bar having its legs freely movable over the legs of the smaller channel bar forming therewith a tubular channel. A resilient flexible tube is positioned within the tubular channel for substantially its full length to reduce gas leakage across the tubular channel. A spacer extends beyond the face of the floating channel near each end of the floating channel a distance to provide desired clearance between the floating channel and the face of the rotary device. 5 figs.

Potential errors in optical density measurements due to scanning side in EBT and EBT2 Gafchromic film dosimetry.

PubMed

Desroches, Joannie; Bouchard, Hugo; Lacroix, Frédéric

2010-04-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect on the measured optical density of scanning on either side of a Gafchromic EBT and EBT2 film using an Epson (Epson Canada Ltd., Toronto, Ontario) 10000XL flat bed scanner. Calibration curves were constructed using EBT2 film scanned in landscape orientation in both reflection and transmission mode on an Epson 10000XL scanner. Calibration curves were also constructed using EBT film. Potential errors due to an optical density difference from scanning the film on either side ("face up" or "face down") were simulated. Scanning the film face up or face down on the scanner bed while keeping the film angular orientation constant affects the measured optical density when scanning in reflection mode. In contrast, no statistically significant effect was seen when scanning in transmission mode. This effect can significantly affect relative and absolute dose measurements. As an application example, the authors demonstrate potential errors of 17.8% by inverting the film scanning side on the gamma index for 3%-3 mm criteria on a head and neck intensity modulated radiotherapy plan, and errors in absolute dose measurements ranging from 10% to 35% between 2 and 5 Gy. Process consistency is the key to obtaining accurate and precise results in Gafchromic film dosimetry. When scanning in reflection mode, care must be taken to place the film consistently on the same side on the scanner bed.

The impact of inverted text on visual word processing: An fMRI study.

PubMed

Sussman, Bethany L; Reddigari, Samir; Newman, Sharlene D

2018-06-01

Visual word recognition has been studied for decades. One question that has received limited attention is how different text presentation orientations disrupt word recognition. By examining how word recognition processes may be disrupted by different text orientations it is hoped that new insights can be gained concerning the process. Here, we examined the impact of rotating and inverting text on the neural network responsible for visual word recognition focusing primarily on a region of the occipto-temporal cortex referred to as the visual word form area (VWFA). A lexical decision task was employed in which words and pseudowords were presented in one of three orientations (upright, rotated or inverted). The results demonstrate that inversion caused the greatest disruption of visual word recognition processes. Both rotated and inverted text elicited increased activation in spatial attention regions within the right parietal cortex. However, inverted text recruited phonological and articulatory processing regions within the left inferior frontal and left inferior parietal cortices. Finally, the VWFA was found to not behave similarly to the fusiform face area in that unusual text orientations resulted in increased activation and not decreased activation. It is hypothesized here that the VWFA activation is modulated by feedback from linguistic processes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the Perception of Religious Group Membership from Faces

PubMed Central

Rule, Nicholas O.; Garrett, James V.; Ambady, Nalini

2010-01-01

Background The study of social categorization has largely been confined to examining groups distinguished by perceptually obvious cues. Yet many ecologically important group distinctions are less clear, permitting insights into the general processes involved in person perception. Although religious group membership is thought to be perceptually ambiguous, folk beliefs suggest that Mormons and non-Mormons can be categorized from their appearance. We tested whether Mormons could be distinguished from non-Mormons and investigated the basis for this effect to gain insight to how subtle perceptual cues can support complex social categorizations. Methodology/Principal Findings Participants categorized Mormons' and non-Mormons' faces or facial features according to their group membership. Individuals could distinguish between the two groups significantly better than chance guessing from their full faces and faces without hair, with eyes and mouth covered, without outer face shape, and inverted 180°; but not from isolated features (i.e., eyes, nose, or mouth). Perceivers' estimations of their accuracy did not match their actual accuracy. Exploration of the remaining features showed that Mormons and non-Mormons significantly differed in perceived health and that these perceptions were related to perceptions of skin quality, as demonstrated in a structural equation model representing the contributions of skin color and skin texture. Other judgments related to health (facial attractiveness, facial symmetry, and structural aspects related to body weight) did not differ between the two groups. Perceptions of health were also responsible for differences in perceived spirituality, explaining folk hypotheses that Mormons are distinct because they appear more spiritual than non-Mormons. Conclusions/Significance Subtle markers of group membership can influence how others are perceived and categorized. Perceptions of health from non-obvious and minimal cues distinguished individuals according to their religious group membership. These data illustrate how the non-conscious detection of very subtle differences in others' appearances supports cognitively complex judgments such as social categorization. PMID:21151864

A fast multigrid-based electromagnetic eigensolver for curved metal boundaries on the Yee mesh

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bauer, Carl A., E-mail: carl.bauer@colorado.edu; Werner, Gregory R.; Cary, John R.

For embedded boundary electromagnetics using the Dey–Mittra (Dey and Mittra, 1997) [1] algorithm, a special grad–div matrix constructed in this work allows use of multigrid methods for efficient inversion of Maxwell’s curl–curl matrix. Efficient curl–curl inversions are demonstrated within a shift-and-invert Krylov-subspace eigensolver (open-sourced at ([ofortt]https://github.com/bauerca/maxwell[cfortt])) on the spherical cavity and the 9-cell TESLA superconducting accelerator cavity. The accuracy of the Dey–Mittra algorithm is also examined: frequencies converge with second-order error, and surface fields are found to converge with nearly second-order error. In agreement with previous work (Nieter et al., 2009) [2], neglecting some boundary-cut cell faces (as is requiredmore » in the time domain for numerical stability) reduces frequency convergence to first-order and surface-field convergence to zeroth-order (i.e. surface fields do not converge). Additionally and importantly, neglecting faces can reduce accuracy by an order of magnitude at low resolutions.« less

Performance modeling and valuation of snow-covered PV systems: examination of a simplified approach to decrease forecasting error.

PubMed

Bosman, Lisa B; Darling, Seth B

2018-06-01

The advent of modern solar energy technologies can improve the costs of energy consumption on a global, national, and regional level, ultimately spanning stakeholders from governmental entities to utility companies, corporations, and residential homeowners. For those stakeholders experiencing the four seasons, accurately accounting for snow-related energy losses is important for effectively predicting photovoltaic performance energy generation and valuation. This paper provides an examination of a new, simplified approach to decrease snow-related forecasting error, in comparison to current solar energy performance models. A new method is proposed to allow model designers, and ultimately users, the opportunity to better understand the return on investment for solar energy systems located in snowy environments. The new method is validated using two different sets of solar energy systems located near Green Bay, WI, USA: a 3.0-kW micro inverter system and a 13.2-kW central inverter system. Both systems were unobstructed, facing south, and set at a tilt of 26.56°. Data were collected beginning in May 2014 (micro inverter system) and October 2014 (central inverter system), through January 2018. In comparison to reference industry standard solar energy prediction applications (PVWatts and PVsyst), the new method results in lower mean absolute percent errors per kilowatt hour of 0.039 and 0.055%, respectively, for the micro inverter system and central inverter system. The statistical analysis provides support for incorporating this new method into freely available, online, up-to-date prediction applications, such as PVWatts and PVsyst.

Detecting and Categorizing Fleeting Emotions in Faces

PubMed Central

Sweeny, Timothy D.; Suzuki, Satoru; Grabowecky, Marcia; Paller, Ken A.

2013-01-01

Expressions of emotion are often brief, providing only fleeting images from which to base important social judgments. We sought to characterize the sensitivity and mechanisms of emotion detection and expression categorization when exposure to faces is very brief, and to determine whether these processes dissociate. Observers viewed 2 backward-masked facial expressions in quick succession, 1 neutral and the other emotional (happy, fearful, or angry), in a 2-interval forced-choice task. On each trial, observers attempted to detect the emotional expression (emotion detection) and to classify the expression (expression categorization). Above-chance emotion detection was possible with extremely brief exposures of 10 ms and was most accurate for happy expressions. We compared categorization among expressions using a d′ analysis, and found that categorization was usually above chance for angry versus happy and fearful versus happy, but consistently poor for fearful versus angry expressions. Fearful versus angry categorization was poor even when only negative emotions (fearful, angry, or disgusted) were used, suggesting that this categorization is poor independent of decision context. Inverting faces impaired angry versus happy categorization, but not emotion detection, suggesting that information from facial features is used differently for emotion detection and expression categorizations. Emotion detection often occurred without expression categorization, and expression categorization sometimes occurred without emotion detection. These results are consistent with the notion that emotion detection and expression categorization involve separate mechanisms. PMID:22866885

Method of fabricating a solar cell array

DOEpatents

Lazzery, Angelo G.; Crouthamel, Marvin S.; Coyle, Peter J.

1982-01-01

A first set of pre-tabbed solar cells are assembled in a predetermined array with at least part of each tab facing upward, each tab being fixed to a bonding pad on one cell and abutting a bonding pad on an adjacent cell. The cells are held in place with a first vacuum support. The array is then inverted onto a second vacuum support which holds the tabs firmly against the cell pads they abut. The cells are exposed to radiation to melt and reflow the solder pads for bonding the tab portions not already fixed to bonding pads to these pads.

The politics of the face-in-the-crowd.

PubMed

Mills, Mark; Smith, Kevin B; Hibbing, John R; Dodd, Michael D

2014-06-01

Recent work indicates that the more conservative one is, the faster one is to fixate on negative stimuli, whereas the less conservative one is, the faster one is to fixate on positive stimuli. The present series of experiments used the face-in-the-crowd paradigm to examine whether variability in the efficiency with which positive and negative stimuli are detected underlies such speed differences. Participants searched for a discrepant facial expression (happy or angry) amid a varying number of neutral distractors (Experiments 1 and 4). A combination of response time and eye movement analyses indicated that variability in search efficiency explained speed differences for happy expressions, whereas variability in post-selectional processes explained speed differences for angry expressions. These results appear to be emotionally mediated as search performance did not vary with political temperament when displays were inverted (Experiment 2) or when controlled processing was required for successful task performance (Experiment 3). Taken together, the present results suggest political temperament is at least partially instantiated by attentional biases for emotional material. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The underside of the cerebral cortex: layer V/VI spiny inverted neurons

PubMed Central

Mendizabal-Zubiaga, Juan L; Reblet, Concepcion; Bueno-Lopez, Jose L

2007-01-01

This paper presents an account of past and current research on spiny inverted neurons – alternatively also known as ‘inverted pyramidal neurons’– in rats, rabbits and cats. In our laboratory, we have studied these cells with a battery of techniques suited for light and electron microscopy, including Nissl staining, Golgi impregnation, dye intracellular filling and axon retrograde track-tracing. Our results show that spiny inverted neurons make up less than 8.5 and 5.5% of all cortical neurons in the primary and secondary rabbit visual cortex, respectively. Infragranular spiny inverted neurons constitute 15 and 8.5% of infragranular neurons in the same animal and areas. Spiny inverted neurons congregate at layers V–VI in all studied species. Studies have also revealed that spiny inverted neurons are excitatory neurons which furnish axons for various cortico-cortical, cortico-claustral and cortico-striatal projections, but not for non-telencephalic centres such as the lateral and medial geniculate nuclei, the colliculi or the pons. As a group, each subset of inverted cells contributing to a given projection is located below the pyramidal neurons whose axons furnish the same centre. Spiny inverted neurons are particularly conspicuous as a source of the backward cortico-cortical projection to primary visual cortex and from this to the claustrum. Indeed, they constitute up to 82% of the infragranular cells that furnish these projections. Spiny inverted neurons may be classified into three subtypes according to the point of origin of the axon on the cell: the somatic basal pole which faces the cortical outer surface, the somatic flank and the reverse apical dendrite. As seen with electron microscopy, the axon initial segments of these subtypes are distinct from one another, not only in length and thickness, but also in the number of received synaptic boutons. All of these anatomical features together may support a synaptic-input integration which is peculiar to spiny inverted neurons. In this way, two differently qualified streams of axonal output may coexist in a projection which arises from a particular infragranular point within a given cortical area; one stream would be furnished by the typical pyramidal neurons, whereas spiny inverted neurons would constitute the other source of distinct information flow. PMID:17635629

Apparatus for unloading nuclear fuel pellets from a sintering boat

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bucher, G.D.; Raymond, T.E.

1987-02-10

An apparatus is described for unloading nuclear fuel pellets from a loaded sintering boat having an open top, comprising: (a) means for receiving the boat in an upright position with the pellets contained therein, the boat receiving means including a platform for supporting the loaded boat in the upright position, the boat supporting platform having first and second portions; (b) means for clamping the boat including a pair of plates disposed at lateral sides of the boat and being movable in a first direction relative to one another for applying clamping forces to the boat on the platform and inmore » a second direction relative to one another for releasing the clamping forces from the boat. The pair of plates have inner surfaces facing toward one another, the first and second platform portions of the boat supporting platform being mounted to the plates on the respective facing surfaces thereof and disposed in a common plane. One of the plates and one of the platform portions mounted thereto are disposed in a stationary position and the other of the plates and the other of the platform portions mounted thereto are movable relative thereto in the first and second directions for applying and releasing clamping forces to and from the boat while the boat is supported in the upright position by the platform portions; (c) means for transferring the clamped boat from the upright position to an inverted position and then back to the upright position; and (d) means of receiving the pellets from the clamped boat as the boat is being transferred from the upright position to the inverted position.« less

Using false colors to protect visual privacy of sensitive content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ćiftçi, Serdar; Korshunov, Pavel; Akyüz, Ahmet O.; Ebrahimi, Touradj

2015-03-01

Many privacy protection tools have been proposed for preserving privacy. Tools for protection of visual privacy available today lack either all or some of the important properties that are expected from such tools. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a simple yet effective method for privacy protection based on false color visualization, which maps color palette of an image into a different color palette, possibly after a compressive point transformation of the original pixel data, distorting the details of the original image. This method does not require any prior face detection or other sensitive regions detection and, hence, unlike typical privacy protection methods, it is less sensitive to inaccurate computer vision algorithms. It is also secure as the look-up tables can be encrypted, reversible as table look-ups can be inverted, flexible as it is independent of format or encoding, adjustable as the final result can be computed by interpolating the false color image with the original using different degrees of interpolation, less distracting as it does not create visually unpleasant artifacts, and selective as it preserves better semantic structure of the input. Four different color scales and four different compression functions, one which the proposed method relies, are evaluated via objective (three face recognition algorithms) and subjective (50 human subjects in an online-based study) assessments using faces from FERET public dataset. The evaluations demonstrate that DEF and RBS color scales lead to the strongest privacy protection, while compression functions add little to the strength of privacy protection. Statistical analysis also shows that recognition algorithms and human subjects perceive the proposed protection similarly

Effect of Light Quality on Stomatal Opening in Leaves of Xanthium strumarium L.

PubMed

Sharkey, T D; Raschke, K

1981-11-01

Flux response curves were determined at 16 wavelengths of light for the conductance for water vapor of the lower epidermis of detached leaves of Xanthium strumarium L. An action spectrum of stomatal opening resulted in which blue light (wavelengths between 430 and 460 nanometers) was nearly ten times more effective than red light (wavelengths between 630 and 680 nanometers) in producing a conductance of 15 centimoles per square meter per second. Stomata responded only slightly to green light. An action spectrum of stomatal responses to red light corresponded to that of CO(2) assimilation; the inhibitors of photosynthetic electron transport, cyanazine (2-chloro-4[1-cyano-1-methylethylamino]-6-ethylamino-s-triazine) and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, eliminated the response to red light. This indicates that light absorption by chlorophyll is the cause of stomatal sensitivity to red light. Determination of flux response curves on leaves in the normal position (upper epidermis facing the light) or in the inverted position (lower epidermis facing the light) led to the conclusion that the photoreceptors for blue as well as for red light are located on or near the surfaces of the leaves; presumably they are in the guard cells themselves.

Structural basis for amino acid export by DMT superfamily transporter YddG.

PubMed

Tsuchiya, Hirotoshi; Doki, Shintaro; Takemoto, Mizuki; Ikuta, Tatsuya; Higuchi, Takashi; Fukui, Keita; Usuda, Yoshihiro; Tabuchi, Eri; Nagatoishi, Satoru; Tsumoto, Kouhei; Nishizawa, Tomohiro; Ito, Koichi; Dohmae, Naoshi; Ishitani, Ryuichiro; Nureki, Osamu

2016-06-16

The drug/metabolite transporter (DMT) superfamily is a large group of membrane transporters ubiquitously found in eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea, and includes exporters for a remarkably wide range of substrates, such as toxic compounds and metabolites. YddG is a bacterial DMT protein that expels aromatic amino acids and exogenous toxic compounds, thereby contributing to cellular homeostasis. Here we present structural and functional analyses of YddG. Using liposome-based analyses, we show that Escherichia coli and Starkeya novella YddG export various amino acids. The crystal structure of S. novella YddG at 2.4 Å resolution reveals a new membrane transporter topology, with ten transmembrane segments in an outward-facing state. The overall structure is basket-shaped, with a large substrate-binding cavity at the centre of the molecule, and is composed of inverted structural repeats related by two-fold pseudo-symmetry. On the basis of this intramolecular symmetry, we propose a structural model for the inward-facing state and a mechanism of the conformational change for substrate transport, which we confirmed by biochemical analyses. These findings provide a structural basis for the mechanism of transport of DMT superfamily proteins.

Panel workload assessment in US primary care: accounting for non-face-to-face panel management activities.

PubMed

Arndt, Brian; Tuan, Wen-Jan; White, Jennifer; Schumacher, Jessica

2014-01-01

An understanding of primary care provider (PCP) workload is an important consideration in establishing optimal PCP panel size. However, no widely acceptable measure of PCP workload exists that incorporates the effort involved with both non-face-to-face patient care activities and face-to-face encounters. Accounting for this gap is critical given the increase in non-face-to-face PCP activities that has accompanied electronic health records (EHRs) (eg, electronic messaging). Our goal was to provide a comprehensive assessment of perceived PCP workload, accounting for aspects of both face-to-face and non-face-to-face encounters. Internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatric PCPs completed a self-administered survey about the perceived workload involved with face-to-face and non-face-to-face panel management activities as well as the perceived challenge associated with caring for patients with particular biomedical, demographic, and psychosocial characteristics (n = 185). Survey results were combined with EHR data at the individual patient and PCP service levels to assess PCP panel workload, accounting for face-to-face and non-face-to-face utilization. Of the multiple face-to-face and non-face-to-face activities associated with routine primary care, PCPs considered hospital admissions, obstetric care, hospital discharges, and new patient preventive health visits to be greater workload than non-face-to-face activities such as telephone calls, electronic communication, generating letters, and medication refills. Total workload within PCP panels at the individual patient level varied by overall health status, and the total workload of non-face-to-face panel management activities associated with routine primary care was greater than the total workload associated with face-to-face encounters regardless of health status. We used PCP survey results coupled with EHR data to assess PCP workload associated with both face-to-face as well as non-face-to-face panel management activities in primary care. The non-face-to-face workload was an important contributor to overall PCP workload for all patients regardless of overall health status. This is an important consideration for PCP workload assessment given the changing nature of primary care that requires more non-face-to-face effort, resulting in an overall increase in PCP workload. © Copyright 2014 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Inverting dedevelopment: geometric singularity theory in embryology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bookstein, Fred L.; Smith, Bradley R.

2000-10-01

The diffeomorphism model so useful in the biomathematics of normal morphological variability and disease is inappropriate for applications in embryogenesis, where whole coordinate patches are created out of single points. For this application we need a suitable algebra for the creation of something from nothing in a carefully organized geometry: a formalism for parameterizing discrete nondifferentiabilities of invertible functions on Rk, k $GTR 1. One easy way to begin is via the inverse of the development map - call it the dedevelopment map, the deformation backwards in time. Extrapolated, this map will inevitably have singularities at which its derivative is zero. When the dedevelopment map is inverted to face forward in time, the singularities become appropriately isolated infinities of derivative. We have recently introduced growth visualizations via extrapolations to the isolated singularities at which only one directional derivative is zero. Maps inverse to these create new coordinate patches directionally rather than radically. The most generic singularity that suits this purpose is the crease f(x,y) equals (x,x2y+y3), which has already been applied in morphometrics for the description of focal morphogenetic phenomena. We apply it to embryogenesis in the form of its analytic inverse, and demonstrate its power using a priceless new data set of mouse embryos imaged in 3D by micro-MR with voxels smaller than 100micrometers 3.

Object Localization Does Not Imply Awareness of Object Category at the Break of Continuous Flash Suppression

PubMed Central

Kobylka, Florian; Persike, Malte; Meinhardt, Günter

2017-01-01

In continuous flash suppression (CFS), a dynamic noise masker, presented to one eye, suppresses conscious perception of a test stimulus, presented to the other eye, until the suppressed stimulus comes to awareness after few seconds. But what do we see breaking the dominance of the masker in the transition period? We addressed this question with a dual-task in which observers indicated (i) whether the test object was left or right of the fixation mark (localization) and (ii) whether it was a face or a house (categorization). As done recently Stein et al. (2011a), we used two experimental varieties to rule out confounds with decisional strategy. In the terminated mode, stimulus and masker were presented for distinct durations, and the observers were asked to give both judgments at the end of the trial. In the self-paced mode, presentation lasted until the observers responded. In the self-paced mode, b-CFS durations for object categorization were about half a second longer than for object localization. In the terminated mode, correct categorization rates were consistently lower than correct detection rates, measured at five duration intervals ranging up to 2 s. In both experiments we observed an upright face advantage compared to inverted faces and houses, as concurrently reported in b-CFS studies. Our findings reveal that more time is necessary to enable observers judging the nature of the object, compared to judging that there is “something other” than the noise which can be localized, but not recognized. This suggests gradual transitions in the first break of CFS. Further, the results imply that suppression is such that no cues to object identity are conveyed in potential “leaks” of CFS (Gelbard-Sagiv et al., 2016). PMID:28663728

How Well Do Computer-Generated Faces Tap Face Expertise?

PubMed

Crookes, Kate; Ewing, Louise; Gildenhuys, Ju-Dith; Kloth, Nadine; Hayward, William G; Oxner, Matt; Pond, Stephen; Rhodes, Gillian

2015-01-01

The use of computer-generated (CG) stimuli in face processing research is proliferating due to the ease with which faces can be generated, standardised and manipulated. However there has been surprisingly little research into whether CG faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces. The present study assessed how well CG faces tap face identity expertise by investigating whether two indicators of face expertise are reduced for CG faces when compared to face photographs. These indicators were accuracy for identification of own-race faces and the other-race effect (ORE)-the well-established finding that own-race faces are recognised more accurately than other-race faces. In Experiment 1 Caucasian and Asian participants completed a recognition memory task for own- and other-race real and CG faces. Overall accuracy for own-race faces was dramatically reduced for CG compared to real faces and the ORE was significantly and substantially attenuated for CG faces. Experiment 2 investigated perceptual discrimination for own- and other-race real and CG faces with Caucasian and Asian participants. Here again, accuracy for own-race faces was significantly reduced for CG compared to real faces. However the ORE was not affected by format. Together these results signal that CG faces of the type tested here do not fully tap face expertise. Technological advancement may, in the future, produce CG faces that are equivalent to real photographs. Until then caution is advised when interpreting results obtained using CG faces.

A regional composite-face effect for species-specific recognition: Upper and lower halves play different roles in holistic processing of monkey faces.

PubMed

Wang, Zhe; Quinn, Paul C; Jin, Haiyang; Sun, Yu-Hao P; Tanaka, James W; Pascalis, Olivier; Lee, Kang

2018-04-25

Using a composite-face paradigm, we examined the holistic processing induced by Asian faces, Caucasian faces, and monkey faces with human Asian participants in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to judge whether the upper halves of two faces successively presented were the same or different. A composite-face effect was found for Asian faces and Caucasian faces, but not for monkey faces. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to judge whether the lower halves of the two faces successively presented were the same or different. A composite-face effect was found for monkey faces as well as for Asian faces and Caucasian faces. Collectively, these results reveal that own-species (i.e., own-race and other-race) faces engage holistic processing in both upper and lower halves of the face, but other-species (i.e., monkey) faces engage holistic processing only when participants are asked to match the lower halves of the face. The findings are discussed in the context of a region-based holistic processing account for the species-specific effect in face recognition. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impressions of dominance are made relative to others in the visual environment.

PubMed

Re, Daniel E; Lefevre, Carmen E; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C; Perrett, David I

2014-03-27

Face judgments of dominance play an important role in human social interaction. Perceived facial dominance is thought to indicate physical formidability, as well as resource acquisition and holding potential. Dominance cues in the face affect perceptions of attractiveness, emotional state, and physical strength. Most experimental paradigms test perceptions of facial dominance in individual faces, or they use manipulated versions of the same face in a forced-choice task but in the absence of other faces. Here, we extend this work by assessing whether dominance ratings are absolute or are judged relative to other faces. We presented participants with faces to be rated for dominance (target faces), while also presenting a second face (non-target faces) that was not to be rated. We found that both the masculinity and sex of the non-target face affected dominance ratings of the target face. Masculinized non-target faces decreased the perceived dominance of a target face relative to a feminized non-target face, and displaying a male non-target face decreased perceived dominance of a target face more so than a female non-target face. Perceived dominance of male target faces was affected more by masculinization of male non-target faces than female non-target faces. These results indicate that dominance perceptions can be altered by surrounding faces, demonstrating that facial dominance is judged at least partly relative to other faces.

Newborn preference for a new face vs. a previously seen communicative or motionless face.

PubMed

Cecchini, Marco; Baroni, Eleonora; Di Vito, Cinzia; Piccolo, Federica; Lai, Carlo

2011-06-01

Newborn infants prefer to look at a new face compared to a known face (still-face). This effect does not happen with the mother-face. The newborns could be attracted by the mother-face because, unlike the still-face, it confirms an expectation of communication. Fifty newborns were video-recorded. Sixteen of them were recruited in the final sample: nine were exposed to a communicative face and seven to a still-face. All the 16 newborns were successively exposed to two preference-tasks where a new face was compared with the known face. Only newborns previously exposed to a still-face preferred to look at a new face instead of the known face. The results suggest that the newborns are able to build a dynamic representation of faces. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gaze cueing by pareidolia faces.

PubMed

Takahashi, Kohske; Watanabe, Katsumi

2013-01-01

Visual images that are not faces are sometimes perceived as faces (the pareidolia phenomenon). While the pareidolia phenomenon provides people with a strong impression that a face is present, it is unclear how deeply pareidolia faces are processed as faces. In the present study, we examined whether a shift in spatial attention would be produced by gaze cueing of face-like objects. A robust cueing effect was observed when the face-like objects were perceived as faces. The magnitude of the cueing effect was comparable between the face-like objects and a cartoon face. However, the cueing effect was eliminated when the observer did not perceive the objects as faces. These results demonstrated that pareidolia faces do more than give the impression of the presence of faces; indeed, they trigger an additional face-specific attentional process.

Gaze cueing by pareidolia faces

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Kohske; Watanabe, Katsumi

2013-01-01

Visual images that are not faces are sometimes perceived as faces (the pareidolia phenomenon). While the pareidolia phenomenon provides people with a strong impression that a face is present, it is unclear how deeply pareidolia faces are processed as faces. In the present study, we examined whether a shift in spatial attention would be produced by gaze cueing of face-like objects. A robust cueing effect was observed when the face-like objects were perceived as faces. The magnitude of the cueing effect was comparable between the face-like objects and a cartoon face. However, the cueing effect was eliminated when the observer did not perceive the objects as faces. These results demonstrated that pareidolia faces do more than give the impression of the presence of faces; indeed, they trigger an additional face-specific attentional process. PMID:25165505

Processing of configural and componential information in face-selective cortical areas.

PubMed

Zhao, Mintao; Cheung, Sing-Hang; Wong, Alan C-N; Rhodes, Gillian; Chan, Erich K S; Chan, Winnie W L; Hayward, William G

2014-01-01

We investigated how face-selective cortical areas process configural and componential face information and how race of faces may influence these processes. Participants saw blurred (preserving configural information), scrambled (preserving componential information), and whole faces during fMRI scan, and performed a post-scan face recognition task using blurred or scrambled faces. The fusiform face area (FFA) showed stronger activation to blurred than to scrambled faces, and equivalent responses to blurred and whole faces. The occipital face area (OFA) showed stronger activation to whole than to blurred faces, which elicited similar responses to scrambled faces. Therefore, the FFA may be more tuned to process configural than componential information, whereas the OFA similarly participates in perception of both. Differences in recognizing own- and other-race blurred faces were correlated with differences in FFA activation to those faces, suggesting that configural processing within the FFA may underlie the other-race effect in face recognition.

Is face distinctiveness gender based?

PubMed

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Gallay, Mathieu

2006-08-01

Two experiments were carried out to study the role of gender category in evaluations of face distinctiveness. In Experiment 1, participants had to evaluate the distinctiveness and the femininity-masculinity of real or artificial composite faces. The composite faces were created by blending either faces of the same gender (sexed composite faces, approximating the sexed prototypes) or faces of both genders (nonsexed composite faces, approximating the face prototype). The results show that the distinctiveness ratings decreased as the number of blended faces increased. Distinctiveness and gender ratings did not covary for real faces or sexed composite faces, but they did vary for nonsexed composite faces. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to state which of two composite faces, one sexed and one nonsexed, was more distinctive. Sexed composite faces were selected less often. The results are interpreted as indicating that distinctiveness is based on sexed prototypes. Implications for face recognition models are discussed. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural synchronization during face-to-face communication.

PubMed

Jiang, Jing; Dai, Bohan; Peng, Danling; Zhu, Chaozhe; Liu, Li; Lu, Chunming

2012-11-07

Although the human brain may have evolutionarily adapted to face-to-face communication, other modes of communication, e.g., telephone and e-mail, increasingly dominate our modern daily life. This study examined the neural difference between face-to-face communication and other types of communication by simultaneously measuring two brains using a hyperscanning approach. The results showed a significant increase in the neural synchronization in the left inferior frontal cortex during a face-to-face dialog between partners but none during a back-to-back dialog, a face-to-face monologue, or a back-to-back monologue. Moreover, the neural synchronization between partners during the face-to-face dialog resulted primarily from the direct interactions between the partners, including multimodal sensory information integration and turn-taking behavior. The communicating behavior during the face-to-face dialog could be predicted accurately based on the neural synchronization level. These results suggest that face-to-face communication, particularly dialog, has special neural features that other types of communication do not have and that the neural synchronization between partners may underlie successful face-to-face communication.

Gender-based prototype formation in face recognition.

PubMed

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Brochard, Renaud

2011-07-01

The role of gender categories in prototype formation during face recognition was investigated in 2 experiments. The participants were asked to learn individual faces and then to recognize them. During recognition, individual faces were mixed with faces, which were blended faces of same or different genders. The results of the 2 experiments showed that blended faces made with learned individual faces were recognized, even though they had never been seen before. In Experiment 1, this effect was stronger when faces belonged to the same gender category (same-sex blended faces), but it also emerged across gender categories (cross-sex blended faces). Experiment 2 further showed that this prototype effect was not affected by the presentation order for same-sex blended faces: The effect was equally strong when the faces were presented one after the other during learning or alternated with faces of the opposite gender. By contrast, the prototype effect across gender categories was highly sensitive to the temporal proximity of the faces blended into the blended faces and almost disappeared when other faces were intermixed. These results indicate that distinct neural populations code for female and male faces. However, the formation of a facial representation can also be mediated by both neural populations. The implications for face-space properties and face-encoding processes are discussed.

Successful decoding of famous faces in the fusiform face area.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

What are the neural mechanisms of face recognition? It is believed that the network of face-selective areas, which spans the occipital, temporal, and frontal cortices, is important in face recognition. A number of previous studies indeed reported that face identity could be discriminated based on patterns of multivoxel activity in the fusiform face area and the anterior temporal lobe. However, given the difficulty in localizing the face-selective area in the anterior temporal lobe, its role in face recognition is still unknown. Furthermore, previous studies limited their analysis to occipito-temporal regions without testing identity decoding in more anterior face-selective regions, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In the current high-resolution functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, we systematically examined the decoding of the identity of famous faces in the temporo-frontal network of face-selective and adjacent non-face-selective regions. A special focus has been put on the face-area in the anterior temporal lobe, which was reliably localized using an optimized scanning protocol. We found that face-identity could be discriminated above chance level only in the fusiform face area. Our results corroborate the role of the fusiform face area in face recognition. Future studies are needed to further explore the role of the more recently discovered anterior face-selective areas in face recognition.

"Just another pretty face": a multidimensional scaling approach to face attractiveness and variability.

PubMed

Potter, Timothy; Corneille, Olivier; Ruys, Kirsten I; Rhodes, Ginwan

2007-04-01

Findings on both attractiveness and memory for faces suggest that people should perceive more similarity among attractive than among unattractive faces. A multidimensional scaling approach was used to test this hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1, we derived a psychological face space from similarity ratings of attractive and unattractive Caucasian female faces. In Study 2, we derived a face space for attractive and unattractive male faces of Caucasians and non-Caucasians. Both studies confirm that attractive faces are indeed more tightly clustered than unattractive faces in people's psychological face spaces. These studies provide direct and original support for theoretical assumptions previously made in the face space and face memory literatures.

The Role of Familiarity for Representations in Norm-Based Face Space

PubMed Central

Faerber, Stella J.; Kaufmann, Jürgen M.; Leder, Helmut; Martin, Eva Maria; Schweinberger, Stefan R.

2016-01-01

According to the norm-based version of the multidimensional face space model (nMDFS, Valentine, 1991), any given face and its corresponding anti-face (which deviates from the norm in exactly opposite direction as the original face) should be equidistant to a hypothetical prototype face (norm), such that by definition face and anti-face should bear the same level of perceived typicality. However, it has been argued that familiarity affects perceived typicality and that representations of familiar faces are qualitatively different (e.g., more robust and image-independent) from those for unfamiliar faces. Here we investigated the role of face familiarity for rated typicality, using two frequently used operationalisations of typicality (deviation-based: DEV), and distinctiveness (face in the crowd: FITC) for faces of celebrities and their corresponding anti-faces. We further assessed attractiveness, likeability and trustworthiness ratings of the stimuli, which are potentially related to typicality. For unfamiliar faces and their corresponding anti-faces, in line with the predictions of the nMDFS, our results demonstrate comparable levels of perceived typicality (DEV). In contrast, familiar faces were perceived much less typical than their anti-faces. Furthermore, familiar faces were rated higher than their anti-faces in distinctiveness, attractiveness, likability and trustworthiness. These findings suggest that familiarity strongly affects the distribution of facial representations in norm-based face space. Overall, our study suggests (1) that familiarity needs to be considered in studies of mental representations of faces, and (2) that familiarity, general distance-to-norm and more specific vector directions in face space make different and interactive contributions to different types of facial evaluations. PMID:27168323

The Role of Familiarity for Representations in Norm-Based Face Space.

PubMed

Faerber, Stella J; Kaufmann, Jürgen M; Leder, Helmut; Martin, Eva Maria; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2016-01-01

According to the norm-based version of the multidimensional face space model (nMDFS, Valentine, 1991), any given face and its corresponding anti-face (which deviates from the norm in exactly opposite direction as the original face) should be equidistant to a hypothetical prototype face (norm), such that by definition face and anti-face should bear the same level of perceived typicality. However, it has been argued that familiarity affects perceived typicality and that representations of familiar faces are qualitatively different (e.g., more robust and image-independent) from those for unfamiliar faces. Here we investigated the role of face familiarity for rated typicality, using two frequently used operationalisations of typicality (deviation-based: DEV), and distinctiveness (face in the crowd: FITC) for faces of celebrities and their corresponding anti-faces. We further assessed attractiveness, likeability and trustworthiness ratings of the stimuli, which are potentially related to typicality. For unfamiliar faces and their corresponding anti-faces, in line with the predictions of the nMDFS, our results demonstrate comparable levels of perceived typicality (DEV). In contrast, familiar faces were perceived much less typical than their anti-faces. Furthermore, familiar faces were rated higher than their anti-faces in distinctiveness, attractiveness, likability and trustworthiness. These findings suggest that familiarity strongly affects the distribution of facial representations in norm-based face space. Overall, our study suggests (1) that familiarity needs to be considered in studies of mental representations of faces, and (2) that familiarity, general distance-to-norm and more specific vector directions in face space make different and interactive contributions to different types of facial evaluations.

Screen printed silver top electrode for efficient inverted organic solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Junwoo; Duraisamy, Navaneethan; Lee, Taik-Min

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Screen printing of silver pattern. • X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the face centered cubic structure of silver. • Uniform surface morphology of silver pattern with sheet resistance of 0.06 Ω/sq. • The power conversion efficiency of fabricated solar cell is found to be 2.58%. - Abstract: The present work is mainly focused on replacement of the vacuum process for top electrode fabrication in organic solar cells. Silver top electrode deposited through solution based screen printing on pre-deposited polymeric thin film. The solution based printing technology provides uniform top electrode without damaging the underlying organic layers. The surface crystallinitymore » and surface morphology of silver top electrode are examined through X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The purity of silver is examined through X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. The top electrode exhibits face centered cubic structure with homogeneous morphology. The sheet resistance of top electrode is found to be 0.06 Ω/sq and an average pattern thickness of ∼15 μm. The power conversion efficiency is 2.58%. Our work demonstrates that the solution based screen printing is a significant role in the replacement of vacuum process for the fabrication of top electrode in organic solar cells.« less

Do you see what I hear? Vantage point preference and visual dominance in a time-space synaesthete.

PubMed

Jarick, Michelle; Stewart, Mark T; Smilek, Daniel; Dixon, Michael J

2013-01-01

Time-space synaesthetes "see" time units organized in a spatial form. While the structure might be invariant for most synaesthetes, the perspective by which some view their calendar is somewhat flexible. One well-studied synaesthete L adopts different viewpoints for months seen vs. heard. Interestingly, L claims to prefer her auditory perspective, even though the month names are represented visually upside down. To verify this, we used a spatial-cueing task that included audiovisual month cues. These cues were either congruent with L's preferred "auditory" viewpoint (auditory-only and auditory + month inverted) or incongruent (upright visual-only and auditory + month upright). Our prediction was that L would show enhanced cueing effects (larger response time difference between valid and invalid targets) following the audiovisual congruent cues since both elicit the "preferred" auditory perspective. Also, when faced with conflicting cues, we predicted L would choose the preferred auditory perspective over the visual perspective. As we expected, L did show enhanced cueing effects following the audiovisual congruent cues that corresponded with her preferred auditory perspective, but that the visual perspective dominated when L was faced with both viewpoints simultaneously. The results are discussed with relation to the reification hypothesis of sequence space synaesthesia (Eagleman, 2009).

Do you see what I hear? Vantage point preference and visual dominance in a time-space synaesthete

PubMed Central

Jarick, Michelle; Stewart, Mark T.; Smilek, Daniel; Dixon, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Time-space synaesthetes “see” time units organized in a spatial form. While the structure might be invariant for most synaesthetes, the perspective by which some view their calendar is somewhat flexible. One well-studied synaesthete L adopts different viewpoints for months seen vs. heard. Interestingly, L claims to prefer her auditory perspective, even though the month names are represented visually upside down. To verify this, we used a spatial-cueing task that included audiovisual month cues. These cues were either congruent with L's preferred “auditory” viewpoint (auditory-only and auditory + month inverted) or incongruent (upright visual-only and auditory + month upright). Our prediction was that L would show enhanced cueing effects (larger response time difference between valid and invalid targets) following the audiovisual congruent cues since both elicit the “preferred” auditory perspective. Also, when faced with conflicting cues, we predicted L would choose the preferred auditory perspective over the visual perspective. As we expected, L did show enhanced cueing effects following the audiovisual congruent cues that corresponded with her preferred auditory perspective, but that the visual perspective dominated when L was faced with both viewpoints simultaneously. The results are discussed with relation to the reification hypothesis of sequence space synaesthesia (Eagleman, 2009). PMID:24137140

Effect of Light Quality on Stomatal Opening in Leaves of Xanthium strumarium L. 1

PubMed Central

Sharkey, Thomas D.; Raschke, Klaus

1981-01-01

Flux response curves were determined at 16 wavelengths of light for the conductance for water vapor of the lower epidermis of detached leaves of Xanthium strumarium L. An action spectrum of stomatal opening resulted in which blue light (wavelengths between 430 and 460 nanometers) was nearly ten times more effective than red light (wavelengths between 630 and 680 nanometers) in producing a conductance of 15 centimoles per square meter per second. Stomata responded only slightly to green light. An action spectrum of stomatal responses to red light corresponded to that of CO2 assimilation; the inhibitors of photosynthetic electron transport, cyanazine (2-chloro-4[1-cyano-1-methylethylamino]-6-ethylamino-s-triazine) and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, eliminated the response to red light. This indicates that light absorption by chlorophyll is the cause of stomatal sensitivity to red light. Determination of flux response curves on leaves in the normal position (upper epidermis facing the light) or in the inverted position (lower epidermis facing the light) led to the conclusion that the photoreceptors for blue as well as for red light are located on or near the surfaces of the leaves; presumably they are in the guard cells themselves. PMID:16662069

Visual scanning and recognition of Chinese, Caucasian, and racially ambiguous faces: Contributions from bottom-up facial physiognomic information and top-down knowledge of racial categories

PubMed Central

Wang, Qiandong; Xiao, Naiqi G.; Quinn, Paul C.; Hu, Chao S.; Qian, Miao; Fu, Genyue; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

Recent studies have shown that participants use different eye movement strategies when scanning own- and other-race faces. However, it is unclear (1) whether this effect is related to face recognition performance, and (2) to what extent this effect is influenced by top-down or bottom-up facial information. In the present study, Chinese participants performed a face recognition task with Chinese faces, Caucasian faces, and racially ambiguous morphed face stimuli. For the racially ambiguous faces, we led participants to believe that they were viewing either own-race Chinese faces or other-race Caucasian faces. Results showed that (1) Chinese participants scanned the nose of the true Chinese faces more than that of the true Caucasian faces, whereas they scanned the eyes of the Caucasian faces more than those of the Chinese faces; (2) they scanned the eyes, nose, and mouth equally for the ambiguous faces in the Chinese condition compared with those in the Caucasian condition; (3) when recognizing the true Chinese target faces, but not the true target Caucasian faces, the greater the fixation proportion on the nose, the faster the participants correctly recognized these faces. The same was true when racially ambiguous face stimuli were thought to be Chinese faces. These results provide the first evidence to show that (1) visual scanning patterns of faces are related to own-race face recognition response time, and (2) it is bottom-up facial physiognomic information of racial categories that mainly contributes to face scanning. However, top-down knowledge of racial categories can influence the relationship between face scanning patterns and recognition response time. PMID:25497461

Face-to-face: Perceived personal relevance amplifies face processing

PubMed Central

Pittig, Andre; Schupp, Harald T.; Alpers, Georg W.

2017-01-01

Abstract The human face conveys emotional and social information, but it is not well understood how these two aspects influence face perception. In order to model a group situation, two faces displaying happy, neutral or angry expressions were presented. Importantly, faces were either facing the observer, or they were presented in profile view directed towards, or looking away from each other. In Experiment 1 (n = 64), face pairs were rated regarding perceived relevance, wish-to-interact, and displayed interactivity, as well as valence and arousal. All variables revealed main effects of facial expression (emotional > neutral), face orientation (facing observer > towards > away) and interactions showed that evaluation of emotional faces strongly varies with their orientation. Experiment 2 (n = 33) examined the temporal dynamics of perceptual-attentional processing of these face constellations with event-related potentials. Processing of emotional and neutral faces differed significantly in N170 amplitudes, early posterior negativity (EPN), and sustained positive potentials. Importantly, selective emotional face processing varied as a function of face orientation, indicating early emotion-specific (N170, EPN) and late threat-specific effects (LPP, sustained positivity). Taken together, perceived personal relevance to the observer—conveyed by facial expression and face direction—amplifies emotional face processing within triadic group situations. PMID:28158672

Artificial faces are harder to remember

PubMed Central

Balas, Benjamin; Pacella, Jonathan

2015-01-01

Observers interact with artificial faces in a range of different settings and in many cases must remember and identify computer-generated faces. In general, however, most adults have heavily biased experience favoring real faces over synthetic faces. It is well known that face recognition abilities are affected by experience such that faces belonging to “out-groups” defined by race or age are more poorly remembered and harder to discriminate from one another than faces belonging to the “in-group.” Here, we examine the extent to which artificial faces form an “out-group” in this sense when other perceptual categories are matched. We rendered synthetic faces using photographs of real human faces and compared performance in a memory task and a discrimination task across real and artificial versions of the same faces. We found that real faces were easier to remember, but only slightly more discriminable than artificial faces. Artificial faces were also equally susceptible to the well-known face inversion effect, suggesting that while these patterns are still processed by the human visual system in a face-like manner, artificial appearance does compromise the efficiency of face processing. PMID:26195852

Development of Neural Sensitivity to Face Identity Correlates with Perceptual Discriminability

PubMed Central

Barnett, Michael A.; Hartley, Jake; Gomez, Jesse; Stigliani, Anthony; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2016-01-01

Face perception is subserved by a series of face-selective regions in the human ventral stream, which undergo prolonged development from childhood to adulthood. However, it is unknown how neural development of these regions relates to the development of face-perception abilities. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses of ventral occipitotemporal regions in children (ages, 5–12 years) and adults (ages, 19–34 years) when they viewed faces that parametrically varied in dissimilarity. Since similar faces generate lower responses than dissimilar faces due to fMRI adaptation, this design objectively evaluates neural sensitivity to face identity across development. Additionally, a subset of subjects participated in a behavioral experiment to assess perceptual discriminability of face identity. Our data reveal three main findings: (1) neural sensitivity to face identity increases with age in face-selective but not object-selective regions; (2) the amplitude of responses to faces increases with age in both face-selective and object-selective regions; and (3) perceptual discriminability of face identity is correlated with the neural sensitivity to face identity of face-selective regions. In contrast, perceptual discriminability is not correlated with the amplitude of response in face-selective regions or of responses of object-selective regions. These data suggest that developmental increases in neural sensitivity to face identity in face-selective regions improve perceptual discriminability of faces. Our findings significantly advance the understanding of the neural mechanisms of development of face perception and open new avenues for using fMRI adaptation to study the neural development of high-level visual and cognitive functions more broadly. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Face perception, which is critical for daily social interactions, develops from childhood to adulthood. However, it is unknown what developmental changes in the brain lead to improved performance. Using fMRI in children and adults, we find that from childhood to adulthood, neural sensitivity to changes in face identity increases in face-selective regions. Critically, subjects' perceptual discriminability among faces is linked to neural sensitivity: participants with higher neural sensitivity in face-selective regions demonstrate higher perceptual discriminability. Thus, our results suggest that developmental increases in face-selective regions' sensitivity to face identity improve perceptual discrimination of faces. These findings significantly advance understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the development of face perception and have important implications for assessing both typical and atypical development. PMID:27798143

Successful Decoding of Famous Faces in the Fusiform Face Area

PubMed Central

Axelrod, Vadim; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

What are the neural mechanisms of face recognition? It is believed that the network of face-selective areas, which spans the occipital, temporal, and frontal cortices, is important in face recognition. A number of previous studies indeed reported that face identity could be discriminated based on patterns of multivoxel activity in the fusiform face area and the anterior temporal lobe. However, given the difficulty in localizing the face-selective area in the anterior temporal lobe, its role in face recognition is still unknown. Furthermore, previous studies limited their analysis to occipito-temporal regions without testing identity decoding in more anterior face-selective regions, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. In the current high-resolution functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, we systematically examined the decoding of the identity of famous faces in the temporo-frontal network of face-selective and adjacent non-face-selective regions. A special focus has been put on the face-area in the anterior temporal lobe, which was reliably localized using an optimized scanning protocol. We found that face-identity could be discriminated above chance level only in the fusiform face area. Our results corroborate the role of the fusiform face area in face recognition. Future studies are needed to further explore the role of the more recently discovered anterior face-selective areas in face recognition. PMID:25714434

Face-Likeness and Image Variability Drive Responses in Human Face-Selective Ventral Regions

PubMed Central

Davidenko, Nicolas; Remus, David A.; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2012-01-01

The human ventral visual stream contains regions that respond selectively to faces over objects. However, it is unknown whether responses in these regions correlate with how face-like stimuli appear. Here, we use parameterized face silhouettes to manipulate the perceived face-likeness of stimuli and measure responses in face- and object-selective ventral regions with high-resolution fMRI. We first use “concentric hyper-sphere” (CH) sampling to define face silhouettes at different distances from the prototype face. Observers rate the stimuli as progressively more face-like the closer they are to the prototype face. Paradoxically, responses in both face- and object-selective regions decrease as face-likeness ratings increase. Because CH sampling produces blocks of stimuli whose variability is negatively correlated with face-likeness, this effect may be driven by more adaptation during high face-likeness (low-variability) blocks than during low face-likeness (high-variability) blocks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring responses to matched-variability (MV) blocks of stimuli with similar face-likeness ratings as with CH sampling. Critically, under MV sampling, we find a face-specific effect: responses in face-selective regions gradually increase with perceived face-likeness, but responses in object-selective regions are unchanged. Our studies provide novel evidence that face-selective responses correlate with the perceived face-likeness of stimuli, but this effect is revealed only when image variability is controlled across conditions. Finally, our data show that variability is a powerful factor that drives responses across the ventral stream. This indicates that controlling variability across conditions should be a critical tool in future neuroimaging studies of face and object representation. PMID:21823208

A causal relationship between face-patch activity and face-detection behavior.

PubMed

Sadagopan, Srivatsun; Zarco, Wilbert; Freiwald, Winrich A

2017-04-04

The primate brain contains distinct areas densely populated by face-selective neurons. One of these, face-patch ML, contains neurons selective for contrast relationships between face parts. Such contrast-relationships can serve as powerful heuristics for face detection. However, it is unknown whether neurons with such selectivity actually support face-detection behavior. Here, we devised a naturalistic face-detection task and combined it with fMRI-guided pharmacological inactivation of ML to test whether ML is of critical importance for real-world face detection. We found that inactivation of ML impairs face detection. The effect was anatomically specific, as inactivation of areas outside ML did not affect face detection, and it was categorically specific, as inactivation of ML impaired face detection while sparing body and object detection. These results establish that ML function is crucial for detection of faces in natural scenes, performing a critical first step on which other face processing operations can build.

Visual adaptation of the perception of "life": animacy is a basic perceptual dimension of faces.

PubMed

Koldewyn, Kami; Hanus, Patricia; Balas, Benjamin

2014-08-01

One critical component of understanding another's mind is the perception of "life" in a face. However, little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this perception of animacy. Here, using a visual adaptation paradigm, we ask whether face animacy is (1) a basic dimension of face perception and (2) supported by a common neural mechanism across distinct face categories defined by age and species. Observers rated the perceived animacy of adult human faces before and after adaptation to (1) adult faces, (2) child faces, and (3) dog faces. When testing the perception of animacy in human faces, we found significant adaptation to both adult and child faces, but not dog faces. We did, however, find significant adaptation when morphed dog images and dog adaptors were used. Thus, animacy perception in faces appears to be a basic dimension of face perception that is species specific but not constrained by age categories.

Crossing the “Uncanny Valley”: adaptation to cartoon faces can influence perception of human faces

PubMed Central

Chen, Haiwen; Russell, Richard; Nakayama, Ken; Livingstone, Margaret

2013-01-01

Adaptation can shift what individuals identify to be a prototypical or attractive face. Past work suggests that low-level shape adaptation can affect high-level face processing but is position dependent. Adaptation to distorted images of faces can also affect face processing but only within sub-categories of faces, such as gender, age, and race/ethnicity. This study assesses whether there is a representation of face that is specific to faces (as opposed to all shapes) but general to all kinds of faces (as opposed to subcategories) by testing whether adaptation to one type of face can affect perception of another. Participants were shown cartoon videos containing faces with abnormally large eyes. Using animated videos allowed us to simulate naturalistic exposure and avoid positional shape adaptation. Results suggest that adaptation to cartoon faces with large eyes shifts preferences for human faces toward larger eyes, supporting the existence of general face representations. PMID:20465173

Face-space: A unifying concept in face recognition research.

PubMed

Valentine, Tim; Lewis, Michael B; Hills, Peter J

2016-10-01

The concept of a multidimensional psychological space, in which faces can be represented according to their perceived properties, is fundamental to the modern theorist in face processing. Yet the idea was not clearly expressed until 1991. The background that led to the development of face-space is explained, and its continuing influence on theories of face processing is discussed. Research that has explored the properties of the face-space and sought to understand caricature, including facial adaptation paradigms, is reviewed. Face-space as a theoretical framework for understanding the effect of ethnicity and the development of face recognition is evaluated. Finally, two applications of face-space in the forensic setting are discussed. From initially being presented as a model to explain distinctiveness, inversion, and the effect of ethnicity, face-space has become a central pillar in many aspects of face processing. It is currently being developed to help us understand adaptation effects with faces. While being in principle a simple concept, face-space has shaped, and continues to shape, our understanding of face perception.

Two areas for familiar face recognition in the primate brain.

PubMed

Landi, Sofia M; Freiwald, Winrich A

2017-08-11

Familiarity alters face recognition: Familiar faces are recognized more accurately than unfamiliar ones and under difficult viewing conditions when unfamiliar face recognition fails. The neural basis for this fundamental difference remains unknown. Using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that personally familiar faces engage the macaque face-processing network more than unfamiliar faces. Familiar faces also recruited two hitherto unknown face areas at anatomically conserved locations within the perirhinal cortex and the temporal pole. These two areas, but not the core face-processing network, responded to familiar faces emerging from a blur with a characteristic nonlinear surge, akin to the abruptness of familiar face recognition. In contrast, responses to unfamiliar faces and objects remained linear. Thus, two temporal lobe areas extend the core face-processing network into a familiar face-recognition system. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Socially Important Faces Are Processed Preferentially to Other Familiar and Unfamiliar Faces in a Priming Task across a Range of Viewpoints

PubMed Central

Keyes, Helen; Zalicks, Catherine

2016-01-01

Using a priming paradigm, we investigate whether socially important faces are processed preferentially compared to other familiar and unfamiliar faces, and whether any such effects are affected by changes in viewpoint. Participants were primed with frontal images of personally familiar, famous or unfamiliar faces, and responded to target images of congruent or incongruent identity, presented in frontal, three quarter or profile views. We report that participants responded significantly faster to socially important faces (a friend’s face) compared to other highly familiar (famous) faces or unfamiliar faces. Crucially, responses to famous and unfamiliar faces did not differ. This suggests that, when presented in the context of a socially important stimulus, socially unimportant familiar faces (famous faces) are treated in a similar manner to unfamiliar faces. This effect was not tied to viewpoint, and priming did not affect socially important face processing differently to other faces. PMID:27219101

Protection of Renewable-dominated Microgrids: Challenges and Potential Solutions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elkhatib, Mohamed; Ellis, Abraham; Milan Biswal

keywords : Microgrid Protection, Impedance Relay, Signal Processing-based Fault Detec- tion, Networked Microgrids, Communication-Assisted Protection In this report we address the challenge of designing efficient protection system for inverter- dominated microgrids. These microgrids are characterised with limited fault current capacity as a result of current-limiting protection functions of inverters. Typically, inverters limit their fault contribution in sub-cycle time frame to as low as 1.1 per unit. As a result, overcurrent protection could fail completely to detect faults in inverter-dominated microgrids. As part of this project a detailed literature survey of existing and proposed microgrid protection schemes were conducted. The surveymore » concluded that there is a gap in the available microgrid protection methods. The only credible protection solution available in literature for low- fault inverter-dominated microgrids is the differential protection scheme which represents a robust transmission-grade protection solution but at a very high cost. Two non-overcurrent protection schemes were investigated as part of this project; impedance-based protection and transient-based protection. Impedance-based protection depends on monitoring impedance trajectories at feeder relays to detect faults. Two communication-based impedance-based protection schemes were developed. the first scheme utilizes directional elements and pilot signals to locate the fault. The second scheme depends on a Central Protection Unit that communicates with all feeder relays to locate the fault based on directional flags received from feeder relays. The later approach could potentially be adapted to protect networked microgrids and dynamic topology microgrids. Transient-based protection relies on analyzing high frequency transients to detect and locate faults. This approach is very promising but its implementation in the filed faces several challenges. For example, high frequency transients due to faults can be confused with transients due to other events such as capacitor switching. Additionally, while detecting faults by analyzing transients could be doable, locating faults based on analyzing transients is still an open question.« less

Protection of Renewable-dominated Microgrids: Challenges and Potential Solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elkhatib, Mohamed; Ellis, Abraham; Biswal, Milan

In this report we address the challenge of designing efficient protection system for inverter- dominated microgrids. These microgrids are characterised with limited fault current capacity as a result of current-limiting protection functions of inverters. Typically, inverters limit their fault contribution in sub-cycle time frame to as low as 1.1 per unit. As a result, overcurrent protection could fail completely to detect faults in inverter-dominated microgrids. As part of this project a detailed literature survey of existing and proposed microgrid protection schemes were conducted. The survey concluded that there is a gap in the available microgrid protection methods. The only crediblemore » protection solution available in literature for low- fault inverter-dominated microgrids is the differential protection scheme which represents a robust transmission-grade protection solution but at a very high cost. Two non-overcurrent protection schemes were investigated as part of this project; impedance-based protection and transient-based protection. Impedance-based protection depends on monitoring impedance trajectories at feeder relays to detect faults. Two communication-based impedance-based protection schemes were developed. the first scheme utilizes directional elements and pilot signals to locate the fault. The second scheme depends on a Central Protection Unit that communicates with all feeder relays to locate the fault based on directional flags received from feeder relays. The later approach could potentially be adapted to protect networked microgrids and dynamic topology microgrids. Transient-based protection relies on analyzing high frequency transients to detect and locate faults. This approach is very promising but its implementation in the filed faces several challenges. For example, high frequency transients due to faults can be confused with transients due to other events such as capacitor switching. Additionally, while detecting faults by analyzing transients could be doable, locating faults based on analyzing transients is still an open question.« less

The Online and Face-to-Face Counseling Attitudes Scales: A Validation Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rochlen, Aaron B.; Beretvas, S. Natasha; Zack, Jason S.

2004-01-01

This article reports on the development of measures of attitudes toward online and face-to-face counseling. Overall, participants expressed more favorable evaluations of face-to-face counseling than of online counseling. Significant correlations were found between online and face-to-face counseling with traditional help-seeking attitudes, comfort…

Face likeability mediates the memory-enhancing effect of face attractiveness in young but not older adults.

PubMed

Lin, Tian; Lendry, Reesa; Ebner, Natalie C

2016-11-01

Evidence of effects of face attractiveness on memory is mixed and little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Previous work suggests a possible mediating role of affective responding to faces (i.e., face likeability) on the relationship between face attractiveness and memory. Age-related change in social motivation may reduce the relevance of face attractiveness in older adults, with downstream effects on memory. In the present study, 50 young and 51 older participants were presented with face-trait pairs. Faces varied in attractiveness. Participants then completed a face-trait associative recognition memory task and provided likeability ratings for each face. There was a memory-enhancing effect of face attractiveness in young (but not older) participants, which was partially mediated by face likeability. In addition, more attractive and less attractive (compared to moderately attractive) faces were more likely remembered by both young and older participants. This quadratic effect of face attractiveness on memory was not mediated by face likeability. Findings are discussed in the context of motivational influences on memory that vary with age.

Global 3ν oscillation analysis: Status of unknown parameters and future systematic challenges for ORCA and PINGU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capozzi, Francesco; Lisi, Eligio; Marrone, Antonio

2016-04-01

Within the standard 3ν oscillation framework, we illustrate the status of currently unknown oscillation parameters: the θ23 octant, the mass hierarchy (normal or inverted), and the possible CP-violating phase δ, as derived by a (preliminary) global analysis of oscillation data available in 2015. We then discuss some challenges that will be faced by future, high-statistics analyses of spectral data, starting with one-dimensional energy spectra in reactor experiments, and concluding with two-dimensional energy-angle spectra in large-volume atmospheric experiments. It is shown that systematic uncertainties in the spectral shapes can noticeably affect the prospective sensitivities to unknown oscillation parameters, in particular to the mass hierarchy.

Rotary target V-block

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mann, C. W. (Inventor)

1984-01-01

A device used in the optical alignment of machinery to maintain a measuring scale in the proper position for optical readings to be taken is described. The device consists of a block containing a notch in the shape of an inverted ""v'' and a rotatable plug positioned over the centerline of notch. The block is placed on the object to be aligned, the notch allows the block to be securely placed upon flat or curved surfaces. A weighted measuring scale is inserted through plug so that it contacts the object to be aligned. The scale and plug combination can be rotated so that the scale faces an optical aligning instrument. The instrument is then used in conjunction with the scale to measure the distance of the machinery from a reference plane.

The complex duration perception of emotional faces: effects of face direction.

PubMed

Kliegl, Katrin M; Limbrecht-Ecklundt, Kerstin; Dürr, Lea; Traue, Harald C; Huckauf, Anke

2015-01-01

The perceived duration of emotional face stimuli strongly depends on the expressed emotion. But, emotional faces also differ regarding a number of other features like gaze, face direction, or sex. Usually, these features have been controlled by only using pictures of female models with straight gaze and face direction. Doi and Shinohara (2009) reported that an overestimation of angry faces could only be found when the model's gaze was oriented toward the observer. We aimed at replicating this effect for face direction. Moreover, we explored the effect of face direction on the duration perception sad faces. Controlling for the sex of the face model and the participant, female and male participants rated the duration of neutral, angry, and sad face stimuli of both sexes photographed from different perspectives in a bisection task. In line with current findings, we report a significant overestimation of angry compared to neutral face stimuli that was modulated by face direction. Moreover, the perceived duration of sad face stimuli did not differ from that of neutral faces and was not influenced by face direction. Furthermore, we found that faces of the opposite sex appeared to last longer than those of the same sex. This outcome is discussed with regards to stimulus parameters like the induced arousal, social relevance, and an evolutionary context.

Self- or familiar-face recognition advantage? New insight using ambient images.

PubMed

Bortolon, Catherine; Lorieux, Siméon; Raffard, Stéphane

2018-06-01

Self-face recognition has been widely explored in the past few years. Nevertheless, the current literature relies on the use of standardized photographs which do not represent daily-life face recognition. Therefore, we aim for the first time to evaluate self-face processing in healthy individuals using natural/ambient images which contain variations in the environment and in the face itself. In total, 40 undergraduate and graduate students performed a forced delayed-matching task, including images of one's own face, friend, famous and unknown individuals. For both reaction time and accuracy, results showed that participants were faster and more accurate when matching different images of their own face compared to both famous and unfamiliar faces. Nevertheless, no significant differences were found between self-face and friend-face and between friend-face and famous-face. They were also faster and more accurate when matching friend and famous faces compared to unfamiliar faces. Our results suggest that faster and more accurate responses to self-face might be better explained by a familiarity effect - that is, (1) the result of frequent exposition to one's own image through mirror and photos, (2) a more robust mental representation of one's own face and (3) strong face recognition units as for other familiar faces.

Framing faces: Frame alignment impacts holistic face perception.

PubMed

Curby, Kim M; Entenman, Robert

2016-11-01

Traditional accounts of face perception emphasise the importance of the prototypical configuration of features within faces. However, here we probe influences of more general perceptual grouping mechanisms on holistic face perception. Participants made part-matching judgments about composite faces presented in intact external oval frames or frames made from misaligned oval parts. This manipulation served to disrupt basic perceptual grouping cues that facilitate the grouping of the two face halves together. This manipulation also produced an external face contour like that in the standard misaligned condition used within the classic composite face task. Notably, by introducing a discontinuity in the external contour, grouping of the face halves into a cohesive unit was discouraged, but face configuration was preserved. Conditions where both the face parts and the frames were misaligned together, as in the typical composite task paradigm, or where just the internal face parts where misaligned, were also included. Disrupting only the face frame similarly disrupted holistic face perception as disrupting both the frame and face configuration. However, misaligned face parts presented in aligned frames also incurred a cost to holistic perception. These findings provide support for the contribution of general-purpose perceptual grouping mechanisms to holistic face perception and are presented and discussed in the context of an enhanced object-based selection account of holistic perception.

Mapping attractor fields in face space: the atypicality bias in face recognition.

PubMed

Tanaka, J; Giles, M; Kremen, S; Simon, V

1998-09-01

A familiar face can be recognized across many changes in the stimulus input. In this research, the many-to-one mapping of face stimuli to a single face memory is referred to as a face memory's 'attractor field'. According to the attractor field approach, a face memory will be activated by any stimuli falling within the boundaries of its attractor field. It was predicted that by virtue of its location in a multi-dimensional face space, the attractor field of an atypical face will be larger than the attractor field of a typical face. To test this prediction, subjects make likeness judgments to morphed faces that contained a 50/50 contribution from an atypical and a typical parent face. The main result of four experiments was that the morph face was judged to bear a stronger resemblance to the atypical face parent than the typical face parent. The computational basis of the atypicality bias was demonstrated in a neural network simulation where morph inputs of atypical and typical representations elicited stronger activation of atypical output units than of typical output units. Together, the behavioral and simulation evidence supports the view that the attractor fields of atypical faces span over a broader region of face space that the attractor fields of typical faces.

Differential emotion attribution to neutral faces of own and other races.

PubMed

Hu, Chao S; Wang, Qiandong; Han, Tong; Weare, Ethan; Fu, Genyue

2017-02-01

Past research has demonstrated differential recognition of emotion on faces of different races. This paper reports the first study to explore differential emotion attribution to neutral faces of different races. Chinese and Caucasian adults viewed a series of Chinese and Caucasian neutral faces and judged their outward facial expression: neutral, positive, or negative. The results showed that both Chinese and Caucasian viewers perceived more Chinese faces than Caucasian faces as neutral. Nevertheless, Chinese viewers attributed positive emotion to Caucasian faces more than to Chinese faces, whereas Caucasian viewers attributed negative emotion to Caucasian faces more than to Chinese faces. Moreover, Chinese viewers attributed negative and neutral emotion to the faces of both races without significant difference in frequency, whereas Caucasian viewers mostly attributed neutral emotion to the faces. These differences between Chinese and Caucasian viewers may be due to differential visual experience, culture, racial stereotype, or expectation of the experiment. We also used eye tracking among the Chinese participants to explore the relationship between face-processing strategy and emotion attribution to neutral faces. The results showed that the interaction between emotion attribution and face race was significant on face-processing strategy, such as fixation proportion on eyes and saccade amplitude. Additionally, pupil size during processing Caucasian faces was larger than during processing Chinese faces.

Faces forming traces: neurophysiological correlates of learning naturally distinctive and caricatured faces.

PubMed

Schulz, Claudia; Kaufmann, Jürgen M; Kurt, Alexander; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2012-10-15

Distinctive faces are easier to learn and recognise than typical faces. We investigated effects of natural vs. artificial distinctiveness on performance and neural correlates of face learning. Spatial caricatures of initially non-distinctive faces were created such that their rated distinctiveness matched a set of naturally distinctive faces. During learning, we presented naturally distinctive, caricatured, and non-distinctive faces for later recognition among novel faces, using different images of the same identities at learning and test. For learned faces, an advantage in performance was observed for naturally distinctive and caricatured over non-distinctive faces, with larger benefits for naturally distinctive faces. Distinctive and caricatured faces elicited more negative occipitotemporal ERPs (P200, N250) and larger centroparietal positivity (LPC) during learning. At test, earliest distinctiveness effects were again seen in the P200. In line with recent research, N250 and LPC were larger for learned than for novel faces overall. Importantly, whereas left hemispheric N250 was increased for learned naturally distinctive faces, right hemispheric N250 responded particularly to caricatured novel faces. We conclude that natural distinctiveness induces benefits to face recognition beyond those induced by exaggeration of a face's idiosyncratic shape, and that the left hemisphere in particular may mediate recognition across different images. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Face-to-face: Perceived personal relevance amplifies face processing.

PubMed

Bublatzky, Florian; Pittig, Andre; Schupp, Harald T; Alpers, Georg W

2017-05-01

The human face conveys emotional and social information, but it is not well understood how these two aspects influence face perception. In order to model a group situation, two faces displaying happy, neutral or angry expressions were presented. Importantly, faces were either facing the observer, or they were presented in profile view directed towards, or looking away from each other. In Experiment 1 (n = 64), face pairs were rated regarding perceived relevance, wish-to-interact, and displayed interactivity, as well as valence and arousal. All variables revealed main effects of facial expression (emotional > neutral), face orientation (facing observer > towards > away) and interactions showed that evaluation of emotional faces strongly varies with their orientation. Experiment 2 (n = 33) examined the temporal dynamics of perceptual-attentional processing of these face constellations with event-related potentials. Processing of emotional and neutral faces differed significantly in N170 amplitudes, early posterior negativity (EPN), and sustained positive potentials. Importantly, selective emotional face processing varied as a function of face orientation, indicating early emotion-specific (N170, EPN) and late threat-specific effects (LPP, sustained positivity). Taken together, perceived personal relevance to the observer-conveyed by facial expression and face direction-amplifies emotional face processing within triadic group situations. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Looking at My Own Face: Visual Processing Strategies in Self–Other Face Recognition

PubMed Central

Chakraborty, Anya; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev

2018-01-01

We live in an age of ‘selfies.’ Yet, how we look at our own faces has seldom been systematically investigated. In this study we test if the visual processing of the highly familiar self-face is different from other faces, using psychophysics and eye-tracking. This paradigm also enabled us to test the association between the psychophysical properties of self-face representation and visual processing strategies involved in self-face recognition. Thirty-three adults performed a self-face recognition task from a series of self-other face morphs with simultaneous eye-tracking. Participants were found to look longer at the lower part of the face for self-face compared to other-face. Participants with a more distinct self-face representation, as indexed by a steeper slope of the psychometric response curve for self-face recognition, were found to look longer at upper part of the faces identified as ‘self’ vs. those identified as ‘other’. This result indicates that self-face representation can influence where we look when we process our own vs. others’ faces. We also investigated the association of autism-related traits with self-face processing metrics since autism has previously been associated with atypical self-processing. The study did not find any self-face specific association with autistic traits, suggesting that autism-related features may be related to self-processing in a domain specific manner. PMID:29487554

Development of Category Formation for Faces Differing by Age in 9- to 12-month-olds: An Effect of Experience with Infant Faces

PubMed Central

Damon, Fabrice; Quinn, Paul C.; Heron-Delaney, Michelle; Lee, Kang; Pascalis, Olivier

2016-01-01

We examined category formation for faces differing in age in 9- and 12-month-olds, and the influence of exposure to infant faces on such ability. Infants were familiarized with adult or infant faces, and then tested with a novel exemplar from the familiarized category paired with a novel exemplar from a novel category (Experiment 1). Both age groups formed discrete categories of adult and infant faces, but exposure to infant faces in everyday life did not modulate performance. The same task was conducted with child versus infant faces (Experiment 2). Whereas 9-month-olds preferred infant faces after familiarization with child faces, but not child faces after familiarization with infant faces, 12-month-olds formed discrete categories of child and infant faces. Moreover, more exposure to infant faces correlated with higher novel category preference scores when infants were familiarized with infant faces in 12-month-olds, but not 9-month-olds. The 9-month-old asymmetry did not reflect spontaneous preference for infant over child faces (Experiment 3). These findings indicate that 9- and 12-month-olds can form age-based categories of faces. The ability of 12-month-olds to form separate child and infant categories suggests that they have a more exclusive representation of face age, one that may be influenced by prior experience with infant faces. PMID:27393740

The neural basis of self-face recognition after self-concept threat and comparison with important others.

PubMed

Guan, Lili; Qi, Mingming; Zhang, Qinglin; Yang, Juan

2014-01-01

The implicit positive association (IPA) theory attributed self-face advantage to the IPA with self-concept. Previous behavioral study has found that self-concept threat (SCT) could eliminate the self-advantage in face recognition over familiar-face, without taking levels of facial familiarity into account. The current event-related potential study aimed to investigate whether SCT could eliminate the self-face advantage over stranger-face. Fifteen participants completed a "self-friend" comparison task in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and friend-face after SCT and non-self-concept threat (NSCT) priming, and a "self-stranger" comparison task was also completed in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and stranger-face after SCT and NSCT priming. The results showed that the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing friend-face than self-face after NSCT priming, but there was no significant difference between them after SCT priming. Moreover, the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing stranger-face than self-face both after SCT priming and after NSCT priming. Furthermore, SCT manipulated the N2 amplitudes of friend-face rather than self-face. Overall, the present study made a supplementary to the current IPA theory and further indicated that SCT would only eliminate this self-face recognition advantage when comparing with important others.

Seeing Jesus in toast: Neural and behavioral correlates of face pareidolia

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiangang; Li, Jun; Feng, Lu; Li, Ling; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

Face pareidolia is the illusory perception of non-existent faces. The present study, for the first time, contrasted behavioral and neural responses of face pareidolia with those of letter pareidolia to explore face-specific behavioral and neural responses during illusory face processing. Participants were shown pure-noise images but were led to believe that 50% of them contained either faces or letters; they reported seeing faces or letters illusorily 34% and 38% of the time, respectively. The right fusiform face area (rFFA) showed a specific response when participants “saw” faces as opposed to letters in the pure-noise images. Behavioral responses during face pareidolia produced a classification image that resembled a face, whereas those during letter pareidolia produced a classification image that was letter-like. Further, the extent to which such behavioral classification images resembled faces was directly related to the level of face-specific activations in the right FFA. This finding suggests that the right FFA plays a specific role not only in processing of real faces but also in illusory face perception, perhaps serving to facilitate the interaction between bottom-up information from the primary visual cortex and top-down signals from the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Whole brain analyses revealed a network specialized in face pareidolia, including both the frontal and occipito-temporal regions. Our findings suggest that human face processing has a strong top-down component whereby sensory input with even the slightest suggestion of a face can result in the interpretation of a face. PMID:24583223

Visual scanning and recognition of Chinese, Caucasian, and racially ambiguous faces: contributions from bottom-up facial physiognomic information and top-down knowledge of racial categories.

PubMed

Wang, Qiandong; Xiao, Naiqi G; Quinn, Paul C; Hu, Chao S; Qian, Miao; Fu, Genyue; Lee, Kang

2015-02-01

Recent studies have shown that participants use different eye movement strategies when scanning own- and other-race faces. However, it is unclear (1) whether this effect is related to face recognition performance, and (2) to what extent this effect is influenced by top-down or bottom-up facial information. In the present study, Chinese participants performed a face recognition task with Chinese, Caucasian, and racially ambiguous faces. For the racially ambiguous faces, we led participants to believe that they were viewing either own-race Chinese faces or other-race Caucasian faces. Results showed that (1) Chinese participants scanned the nose of the true Chinese faces more than that of the true Caucasian faces, whereas they scanned the eyes of the Caucasian faces more than those of the Chinese faces; (2) they scanned the eyes, nose, and mouth equally for the ambiguous faces in the Chinese condition compared with those in the Caucasian condition; (3) when recognizing the true Chinese target faces, but not the true target Caucasian faces, the greater the fixation proportion on the nose, the faster the participants correctly recognized these faces. The same was true when racially ambiguous face stimuli were thought to be Chinese faces. These results provide the first evidence to show that (1) visual scanning patterns of faces are related to own-race face recognition response time, and (2) it is bottom-up facial physiognomic information that mainly contributes to face scanning. However, top-down knowledge of racial categories can influence the relationship between face scanning patterns and recognition response time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facing Aggression: Cues Differ for Female versus Male Faces

PubMed Central

Geniole, Shawn N.; Keyes, Amanda E.; Mondloch, Catherine J.; Carré, Justin M.; McCormick, Cheryl M.

2012-01-01

The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F1,36 = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as “honest signals”. PMID:22276184

Facing aggression: cues differ for female versus male faces.

PubMed

Geniole, Shawn N; Keyes, Amanda E; Mondloch, Catherine J; Carré, Justin M; McCormick, Cheryl M

2012-01-01

The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F(1,36) = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as "honest signals".

Development of Neural Sensitivity to Face Identity Correlates with Perceptual Discriminability.

PubMed

Natu, Vaidehi S; Barnett, Michael A; Hartley, Jake; Gomez, Jesse; Stigliani, Anthony; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2016-10-19

Face perception is subserved by a series of face-selective regions in the human ventral stream, which undergo prolonged development from childhood to adulthood. However, it is unknown how neural development of these regions relates to the development of face-perception abilities. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses of ventral occipitotemporal regions in children (ages, 5-12 years) and adults (ages, 19-34 years) when they viewed faces that parametrically varied in dissimilarity. Since similar faces generate lower responses than dissimilar faces due to fMRI adaptation, this design objectively evaluates neural sensitivity to face identity across development. Additionally, a subset of subjects participated in a behavioral experiment to assess perceptual discriminability of face identity. Our data reveal three main findings: (1) neural sensitivity to face identity increases with age in face-selective but not object-selective regions; (2) the amplitude of responses to faces increases with age in both face-selective and object-selective regions; and (3) perceptual discriminability of face identity is correlated with the neural sensitivity to face identity of face-selective regions. In contrast, perceptual discriminability is not correlated with the amplitude of response in face-selective regions or of responses of object-selective regions. These data suggest that developmental increases in neural sensitivity to face identity in face-selective regions improve perceptual discriminability of faces. Our findings significantly advance the understanding of the neural mechanisms of development of face perception and open new avenues for using fMRI adaptation to study the neural development of high-level visual and cognitive functions more broadly. Face perception, which is critical for daily social interactions, develops from childhood to adulthood. However, it is unknown what developmental changes in the brain lead to improved performance. Using fMRI in children and adults, we find that from childhood to adulthood, neural sensitivity to changes in face identity increases in face-selective regions. Critically, subjects' perceptual discriminability among faces is linked to neural sensitivity: participants with higher neural sensitivity in face-selective regions demonstrate higher perceptual discriminability. Thus, our results suggest that developmental increases in face-selective regions' sensitivity to face identity improve perceptual discrimination of faces. These findings significantly advance understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the development of face perception and have important implications for assessing both typical and atypical development. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/3610893-15$15.00/0.

77 FR 8328 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-14

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods... Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee will be held Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 2 p.m...

20 CFR 416.624 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews..., unless we determine, within our discretion, that a new face-to-face interview is necessary. We base this...

20 CFR 404.2024 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews..., unless we determine, within our discretion, that a new face-to-face interview is necessary. We base this...

20 CFR 404.2024 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 404.2022(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 416.624 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 416.622(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 416.624 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 416.622(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 404.2024 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 404.2022(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 404.2024 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 404.2022(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 416.624 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 416.622(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

20 CFR 404.2024 - How do we investigate a representative payee applicant?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

..., we do the following: (1) Conduct a face-to-face interview with the payee applicant unless it is... the payee applicant is a creditor of the beneficiary (see § 404.2022(d)). (b) Subsequent face-to-face interviews. After holding a face-to-face interview with a payee applicant, subsequent face-to-face interviews...

Withholding response to self-face is faster than to other-face.

PubMed

Zhu, Min; Hu, Yinying; Tang, Xiaochen; Luo, Junlong; Gao, Xiangping

2015-01-01

Self-face advantage refers to adults' response to self-face is faster than that to other-face. A stop-signal task was used to explore how self-face advantage interacted with response inhibition. The results showed that reaction times of self-face were faster than that of other-face not in the go task but in the stop response trials. The novelty of the finding was that self-face has shorter stop-signal reaction time compared to other-face in the successful inhibition trials. These results indicated the processing mechanism of self-face may be characterized by a strong response tendency and a corresponding strong inhibition control.

Facebook and MySpace: complement or substitute for face-to-face interaction?

PubMed

Kujath, Carlyne L

2011-01-01

Previous studies have claimed that social-networking sites are used as a substitute for face-to-face interaction, resulting in deteriorating relationship quality and decreased intimacy among its users. The present study hypothesized that this type of communication is not a substitute for face-to-face interaction; rather, that it is an extension of communication with face-to-face partners. A survey was administered to examine the use of Facebook and MySpace in this regard among 183 college students. The study confirmed that Facebook and MySpace do act as an extension of face-to-face interaction, but that some users do tend to rely on Facebook and MySpace for interpersonal communication more than face-to-face interaction.

On the domain-specificity of the visual and non-visual face-selective regions.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim

2016-08-01

What happens in our brains when we see a face? The neural mechanisms of face processing - namely, the face-selective regions - have been extensively explored. Research has traditionally focused on visual cortex face-regions; more recently, the role of face-regions outside the visual cortex (i.e., non-visual-cortex face-regions) has been acknowledged as well. The major quest today is to reveal the functional role of each this region in face processing. To make progress in this direction, it is essential to understand the extent to which the face-regions, and particularly the non-visual-cortex face-regions, process only faces (i.e., face-specific, domain-specific processing) or rather are involved in a more domain-general cognitive processing. In the current functional MRI study, we systematically examined the activity of the whole face-network during face-unrelated reading task (i.e., written meaningful sentences with content unrelated to faces/people and non-words). We found that the non-visual-cortex (i.e., right lateral prefrontal cortex and posterior superior temporal sulcus), but not the visual cortex face-regions, responded significantly stronger to sentences than to non-words. In general, some degree of sentence selectivity was found in all non-visual-cortex cortex. Present result highlights the possibility that the processing in the non-visual-cortex face-selective regions might not be exclusively face-specific, but rather more or even fully domain-general. In this paper, we illustrate how the knowledge about domain-general processing in face-regions can help to advance our general understanding of face processing mechanisms. Our results therefore suggest that the problem of face processing should be approached in the broader scope of cognition in general. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Seeing Jesus in toast: neural and behavioral correlates of face pareidolia.

PubMed

Liu, Jiangang; Li, Jun; Feng, Lu; Li, Ling; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

2014-04-01

Face pareidolia is the illusory perception of non-existent faces. The present study, for the first time, contrasted behavioral and neural responses of face pareidolia with those of letter pareidolia to explore face-specific behavioral and neural responses during illusory face processing. Participants were shown pure-noise images but were led to believe that 50% of them contained either faces or letters; they reported seeing faces or letters illusorily 34% and 38% of the time, respectively. The right fusiform face area (rFFA) showed a specific response when participants "saw" faces as opposed to letters in the pure-noise images. Behavioral responses during face pareidolia produced a classification image (CI) that resembled a face, whereas those during letter pareidolia produced a CI that was letter-like. Further, the extent to which such behavioral CIs resembled faces was directly related to the level of face-specific activations in the rFFA. This finding suggests that the rFFA plays a specific role not only in processing of real faces but also in illusory face perception, perhaps serving to facilitate the interaction between bottom-up information from the primary visual cortex and top-down signals from the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Whole brain analyses revealed a network specialized in face pareidolia, including both the frontal and occipitotemporal regions. Our findings suggest that human face processing has a strong top-down component whereby sensory input with even the slightest suggestion of a face can result in the interpretation of a face. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attractiveness judgments and discrimination of mommies and grandmas: perceptual tuning for young adult faces.

PubMed

Short, Lindsey A; Mondloch, Catherine J; Hackland, Anne T

2015-01-01

Adults are more accurate in detecting deviations from normality in young adult faces than in older adult faces despite exhibiting comparable accuracy in discriminating both face ages. This deficit in judging the normality of older faces may be due to reliance on a face space optimized for the dimensions of young adult faces, perhaps because of early and continuous experience with young adult faces. Here we examined the emergence of this young adult face bias by testing 3- and 7-year-old children on a child-friendly version of the task used to test adults. In an attractiveness judgment task, children viewed young and older adult face pairs; each pair consisted of an unaltered face and a distorted face of the same identity. Children pointed to the prettiest face, which served as a measure of their sensitivity to the dimensions on which faces vary relative to a norm. To examine whether biases in the attractiveness task were specific to deficits in referencing a norm or extended to impaired discrimination, we tested children on a simultaneous match-to-sample task with the same stimuli. Both age groups were more accurate in judging the attractiveness of young faces relative to older faces; however, unlike adults, the young adult face bias extended to the match-to-sample task. These results suggest that by 3 years of age, children's perceptual system is more finely tuned for young adult faces than for older adult faces, which may support past findings of superior recognition for young adult faces. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Internal versus external features in triggering the brain waveforms for conjunction and feature faces in recognition.

PubMed

Nie, Aiqing; Jiang, Jingguo; Fu, Qiao

2014-08-20

Previous research has found that conjunction faces (whose internal features, e.g. eyes, nose, and mouth, and external features, e.g. hairstyle and ears, are from separate studied faces) and feature faces (partial features of these are studied) can produce higher false alarms than both old and new faces (i.e. those that are exactly the same as the studied faces and those that have not been previously presented) in recognition. The event-related potentials (ERPs) that relate to conjunction and feature faces at recognition, however, have not been described as yet; in addition, the contributions of different facial features toward ERPs have not been differentiated. To address these issues, the present study compared the ERPs elicited by old faces, conjunction faces (the internal and the external features were from two studied faces), old internal feature faces (whose internal features were studied), and old external feature faces (whose external features were studied) with those of new faces separately. The results showed that old faces not only elicited an early familiarity-related FN400, but a more anterior distributed late old/new effect that reflected recollection. Conjunction faces evoked similar late brain waveforms as old internal feature faces, but not to old external feature faces. These results suggest that, at recognition, old faces hold higher familiarity than compound faces in the profiles of ERPs and internal facial features are more crucial than external ones in triggering the brain waveforms that are characterized as reflecting the result of familiarity.

Is the N170 for faces cognitively penetrable? Evidence from repetition priming of Mooney faces of familiar and unfamiliar persons.

PubMed

Jemel, Boutheina; Pisani, Michèle; Calabria, Marco; Crommelinck, Marc; Bruyer, Raymond

2003-07-01

Impoverished images of faces, two-tone Mooney faces, severely impair the ability to recognize to whom the face pertains. However, previously seeing the corresponding face in a clear format helps fame-judgments to Mooney faces. In the present experiment, we sought to demonstrate that enhancement in the perceptual encoding of Mooney faces results from top-down effects, due to previous activation of familiar face representation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained for target Mooney images of familiar and unfamiliar faces preceded by clear pictures portraying either the same photo (same photo prime), or a different photo of the same person (different photo prime) or a new unfamiliar face (no-prime). In agreement with previous findings the use of primes was effective in enhancing the recognition of familiar faces in Mooney images; this priming effect was larger in the same than in different photo priming condition. ERP data revealed that the amplitude of the N170 face-sensitive component was smaller when elicited by familiar than by unfamiliar face targets, and for familiar face targets primed by the same than by different photos (a graded priming effect). Because the priming effect was restricted to familiar faces and occurred at the peak of the N170, we suggest that the early perceptual stage of face processing is likely to be penetrable by the top-down effect due to the activation of face representations within the face recognition system.

What’s in a Face? How Face Gender and Current Affect Influence Perceived Emotion

PubMed Central

Harris, Daniel A.; Hayes-Skelton, Sarah A.; Ciaramitaro, Vivian M.

2016-01-01

Faces drive our social interactions. A vast literature suggests an interaction between gender and emotional face perception, with studies using different methodologies demonstrating that the gender of a face can affect how emotions are processed. However, how different is our perception of affective male and female faces? Furthermore, how does our current affective state when viewing faces influence our perceptual biases? We presented participants with a series of faces morphed along an emotional continuum from happy to angry. Participants judged each face morph as either happy or angry. We determined each participant’s unique emotional ‘neutral’ point, defined as the face morph judged to be perceived equally happy and angry, separately for male and female faces. We also assessed how current state affect influenced these perceptual neutral points. Our results indicate that, for both male and female participants, the emotional neutral point for male faces is perceptually biased to be happier than for female faces. This bias suggests that more happiness is required to perceive a male face as emotionally neutral, i.e., we are biased to perceive a male face as more negative. Interestingly, we also find that perceptual biases in perceiving female faces are correlated with current mood, such that positive state affect correlates with perceiving female faces as happier, while we find no significant correlation between negative state affect and the perception of facial emotion. Furthermore, we find reaction time biases, with slower responses for angry male faces compared to angry female faces. PMID:27733839

On the facilitative effects of face motion on face recognition and its development

PubMed Central

Xiao, Naiqi G.; Perrotta, Steve; Quinn, Paul C.; Wang, Zhe; Sun, Yu-Hao P.; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

For the past century, researchers have extensively studied human face processing and its development. These studies have advanced our understanding of not only face processing, but also visual processing in general. However, most of what we know about face processing was investigated using static face images as stimuli. Therefore, an important question arises: to what extent does our understanding of static face processing generalize to face processing in real-life contexts in which faces are mostly moving? The present article addresses this question by examining recent studies on moving face processing to uncover the influence of facial movements on face processing and its development. First, we describe evidence on the facilitative effects of facial movements on face recognition and two related theoretical hypotheses: the supplementary information hypothesis and the representation enhancement hypothesis. We then highlight several recent studies suggesting that facial movements optimize face processing by activating specific face processing strategies that accommodate to task requirements. Lastly, we review the influence of facial movements on the development of face processing in the first year of life. We focus on infants' sensitivity to facial movements and explore the facilitative effects of facial movements on infants' face recognition performance. We conclude by outlining several future directions to investigate moving face processing and emphasize the importance of including dynamic aspects of facial information to further understand face processing in real-life contexts. PMID:25009517

Greater sensitivity of the cortical face processing system to perceptually-equated face detection

PubMed Central

Maher, S.; Ekstrom, T.; Tong, Y.; Nickerson, L.D.; Frederick, B.; Chen, Y.

2015-01-01

Face detection, the perceptual capacity to identify a visual stimulus as a face before probing deeper into specific attributes (such as its identity or emotion), is essential for social functioning. Despite the importance of this functional capacity, face detection and its underlying brain mechanisms are not well understood. This study evaluated the roles that the cortical face processing system, which is identified largely through studying other aspects of face perception, play in face detection. Specifically, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the activations of the fusifom face area (FFA), occipital face area (OFA) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) when face detection was isolated from other aspects of face perception and when face detection was perceptually-equated across individual human participants (n=20). During face detection, FFA and OFA were significantly activated, even for stimuli presented at perceptual-threshold levels, whereas STS was not. During tree detection, however, FFA and OFA were responsive only for highly salient (i.e., high contrast) stimuli. Moreover, activation of FFA during face detection predicted a significant portion of the perceptual performance levels that were determined psychophysically for each participant. This pattern of result indicates that FFA and OFA have a greater sensitivity to face detection signals and selectively support the initial process of face vs. non-face object perception. PMID:26592952

I spy with my little eye: typical, daily exposure to faces documented from a first-person infant perspective.

PubMed

Sugden, Nicole A; Mohamed-Ali, Marwan I; Moulson, Margaret C

2014-02-01

Exposure to faces is known to shape and change the face processing system; however, no study has yet documented infants' natural daily first-hand exposure to faces. One- and three-month-old infants' visual experience was recorded through head-mounted cameras. The video recordings were coded for faces to determine: (1) How often are infants exposed to faces? (2) To what type of faces are they exposed? and (3) Do frequently encountered face types reflect infants' typical pattern of perceptual narrowing? As hypothesized, infants spent a large proportion of their time (25%) exposed to faces; these faces were primarily female (70%), own-race (96%), and adult-age (81%). Infants were exposed to more individual exemplars of female, own-race, and adult-age faces than to male, other-race, and child- or older-adult-age faces. Each exposure to own-race faces was longer than to other-race faces. There were no differences in exposure duration related to the gender or age of the face. Previous research has found that the face types frequently experienced by our participants are preferred over and more successfully recognized than other face types. The patterns of face exposure revealed in the current study coincide with the known trajectory of perceptual narrowing seen later in infancy. © 2013 The Authors. Developmental Psychobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Face format at encoding affects the other-race effect in face memory.

PubMed

Zhao, Mintao; Hayward, William G; Bülthoff, Isabelle

2014-08-07

Memory of own-race faces is generally better than memory of other-races faces. This other-race effect (ORE) in face memory has been attributed to differences in contact, holistic processing, and motivation to individuate faces. Since most studies demonstrate the ORE with participants learning and recognizing static, single-view faces, it remains unclear whether the ORE can be generalized to different face learning conditions. Using an old/new recognition task, we tested whether face format at encoding modulates the ORE. The results showed a significant ORE when participants learned static, single-view faces (Experiment 1). In contrast, the ORE disappeared when participants learned rigidly moving faces (Experiment 2). Moreover, learning faces displayed from four discrete views produced the same results as learning rigidly moving faces (Experiment 3). Contact with other-race faces was correlated with the magnitude of the ORE. Nonetheless, the absence of the ORE in Experiments 2 and 3 cannot be readily explained by either more frequent contact with other-race faces or stronger motivation to individuate them. These results demonstrate that the ORE is sensitive to face format at encoding, supporting the hypothesis that relative involvement of holistic and featural processing at encoding mediates the ORE observed in face memory. © 2014 ARVO.

77 FR 40411 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-09

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that a meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods...

77 FR 37101 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-20

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that a meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods...

Learning, Interactional, and Motivational Outcomes in One-to-One Synchronous Computer-Mediated versus Face-to-Face Tutoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siler, Stephanie Ann; VanLehn, Kurt

2009-01-01

Face-to-face (FTF) human-human tutoring has ranked among the most effective forms of instruction. However, because computer-mediated (CM) tutoring is becoming increasingly common, it is instructive to evaluate its effectiveness relative to face-to-face tutoring. Does the lack of spoken, face-to-face interaction affect learning gains and…

77 FR 21157 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-09

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods... Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) that a meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods...

Incorporating Online Discussion in Face to Face Classroom Learning: A New Blended Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Wenli; Looi, Chee-Kit

2007-01-01

This paper discusses an innovative blended learning strategy which incorporates online discussion in both in-class face to face, and off-classroom settings. Online discussion in a face to face class is compared with its two counterparts, off-class online discussion as well as in-class, face to face oral discussion, to examine the advantages and…

20 CFR 266.6 - Information to be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. 266.6 Section 266.6 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD... be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. Before the Board selects a... listed in § 266.4 of this part. An employee of the Board may also conduct a face-to-face interview with...

Developmental Changes in Mother-Infant Face-to-Face Communication: Birth to 3 Months.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavelli, Manuela; Fogel, Alan

2002-01-01

Investigated development of face-to-face communication in infants between 1 and 14 weeks old and their mothers. Found a curvilinear development of early face-to-face communication, with increases occurring between weeks 4 and 9. When placed on a sofa, infants' face-to-face communication was longer than when they were held. Girls spent a longer…

Investigating Face-to-Face Peer Interaction Patterns in a Collaborative Web Discovery Task: The Bene?ts of a Shared Display

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, C-W.; Lee, C-C.; Liu, C-C.

2013-01-01

Mobile computers are now increasingly applied to facilitate face-to-face collaborative learning. However, the factors affecting face-to-face peer interactions are complex as they involve rich communication media. In particular, non-verbal interactions are necessary to convey critical communication messages in face-to-face communication. Through…

12 CFR 221.115 - Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... without benefit of face-to-face interview. 221.115 Section 221.115 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE...) Interpretations § 221.115 Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview... wishes to obtain the required purpose statement by mail rather than by a face-to-face interview. Personal...

20 CFR 266.6 - Information to be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. 266.6 Section 266.6 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD... be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. Before the Board selects a... listed in § 266.4 of this part. An employee of the Board may also conduct a face-to-face interview with...

12 CFR 221.115 - Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... without benefit of face-to-face interview. 221.115 Section 221.115 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE...) Interpretations § 221.115 Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview... wishes to obtain the required purpose statement by mail rather than by a face-to-face interview. Personal...

12 CFR 221.115 - Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... without benefit of face-to-face interview. 221.115 Section 221.115 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE...) Interpretations § 221.115 Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview... wishes to obtain the required purpose statement by mail rather than by a face-to-face interview. Personal...

20 CFR 266.6 - Information to be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. 266.6 Section 266.6 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD... be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. Before the Board selects a... listed in § 266.4 of this part. An employee of the Board may also conduct a face-to-face interview with...

20 CFR 266.6 - Information to be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. 266.6 Section 266.6 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD... be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. Before the Board selects a... listed in § 266.4 of this part. An employee of the Board may also conduct a face-to-face interview with...

20 CFR 266.6 - Information to be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. 266.6 Section 266.6 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD... be submitted by a representative payee-applicant; face-to-face interview. Before the Board selects a... listed in § 266.4 of this part. An employee of the Board may also conduct a face-to-face interview with...

A Comparison of Online and Face-to-Face Approaches to Teaching Introduction to American Government

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolsen, Toby; Evans, Michael; Fleming, Anna McCaghren

2016-01-01

This article reports results from a large study comparing four different approaches to teaching Introduction to American Government: (1) traditional, a paper textbook with 100% face-to-face lecture-style teaching; (2) breakout, a paper textbook with 50% face-to-face lecture-style teaching and 50% face-to-face small-group breakout discussion…

12 CFR 221.115 - Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... without benefit of face-to-face interview. 221.115 Section 221.115 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE...) Interpretations § 221.115 Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview... wishes to obtain the required purpose statement by mail rather than by a face-to-face interview. Personal...

12 CFR 221.115 - Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... without benefit of face-to-face interview. 221.115 Section 221.115 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE...) Interpretations § 221.115 Accepting a purpose statement through the mail without benefit of face-to-face interview... wishes to obtain the required purpose statement by mail rather than by a face-to-face interview. Personal...

Seeing Objects as Faces Enhances Object Detection.

PubMed

Takahashi, Kohske; Watanabe, Katsumi

2015-10-01

The face is a special visual stimulus. Both bottom-up processes for low-level facial features and top-down modulation by face expectations contribute to the advantages of face perception. However, it is hard to dissociate the top-down factors from the bottom-up processes, since facial stimuli mandatorily lead to face awareness. In the present study, using the face pareidolia phenomenon, we demonstrated that face awareness, namely seeing an object as a face, enhances object detection performance. In face pareidolia, some people see a visual stimulus, for example, three dots arranged in V shape, as a face, while others do not. This phenomenon allows us to investigate the effect of face awareness leaving the stimulus per se unchanged. Participants were asked to detect a face target or a triangle target. While target per se was identical between the two tasks, the detection sensitivity was higher when the participants recognized the target as a face. This was the case irrespective of the stimulus eccentricity or the vertical orientation of the stimulus. These results demonstrate that seeing an object as a face facilitates object detection via top-down modulation. The advantages of face perception are, therefore, at least partly, due to face awareness.

Seeing Objects as Faces Enhances Object Detection

PubMed Central

Watanabe, Katsumi

2015-01-01

The face is a special visual stimulus. Both bottom-up processes for low-level facial features and top-down modulation by face expectations contribute to the advantages of face perception. However, it is hard to dissociate the top-down factors from the bottom-up processes, since facial stimuli mandatorily lead to face awareness. In the present study, using the face pareidolia phenomenon, we demonstrated that face awareness, namely seeing an object as a face, enhances object detection performance. In face pareidolia, some people see a visual stimulus, for example, three dots arranged in V shape, as a face, while others do not. This phenomenon allows us to investigate the effect of face awareness leaving the stimulus per se unchanged. Participants were asked to detect a face target or a triangle target. While target per se was identical between the two tasks, the detection sensitivity was higher when the participants recognized the target as a face. This was the case irrespective of the stimulus eccentricity or the vertical orientation of the stimulus. These results demonstrate that seeing an object as a face facilitates object detection via top-down modulation. The advantages of face perception are, therefore, at least partly, due to face awareness. PMID:27648219

Elastic facial movement influences part-based but not holistic processing

PubMed Central

Xiao, Naiqi G.; Quinn, Paul C.; Ge, Liezhong; Lee, Kang

2013-01-01

Face processing has been studied for decades. However, most of the empirical investigations have been conducted using static face images as stimuli. Little is known about whether static face processing findings can be generalized to real world contexts, in which faces are constantly moving. The present study investigates the nature of face processing (holistic vs. part-based) in elastic moving faces. Specifically, we focus on whether elastic moving faces, as compared to static ones, can facilitate holistic or part-based face processing. Using the composite paradigm, participants were asked to remember either an elastic moving face (i.e., a face that blinks and chews) or a static face, and then tested with a static composite face. The composite effect was (1) significantly smaller in the dynamic condition than in the static condition, (2) consistently found with different face encoding times (Experiments 1–3), and (3) present for the recognition of both upper and lower face parts (Experiment 4). These results suggest that elastic facial motion facilitates part-based processing, rather than holistic processing. Thus, while previous work with static faces has emphasized an important role for holistic processing, the current work highlights an important role for featural processing with moving faces. PMID:23398253

A specialized face-processing model inspired by the organization of monkey face patches explains several face-specific phenomena observed in humans.

PubMed

Farzmahdi, Amirhossein; Rajaei, Karim; Ghodrati, Masoud; Ebrahimpour, Reza; Khaligh-Razavi, Seyed-Mahdi

2016-04-26

Converging reports indicate that face images are processed through specialized neural networks in the brain -i.e. face patches in monkeys and the fusiform face area (FFA) in humans. These studies were designed to find out how faces are processed in visual system compared to other objects. Yet, the underlying mechanism of face processing is not completely revealed. Here, we show that a hierarchical computational model, inspired by electrophysiological evidence on face processing in primates, is able to generate representational properties similar to those observed in monkey face patches (posterior, middle and anterior patches). Since the most important goal of sensory neuroscience is linking the neural responses with behavioral outputs, we test whether the proposed model, which is designed to account for neural responses in monkey face patches, is also able to predict well-documented behavioral face phenomena observed in humans. We show that the proposed model satisfies several cognitive face effects such as: composite face effect and the idea of canonical face views. Our model provides insights about the underlying computations that transfer visual information from posterior to anterior face patches.

A specialized face-processing model inspired by the organization of monkey face patches explains several face-specific phenomena observed in humans

PubMed Central

Farzmahdi, Amirhossein; Rajaei, Karim; Ghodrati, Masoud; Ebrahimpour, Reza; Khaligh-Razavi, Seyed-Mahdi

2016-01-01

Converging reports indicate that face images are processed through specialized neural networks in the brain –i.e. face patches in monkeys and the fusiform face area (FFA) in humans. These studies were designed to find out how faces are processed in visual system compared to other objects. Yet, the underlying mechanism of face processing is not completely revealed. Here, we show that a hierarchical computational model, inspired by electrophysiological evidence on face processing in primates, is able to generate representational properties similar to those observed in monkey face patches (posterior, middle and anterior patches). Since the most important goal of sensory neuroscience is linking the neural responses with behavioral outputs, we test whether the proposed model, which is designed to account for neural responses in monkey face patches, is also able to predict well-documented behavioral face phenomena observed in humans. We show that the proposed model satisfies several cognitive face effects such as: composite face effect and the idea of canonical face views. Our model provides insights about the underlying computations that transfer visual information from posterior to anterior face patches. PMID:27113635

Who are you looking at? The influence of face gender on visual attention and memory for own- and other-race faces.

PubMed

Lovén, Johanna; Rehnman, Jenny; Wiens, Stefan; Lindholm, Torun; Peira, Nathalie; Herlitz, Agneta

2012-01-01

Previous research suggests that the own-race bias (ORB) in memory for faces is a result of other-race faces receiving less visual attention at encoding. As women typically display an own-gender bias in memory for faces and men do not, we investigated whether face gender and sex of viewer influenced visual attention and memory for own- and other-race faces, and if preferential viewing of own-race faces contributed to the ORB in memory. Participants viewed pairs of female or male own- and other-race faces while their viewing time was recorded. Afterwards, they completed a surprise memory test. We found that (1) other-race males received the initial focus of attention, (2) own-race faces were viewed longer than other-race faces over time, although the difference was larger for female faces, and (3) even though longer viewing time increased the probability of remembering a face, it did not explain the magnified ORB in memory for female faces. Importantly, these findings highlight that face gender moderates attentional responses to and memory for own- and other-race faces.

Illumination robust face recognition using spatial adaptive shadow compensation based on face intensity prior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, Cheng-Ta; Huang, Kae-Horng; Lee, Chang-Hsing; Han, Chin-Chuan; Fan, Kuo-Chin

2017-12-01

Robust face recognition under illumination variations is an important and challenging task in a face recognition system, particularly for face recognition in the wild. In this paper, a face image preprocessing approach, called spatial adaptive shadow compensation (SASC), is proposed to eliminate shadows in the face image due to different lighting directions. First, spatial adaptive histogram equalization (SAHE), which uses face intensity prior model, is proposed to enhance the contrast of each local face region without generating visible noises in smooth face areas. Adaptive shadow compensation (ASC), which performs shadow compensation in each local image block, is then used to produce a wellcompensated face image appropriate for face feature extraction and recognition. Finally, null-space linear discriminant analysis (NLDA) is employed to extract discriminant features from SASC compensated images. Experiments performed on the Yale B, Yale B extended, and CMU PIE face databases have shown that the proposed SASC always yields the best face recognition accuracy. That is, SASC is more robust to face recognition under illumination variations than other shadow compensation approaches.

Seeing a haptically explored face: visual facial-expression aftereffect from haptic adaptation to a face.

PubMed

Matsumiya, Kazumichi

2013-10-01

Current views on face perception assume that the visual system receives only visual facial signals. However, I show that the visual perception of faces is systematically biased by adaptation to a haptically explored face. Recently, face aftereffects (FAEs; the altered perception of faces after adaptation to a face) have been demonstrated not only in visual perception but also in haptic perception; therefore, I combined the two FAEs to examine whether the visual system receives face-related signals from the haptic modality. I found that adaptation to a haptically explored facial expression on a face mask produced a visual FAE for facial expression. This cross-modal FAE was not due to explicitly imaging a face, response bias, or adaptation to local features. Furthermore, FAEs transferred from vision to haptics. These results indicate that visual face processing depends on substrates adapted by haptic faces, which suggests that face processing relies on shared representation underlying cross-modal interactions.

The effect of face patch microstimulation on perception of faces and objects.

PubMed

Moeller, Sebastian; Crapse, Trinity; Chang, Le; Tsao, Doris Y

2017-05-01

What is the range of stimuli encoded by face-selective regions of the brain? We asked how electrical microstimulation of face patches in macaque inferotemporal cortex affects perception of faces and objects. We found that microstimulation strongly distorted face percepts and that this effect depended on precise targeting to the center of face patches. While microstimulation had no effect on the percept of many non-face objects, it did affect the percept of some, including non-face objects whose shape is consistent with a face (for example, apples) as well as somewhat facelike abstract images (for example, cartoon houses). Microstimulation even perturbed the percept of certain objects that did not activate the stimulated face patch at all. Overall, these results indicate that representation of facial identity is localized to face patches, but activity in these patches can also affect perception of face-compatible non-face objects, including objects normally represented in other parts of inferotemporal cortex.

In the face of fear: Anxiety sensitizes defensive responses to fearful faces

PubMed Central

Grillon, Christian; Charney, Danielle R.

2011-01-01

Fearful faces readily activate the amygdala. Yet, whether fearful faces evoke fear is unclear. Startle studies show no potentiation of startle by fearful faces, suggesting that such stimuli do not activate defense mechanisms. However, the response to biologically relevant stimuli may be sensitized by anxiety. The present study tested the hypothesis that startle would not be potentiated by fearful faces in a safe context, but that startle would be larger during fearful faces compared to neutral faces in a threat-of-shock context. Subjects viewed fearful and neutral faces in alternating periods of safety and threat of shock. Acoustic startle stimuli were presented in the presence and absence of the faces. Startle was transiently potentiated by fearful faces compared to neutral faces in the threat periods. This suggests that although fearful faces do not prompt behavioral mobilization in an innocuous context, they can do so in an anxiogenic one. PMID:21824155

The time course of face processing: startle eyeblink response modulation by face gender and expression.

PubMed

Duval, Elizabeth R; Lovelace, Christopher T; Aarant, Justin; Filion, Diane L

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of both facial expression and face gender on startle eyeblink response patterns at varying lead intervals (300, 800, and 3500ms) indicative of attentional and emotional processes. We aimed to determine whether responses to affective faces map onto the Defense Cascade Model (Lang et al., 1997) to better understand the stages of processing during affective face viewing. At 300ms, there was an interaction between face expression and face gender with female happy and neutral faces and male angry faces producing inhibited startle. At 3500ms, there was a trend for facilitated startle during angry compared to neutral faces. These findings suggest that affective expressions are perceived differently in male and female faces, especially at short lead intervals. Future studies investigating face processing should take both face gender and expression into account. © 2013.

Visual Search Efficiency is Greater for Human Faces Compared to Animal Faces

PubMed Central

Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Mertins, Haley L.; Yee, Krysten; Fullerton, Alison; Jakobsen, Krisztina V.

2015-01-01

The Animate Monitoring Hypothesis proposes that humans and animals were the most important categories of visual stimuli for ancestral humans to monitor, as they presented important challenges and opportunities for survival and reproduction; however, it remains unknown whether animal faces are located as efficiently as human faces. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether human, primate, and mammal faces elicit similarly efficient searches, or whether human faces are privileged. In the first three experiments, participants located a target (human, primate, or mammal face) among distractors (non-face objects). We found fixations on human faces were faster and more accurate than primate faces, even when controlling for search category specificity. A final experiment revealed that, even when task-irrelevant, human faces slowed searches for non-faces, suggesting some bottom-up processing may be responsible for the human face search efficiency advantage. PMID:24962122

Influence of face-down and face-up bonding on the degree of polarization of superluminescent diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Shuai

2017-12-01

Face-down and face-up bonded polarization-insensitive buried heterojunction superluminescent diode has been studied in terms of thermal behavior and degree of polarization. Our studies have shown that the thermal rollover of current-power characteristic for face-down bonding was about 1.16 times higher than face-up configurations, and face-down bonding can offer higher heat transfer than face-up one. However, face-down bonding will cause more physical stress to the device, and the average value of degree of polarization for face-down bonding devices (35.3%) was much higher than face-up ones (-2.1%). After 48 h high temperature storage at 85∘C, the stress of face-down devices obtained a better relaxation due to the more stress accumulation.

Face recognition system and method using face pattern words and face pattern bytes

DOEpatents

Zheng, Yufeng

2014-12-23

The present invention provides a novel system and method for identifying individuals and for face recognition utilizing facial features for face identification. The system and method of the invention comprise creating facial features or face patterns called face pattern words and face pattern bytes for face identification. The invention also provides for pattern recognitions for identification other than face recognition. The invention further provides a means for identifying individuals based on visible and/or thermal images of those individuals by utilizing computer software implemented by instructions on a computer or computer system and a computer readable medium containing instructions on a computer system for face recognition and identification.

Blending Face-to-Face and Distance Learning Methods in Adult and Career-Technical Education. Practice Application Brief No. 23.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wonacott, Michael E.

Both face-to-face and distance learning methods are currently being used in adult education and career and technical education. In theory, the advantages of face-to-face and distance learning methods complement each other. In practice, however, both face-to-face and information and communications technology (ICT)-based distance programs often rely…

Early (N170) activation of face-specific cortex by face-like objects

PubMed Central

Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Kveraga, Kestutis; Naik, Paulami; Ahlfors, Seppo P.

2009-01-01

The tendency to perceive faces in random patterns exhibiting configural properties of faces is an example of pareidolia. Perception of ‘real’ faces has been associated with a cortical response signal arising at about 170ms after stimulus onset; but what happens when non-face objects are perceived as faces? Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we found that objects incidentally perceived as faces evoked an early (165ms) activation in the ventral fusiform cortex, at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas common objects did not evoke such activation. An earlier peak at 130 ms was also seen for images of real faces only. Our findings suggest that face perception evoked by face-like objects is a relatively early process, and not a late re-interpretation cognitive phenomenon. PMID:19218867

Neonatal face-to-face interactions promote later social behaviour in infant rhesus monkeys

PubMed Central

Dettmer, Amanda M.; Kaburu, Stefano S. K.; Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Paukner, Annika; Sclafani, Valentina; Byers, Kristen L.; Murphy, Ashley M.; Miller, Michelle; Marquez, Neal; Miller, Grace M.; Suomi, Stephen J.; Ferrari, Pier F.

2016-01-01

In primates, including humans, mothers engage in face-to-face interactions with their infants, with frequencies varying both within and across species. However, the impact of this variation in face-to-face interactions on infant social development is unclear. Here we report that infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) who engaged in more neonatal face-to-face interactions with mothers have increased social interactions at 2 and 5 months. In a controlled experiment, we show that this effect is not due to physical contact alone: monkeys randomly assigned to receive additional neonatal face-to-face interactions (mutual gaze and intermittent lip-smacking) with human caregivers display increased social interest at 2 months, compared with monkeys who received only additional handling. These studies suggest that face-to-face interactions from birth promote young primate social interest and competency. PMID:27300086

Effects of color information on face processing using event-related potentials and gamma oscillations.

PubMed

Minami, T; Goto, K; Kitazaki, M; Nakauchi, S

2011-03-10

In humans, face configuration, contour and color may affect face perception, which is important for social interactions. This study aimed to determine the effect of color information on face perception by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) during the presentation of natural- and bluish-colored faces. Our results demonstrated that the amplitude of the N170 event-related potential, which correlates strongly with face processing, was higher in response to a bluish-colored face than to a natural-colored face. However, gamma-band activity was insensitive to the deviation from a natural face color. These results indicated that color information affects the N170 associated with a face detection mechanism, which suggests that face color is important for face detection. Copyright © 2011 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children and Adults Scan Faces of Own and Other Races Differently

PubMed Central

Hu, Chao; Wang, Qiandong; Fu, Genyue; Quinn, Paul C.; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

Extensive behavioral and neural evidence suggests that processing of own-race faces differs from that of other-race faces in both adults and infants. However, little research has examined whether and how children scan faces of own and other races differently for face recognition. In this eye-tracking study, Chinese children aged from 4 to 7 years and Chinese adults were asked to remember Chinese and Caucasian faces. None of the participants had any direct contact with foreign individuals. Multi-method analyses of eye-tracking data revealed that regardless of age group, proportional fixation duration on the eyes of Chinese faces was significantly lower than that on the eyes of Caucasian faces, whereas proportional fixation duration on the nose and mouth of Chinese faces was significantly higher than that on the nose and mouth of Caucasian faces. In addition, the amplitude of saccades on Chinese faces was significantly lower than that on Caucasian faces, potentially reflecting finer-grained processing for own-race faces. Moreover, adults’ fixation duration/saccade numbers on the whole faces, proportional fixation percentage on the nose, proportional number of saccades between AOIs, and accuracy in recognizing faces were higher than those of children. These results together demonstrated that an abundance of visual experience with own-race faces and a lack of it with other-race faces may result in differential facial scanning in both adults and children. Furthermore, the increased experience of processing faces may result in a more holistic and advanced scanning strategy in Chinese adults. PMID:24929225

I spy with my little eye: Typical, daily exposure to faces documented from a first‐person infant perspective

PubMed Central

Mohamed‐Ali, Marwan I.; Moulson, Margaret C.

2013-01-01

ABSTRACT Exposure to faces is known to shape and change the face processing system; however, no study has yet documented infants' natural daily first‐hand exposure to faces. One‐ and three‐month‐old infants' visual experience was recorded through head‐mounted cameras. The video recordings were coded for faces to determine: (1) How often are infants exposed to faces? (2) To what type of faces are they exposed? and (3) Do frequently encountered face types reflect infants' typical pattern of perceptual narrowing? As hypothesized, infants spent a large proportion of their time (25%) exposed to faces; these faces were primarily female (70%), own‐race (96%), and adult‐age (81%). Infants were exposed to more individual exemplars of female, own‐race, and adult‐age faces than to male, other‐race, and child‐ or older‐adult‐age faces. Each exposure to own‐race faces was longer than to other‐race faces. There were no differences in exposure duration related to the gender or age of the face. Previous research has found that the face types frequently experienced by our participants are preferred over and more successfully recognized than other face types. The patterns of face exposure revealed in the current study coincide with the known trajectory of perceptual narrowing seen later in infancy.© 2013 The Authors. Developmental Psychobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 249–261, 2014. PMID:24285109

Multiparameter elastic full waveform inversion with facies-based constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhen-dong; Alkhalifah, Tariq; Naeini, Ehsan Zabihi; Sun, Bingbing

2018-06-01

Full waveform inversion (FWI) incorporates all the data characteristics to estimate the parameters described by the assumed physics of the subsurface. However, current efforts to utilize FWI beyond improved acoustic imaging, like in reservoir delineation, faces inherent challenges related to the limited resolution and the potential trade-off between the elastic model parameters. Some anisotropic parameters are insufficiently updated because of their minor contributions to the surface collected data. Adding rock physics constraints to the inversion helps mitigate such limited sensitivity, but current approaches to add such constraints are based on including them as a priori knowledge mostly valid around the well or as a global constraint for the whole area. Since similar rock formations inside the Earth admit consistent elastic properties and relative values of elasticity and anisotropy parameters (this enables us to define them as a seismic facies), utilizing such localized facies information in FWI can improve the resolution of inverted parameters. We propose a novel approach to use facies-based constraints in both isotropic and anisotropic elastic FWI. We invert for such facies using Bayesian theory and update them at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and a priori information. We take the uncertainties of the estimated parameters (approximated by radiation patterns) into consideration and improve the quality of estimated facies maps. Four numerical examples corresponding to different acquisition, physical assumptions and model circumstances are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The Caledonian face test: A new test of face discrimination.

PubMed

Logan, Andrew J; Wilkinson, Frances; Wilson, Hugh R; Gordon, Gael E; Loffler, Gunter

2016-02-01

This study aimed to develop a clinical test of face perception which is applicable to a wide range of patients and can capture normal variability. The Caledonian face test utilises synthetic faces which combine simplicity with sufficient realism to permit individual identification. Face discrimination thresholds (i.e. minimum difference between faces required for accurate discrimination) were determined in an "odd-one-out" task. The difference between faces was controlled by an adaptive QUEST procedure. A broad range of face discrimination sensitivity was determined from a group (N=52) of young adults (mean 5.75%; SD 1.18; range 3.33-8.84%). The test is fast (3-4 min), repeatable (test-re-test r(2)=0.795) and demonstrates a significant inversion effect. The potential to identify impairments of face discrimination was evaluated by testing LM who reported a lifelong difficulty with face perception. While LM's impairment for two established face tests was close to the criterion for significance (Z-scores of -2.20 and -2.27) for the Caledonian face test, her Z-score was -7.26, implying a more than threefold higher sensitivity. The new face test provides a quantifiable and repeatable assessment of face discrimination ability. The enhanced sensitivity suggests that the Caledonian face test may be capable of detecting more subtle impairments of face perception than available tests. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A general framework for face reconstruction using single still image based on 2D-to-3D transformation kernel.

PubMed

Fooprateepsiri, Rerkchai; Kurutach, Werasak

2014-03-01

Face authentication is a biometric classification method that verifies the identity of a user based on image of their face. Accuracy of the authentication is reduced when the pose, illumination and expression of the training face images are different than the testing image. The methods in this paper are designed to improve the accuracy of a features-based face recognition system when the pose between the input images and training images are different. First, an efficient 2D-to-3D integrated face reconstruction approach is introduced to reconstruct a personalized 3D face model from a single frontal face image with neutral expression and normal illumination. Second, realistic virtual faces with different poses are synthesized based on the personalized 3D face to characterize the face subspace. Finally, face recognition is conducted based on these representative virtual faces. Compared with other related works, this framework has the following advantages: (1) only one single frontal face is required for face recognition, which avoids the burdensome enrollment work; and (2) the synthesized face samples provide the capability to conduct recognition under difficult conditions like complex pose, illumination and expression. From the experimental results, we conclude that the proposed method improves the accuracy of face recognition by varying the pose, illumination and expression. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The illusion of fame: how the nonfamous become famous.

PubMed

Landau, Joshua D; Leed, Stacey A

2012-01-01

This article reports 2 experiments in which nonfamous faces were paired with famous (e.g., Oprah Winfrey) or semifamous (e.g., Annika Sorenstam) faces during an initial orienting task. In Experiment 1, the orienting task directed participants to consider the relationship between the paired faces. In Experiment 2, participants considered distinctive qualities of the paired faces. Participants then judged the fame level of old and new nonfamous faces, semifamous faces, and famous faces. Pairing a nonfamous face with a famous face resulted in a higher fame rating than pairing a nonfamous face with a semifamous face. The fame attached to the famous people was misattributed to their nonfamous partners. We discuss this pattern of results in the context of current theoretical explanations of familiarity misattributions.

Social Cognition in Williams Syndrome: Face Tuning

PubMed Central

Pavlova, Marina A.; Heiz, Julie; Sokolov, Alexander N.; Barisnikov, Koviljka

2016-01-01

Many neurological, neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and psychosomatic disorders are characterized by impairments in visual social cognition, body language reading, and facial assessment of a social counterpart. Yet a wealth of research indicates that individuals with Williams syndrome exhibit remarkable concern for social stimuli and face fascination. Here individuals with Williams syndrome were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face (slightly bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style). The primary advantage of these images is that single components do not explicitly trigger face-specific processing, whereas in face images commonly used for investigating face perception (such as photographs or depictions), the mere occurrence of typical cues already implicates face presence. In a spontaneous recognition task, participants were shown a set of images in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. Strikingly, individuals with Williams syndrome exhibited profound deficits in recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face: they did not report seeing a face on the images, which typically developing controls effortlessly recognized as a face, and gave overall fewer face responses. This suggests atypical face tuning in Williams syndrome. The outcome is discussed in the light of a general pattern of social cognition in Williams syndrome and brain mechanisms underpinning face processing. PMID:27531986

Nation, Face, and Identity: An Initial Investigation of National Face in East Asia

PubMed Central

Chen, Rong; Hwang, Kwang-Kuo

2016-01-01

This research investigates a key concept in East Asia, face, and represents the first attempt to empirically examine the concept of face at the national level. Controlling for the level of national identification, Study 1 employed the scenario experiment method among samples of native Chinese and Taiwanese populations and revealed that national face exhibits patterns reverse of personal face. Using the experimental method, Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 and provided support for the different mechanisms underneath national face and personal face. Study 3 replicated the findings of Study 2 and additionally showed that national face exerts a significant inhibitory effect on face process. Findings are discussed in terms of possible implications for intergroup and international relations. Expanding on extant scholarship on face and across three studies with different experimental paradigms, this research turns our attention from face at the personal level to face at the national level by introducing the construct of national face and examining its manifestations in East Asia. The results advance our understanding of the psychological mechanism driving face concern in East Asia. They make a strong and unique case for the psychological existence of national face as an empirically distinct construct and an important psychological resource for East Asians. PMID:27774081

Deficient cortical face-sensitive N170 responses and basic visual processing in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Maher, S; Mashhoon, Y; Ekstrom, T; Lukas, S; Chen, Y

2016-01-01

Face detection, an ability to identify a visual stimulus as a face, is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. It is unclear whether impaired face processing in this psychiatric disorder results from face-specific domains or stems from more basic visual domains. In this study, we examined cortical face-sensitive N170 response in schizophrenia, taking into account deficient basic visual contrast processing. We equalized visual contrast signals among patients (n=20) and controls (n=20) and between face and tree images, based on their individual perceptual capacities (determined using psychophysical methods). We measured N170, a putative temporal marker of face processing, during face detection and tree detection. In controls, N170 amplitudes were significantly greater for faces than trees across all three visual contrast levels tested (perceptual threshold, two times perceptual threshold and 100%). In patients, however, N170 amplitudes did not differ between faces and trees, indicating diminished face selectivity (indexed by the differential responses to face vs. tree). These results indicate a lack of face-selectivity in temporal responses of brain machinery putatively responsible for face processing in schizophrenia. This neuroimaging finding suggests that face-specific processing is compromised in this psychiatric disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional dissociation of the left and right fusiform gyrus in self-face recognition.

PubMed

Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

2012-10-01

It is well known that the fusiform gyrus is engaged in face perception, such as the processes of face familiarity and identity. However, the functional role of the fusiform gyrus in face processing related to high-level social cognition remains unclear. The current study assessed the functional role of individually defined fusiform face area (FFA) in the processing of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor neural responses to rapidly presented face stimuli drawn from morph continua between self-face (Morph 100%) and a gender-matched friend's face (Morph 0%) in a face recognition task. Contrasting Morph 100% versus Morph 60% that differed in self-face physical properties but were both recognized as the self uncovered neural activity sensitive to self-face physical properties in the left FFA. Contrasting Morphs 50% that were recognized as the self versus a friend on different trials revealed neural modulations associated with self-face identity in the right FFA. Moreover, the right FFA activity correlated with the frequency of recognizing Morphs 50% as the self. Our results provide evidence for functional dissociations of the left and right FFAs in the representations of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder scan own-race faces differently from other-race faces.

PubMed

Yi, Li; Quinn, Paul C; Fan, Yuebo; Huang, Dan; Feng, Cong; Joseph, Lisa; Li, Jiao; Lee, Kang

2016-01-01

It has been well documented that people recognize and scan other-race faces differently from faces of their own race. The current study examined whether this cross-racial difference in face processing found in the typical population also exists in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Participants included 5- to 10-year-old children with ASD (n=29), typically developing (TD) children matched on chronological age (n=29), and TD children matched on nonverbal IQ (n=29). Children completed a face recognition task in which they were asked to memorize and recognize both own- and other-race faces while their eye movements were tracked. We found no recognition advantage for own-race faces relative to other-race faces in any of the three groups. However, eye-tracking results indicated that, similar to TD children, children with ASD exhibited a cross-racial face-scanning pattern: they looked at the eyes of other-race faces longer than at those of own-race faces, whereas they looked at the mouth of own-race faces longer than at that of other-race faces. The findings suggest that although children with ASD have difficulty with processing some aspects of faces, their ability to process face race information is relatively spared. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Cognition in Williams Syndrome: Face Tuning.

PubMed

Pavlova, Marina A; Heiz, Julie; Sokolov, Alexander N; Barisnikov, Koviljka

2016-01-01

Many neurological, neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and psychosomatic disorders are characterized by impairments in visual social cognition, body language reading, and facial assessment of a social counterpart. Yet a wealth of research indicates that individuals with Williams syndrome exhibit remarkable concern for social stimuli and face fascination. Here individuals with Williams syndrome were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face (slightly bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style). The primary advantage of these images is that single components do not explicitly trigger face-specific processing, whereas in face images commonly used for investigating face perception (such as photographs or depictions), the mere occurrence of typical cues already implicates face presence. In a spontaneous recognition task, participants were shown a set of images in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. Strikingly, individuals with Williams syndrome exhibited profound deficits in recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face: they did not report seeing a face on the images, which typically developing controls effortlessly recognized as a face, and gave overall fewer face responses. This suggests atypical face tuning in Williams syndrome. The outcome is discussed in the light of a general pattern of social cognition in Williams syndrome and brain mechanisms underpinning face processing.

Does virtual intimacy exist? A brief exploration into reported levels of intimacy in online relationships.

PubMed

Scott, Veronica M; Mottarella, Karen E; Lavooy, Maria J

2006-12-01

This study examined the levels of intimacy reported by individuals in face-to-face and computer-mediated (or "virtual") romantic relationships. As suggested by the media and promised by online dating services, some degree of intimacy was reported in computer-mediated relationships, but stronger intimacy was reported in all participants' face-to-face relationships. Results also indicated that individuals who had online, virtual relationships reported less intimacy in their own face-to-face relationships compared to individuals who had engaged exclusively in face-to-face relationships, suggesting that people may turn to virtual relating after challenges in their face-to-face experiences.

The Role of Configural Processing in Face Classification by Race: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Lv, Jing; Yan, Tianyi; Tao, Luyang; Zhao, Lun

2015-01-01

The current study investigated the time course of the other-race classification advantage (ORCA) in the subordinate classification of normally configured faces and distorted faces by race. Slightly distorting the face configuration delayed the categorization of own-race faces and had no conspicuous effects on other-race faces. The N170 was sensitive neither to configural distortions nor to faces' races. The P3 was enhanced for other-race than own-race faces and reduced by configural manipulation only for own-race faces. We suggest that the source of ORCA is the configural analysis applied by default while processing own-race faces. PMID:26733850

Not just the norm: exemplar-based models also predict face aftereffects.

PubMed

Ross, David A; Deroche, Mickael; Palmeri, Thomas J

2014-02-01

The face recognition literature has considered two competing accounts of how faces are represented within the visual system: Exemplar-based models assume that faces are represented via their similarity to exemplars of previously experienced faces, while norm-based models assume that faces are represented with respect to their deviation from an average face, or norm. Face identity aftereffects have been taken as compelling evidence in favor of a norm-based account over an exemplar-based account. After a relatively brief period of adaptation to an adaptor face, the perceived identity of a test face is shifted toward a face with attributes opposite to those of the adaptor, suggesting an explicit psychological representation of the norm. Surprisingly, despite near universal recognition that face identity aftereffects imply norm-based coding, there have been no published attempts to simulate the predictions of norm- and exemplar-based models in face adaptation paradigms. Here, we implemented and tested variations of norm and exemplar models. Contrary to common claims, our simulations revealed that both an exemplar-based model and a version of a two-pool norm-based model, but not a traditional norm-based model, predict face identity aftereffects following face adaptation.

Individual differences in perceiving and recognizing faces-One element of social cognition.

PubMed

Wilhelm, Oliver; Herzmann, Grit; Kunina, Olga; Danthiir, Vanessa; Schacht, Annekathrin; Sommer, Werner

2010-09-01

Recognizing faces swiftly and accurately is of paramount importance to humans as a social species. Individual differences in the ability to perform these tasks may therefore reflect important aspects of social or emotional intelligence. Although functional models of face cognition based on group and single case studies postulate multiple component processes, little is known about the ability structure underlying individual differences in face cognition. In 2 large individual differences experiments (N = 151 and N = 209), a broad variety of face-cognition tasks were tested and the component abilities of face cognition-face perception, face memory, and the speed of face cognition-were identified and then replicated. Experiment 2 also showed that the 3 face-cognition abilities are clearly distinct from immediate and delayed memory, mental speed, general cognitive ability, and object cognition. These results converge with functional and neuroanatomical models of face cognition by demonstrating the difference between face perception and face memory. The results also underline the importance of distinguishing between speed and accuracy of face cognition. Together our results provide a first step toward establishing face-processing abilities as an independent ability reflecting elements of social intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Not Just the Norm: Exemplar-Based Models also Predict Face Aftereffects

PubMed Central

Ross, David A.; Deroche, Mickael; Palmeri, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

The face recognition literature has considered two competing accounts of how faces are represented within the visual system: Exemplar-based models assume that faces are represented via their similarity to exemplars of previously experienced faces, while norm-based models assume that faces are represented with respect to their deviation from an average face, or norm. Face identity aftereffects have been taken as compelling evidence in favor of a norm-based account over an exemplar-based account. After a relatively brief period of adaptation to an adaptor face, the perceived identity of a test face is shifted towards a face with opposite attributes to the adaptor, suggesting an explicit psychological representation of the norm. Surprisingly, despite near universal recognition that face identity aftereffects imply norm-based coding, there have been no published attempts to simulate the predictions of norm- and exemplar-based models in face adaptation paradigms. Here we implemented and tested variations of norm and exemplar models. Contrary to common claims, our simulations revealed that both an exemplar-based model and a version of a two-pool norm-based model, but not a traditional norm-based model, predict face identity aftereffects following face adaptation. PMID:23690282

Happy faces are preferred regardless of familiarity--sad faces are preferred only when familiar.

PubMed

Liao, Hsin-I; Shimojo, Shinsuke; Yeh, Su-Ling

2013-06-01

Familiarity leads to preference (e.g., the mere exposure effect), yet it remains unknown whether it is objective familiarity, that is, repetitive exposure, or subjective familiarity that contributes to preference. In addition, it is unexplored whether and how different emotions influence familiarity-related preference. The authors investigated whether happy or sad faces are preferred or perceived as more familiar and whether this subjective familiarity judgment correlates with preference for different emotional faces. An emotional face--happy or sad--was paired with a neutral face, and participants rated the relative preference and familiarity of each of the paired faces. For preference judgment, happy faces were preferred and sad faces were less preferred, compared with neutral faces. For familiarity judgment, happy faces did not show any bias, but sad faces were perceived as less familiar than neutral faces. Item-by-item correlational analyses show preference for sad faces--but not happy faces--positively correlate with familiarity. These results suggest a direct link between positive emotion and preference, and argue at least partly against a common cause for familiarity and preference. Instead, facial expression of different emotional valence modulates the link between familiarity and preference.

Multivoxel patterns in face-sensitive temporal regions reveal an encoding schema based on detecting life in a face.

PubMed

Looser, Christine E; Guntupalli, Jyothi S; Wheatley, Thalia

2013-10-01

More than a decade of research has demonstrated that faces evoke prioritized processing in a 'core face network' of three brain regions. However, whether these regions prioritize the detection of global facial form (shared by humans and mannequins) or the detection of life in a face has remained unclear. Here, we dissociate form-based and animacy-based encoding of faces by using animate and inanimate faces with human form (humans, mannequins) and dog form (real dogs, toy dogs). We used multivariate pattern analysis of BOLD responses to uncover the representational similarity space for each area in the core face network. Here, we show that only responses in the inferior occipital gyrus are organized by global facial form alone (human vs dog) while animacy becomes an additional organizational priority in later face-processing regions: the lateral fusiform gyri (latFG) and right superior temporal sulcus. Additionally, patterns evoked by human faces were maximally distinct from all other face categories in the latFG and parts of the extended face perception system. These results suggest that once a face configuration is perceived, faces are further scrutinized for whether the face is alive and worthy of social cognitive resources.

Effective Connectivity from Early Visual Cortex to Posterior Occipitotemporal Face Areas Supports Face Selectivity and Predicts Developmental Prosopagnosia

PubMed Central

Garrido, Lucia; Driver, Jon; Dolan, Raymond J.; Duchaine, Bradley C.; Furl, Nicholas

2016-01-01

Face processing is mediated by interactions between functional areas in the occipital and temporal lobe, and the fusiform face area (FFA) and anterior temporal lobe play key roles in the recognition of facial identity. Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP), a lifelong face recognition impairment, have been shown to have structural and functional neuronal alterations in these areas. The present study investigated how face selectivity is generated in participants with normal face processing, and how functional abnormalities associated with DP, arise as a function of network connectivity. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and dynamic causal modeling, we examined effective connectivity in normal participants by assessing network models that include early visual cortex (EVC) and face-selective areas and then investigated the integrity of this connectivity in participants with DP. Results showed that a feedforward architecture from EVC to the occipital face area, EVC to FFA, and EVC to posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) best explained how face selectivity arises in both controls and participants with DP. In this architecture, the DP group showed reduced connection strengths on feedforward connections carrying face information from EVC to FFA and EVC to pSTS. These altered network dynamics in DP contribute to the diminished face selectivity in the posterior occipitotemporal areas affected in DP. These findings suggest a novel view on the relevance of feedforward projection from EVC to posterior occipitotemporal face areas in generating cortical face selectivity and differences in face recognition ability. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Areas of the human brain showing enhanced activation to faces compared to other objects or places have been extensively studied. However, the factors leading to this face selectively have remained mostly unknown. We show that effective connectivity from early visual cortex to posterior occipitotemporal face areas gives rise to face selectivity. Furthermore, people with developmental prosopagnosia, a lifelong face recognition impairment, have reduced face selectivity in the posterior occipitotemporal face areas and left anterior temporal lobe. We show that this reduced face selectivity can be predicted by effective connectivity from early visual cortex to posterior occipitotemporal face areas. This study presents the first network-based account of how face selectivity arises in the human brain. PMID:27030766

Characterization of focused seepage through an earthfill dam using geoelectrical methods.

PubMed

Ikard, S J; Revil, A; Schmutz, M; Karaoulis, M; Jardani, A; Mooney, M

2014-01-01

Resistivity and self-potential tomography can be used to investigate anomalous seepage inside heterogeneous earthen dams. The self-potential (SP) signals provide a unique signature to groundwater flow because the source current density responsible for the SP signals is proportional to the Darcy velocity. The distribution of the SP signals is also influenced by the distribution of the resistivity; therefore, resistivity and SP need to be used in concert to elucidate groundwater flow pathways. In this study, a survey is conducted at a small earthen dam in Colorado where anomalous seepage is observed on the downstream face at the dam toe. The data reveal SP and direct current resistivity anomalies that are used to delineate three anomalous seepage zones within the dam and to estimate the source of the localized seepage discharge. The SP data are inverted in two dimensions using the resistivity distribution to determine the distribution of the Darcy velocity responsible for the observed seepage. The inverted Darcy velocity agrees with an estimation of the Darcy velocity from the hydraulic conductivity obtained from a slug test and the observed head gradient. © 2013, National Ground Water Association.

Online or Face to Face? A Comparison of Two Methods of Training Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillon, Kristin; Dworkin, Jodi; Gengler, Colleen; Olson, Kathleen

2008-01-01

Online courses offer benefits over face-to-face courses such as accessibility, affordability, and flexibility. Literature assessing the effectiveness of face-to-face and online courses is growing, but findings remain inconclusive. This study compared evaluations completed by professionals who had taken a research update short course either face to…

Bidirectional Gender Face Aftereffects: Evidence Against Normative Facial Coding.

PubMed

Cronin, Sophie L; Spence, Morgan L; Miller, Paul A; Arnold, Derek H

2017-02-01

Facial appearance can be altered, not just by restyling but also by sensory processes. Exposure to a female face can, for instance, make subsequent faces look more masculine than they would otherwise. Two explanations exist. According to one, exposure to a female face renormalizes face perception, making that female and all other faces look more masculine as a consequence-a unidirectional effect. According to that explanation, exposure to a male face would have the opposite unidirectional effect. Another suggestion is that face gender is subject to contrastive aftereffects. These should make some faces look more masculine than the adaptor and other faces more feminine-a bidirectional effect. Here, we show that face gender aftereffects are bidirectional, as predicted by the latter hypothesis. Images of real faces rated as more and less masculine than adaptors at baseline tended to look even more and less masculine than adaptors post adaptation. This suggests that, rather than mental representations of all faces being recalibrated to better reflect the prevailing statistics of the environment, mental operations exaggerate differences between successive faces, and this can impact facial gender perception.

On the other side of the fence: effects of social categorization and spatial grouping on memory and attention for own-race and other-race faces.

PubMed

Kloth, Nadine; Shields, Susannah E; Rhodes, Gillian

2014-01-01

The term "own-race bias" refers to the phenomenon that humans are typically better at recognizing faces from their own than a different race. The perceptual expertise account assumes that our face perception system has adapted to the faces we are typically exposed to, equipping it poorly for the processing of other-race faces. Sociocognitive theories assume that other-race faces are initially categorized as out-group, decreasing motivation to individuate them. Supporting sociocognitive accounts, a recent study has reported improved recognition for other-race faces when these were categorized as belonging to the participants' in-group on a second social dimension, i.e., their university affiliation. Faces were studied in groups, containing both own-race and other-race faces, half of each labeled as in-group and out-group, respectively. When study faces were spatially grouped by race, participants showed a clear own-race bias. When faces were grouped by university affiliation, recognition of other-race faces from the social in-group was indistinguishable from own-race face recognition. The present study aimed at extending this singular finding to other races of faces and participants. Forty Asian and 40 European Australian participants studied Asian and European faces for a recognition test. Faces were presented in groups, containing an equal number of own-university and other-university Asian and European faces. Between participants, faces were grouped either according to race or university affiliation. Eye tracking was used to study the distribution of spatial attention to individual faces in the display. The race of the study faces significantly affected participants' memory, with better recognition of own-race than other-race faces. However, memory was unaffected by the university affiliation of the faces and by the criterion for their spatial grouping on the display. Eye tracking revealed strong looking biases towards both own-race and own-university faces. Results are discussed in light of the theoretical accounts of the own-race bias.

On the Other Side of the Fence: Effects of Social Categorization and Spatial Grouping on Memory and Attention for Own-Race and Other-Race Faces

PubMed Central

Kloth, Nadine; Shields, Susannah E.; Rhodes, Gillian

2014-01-01

The term “own-race bias” refers to the phenomenon that humans are typically better at recognizing faces from their own than a different race. The perceptual expertise account assumes that our face perception system has adapted to the faces we are typically exposed to, equipping it poorly for the processing of other-race faces. Sociocognitive theories assume that other-race faces are initially categorized as out-group, decreasing motivation to individuate them. Supporting sociocognitive accounts, a recent study has reported improved recognition for other-race faces when these were categorized as belonging to the participants' in-group on a second social dimension, i.e., their university affiliation. Faces were studied in groups, containing both own-race and other-race faces, half of each labeled as in-group and out-group, respectively. When study faces were spatially grouped by race, participants showed a clear own-race bias. When faces were grouped by university affiliation, recognition of other-race faces from the social in-group was indistinguishable from own-race face recognition. The present study aimed at extending this singular finding to other races of faces and participants. Forty Asian and 40 European Australian participants studied Asian and European faces for a recognition test. Faces were presented in groups, containing an equal number of own-university and other-university Asian and European faces. Between participants, faces were grouped either according to race or university affiliation. Eye tracking was used to study the distribution of spatial attention to individual faces in the display. The race of the study faces significantly affected participants' memory, with better recognition of own-race than other-race faces. However, memory was unaffected by the university affiliation of the faces and by the criterion for their spatial grouping on the display. Eye tracking revealed strong looking biases towards both own-race and own-university faces. Results are discussed in light of the theoretical accounts of the own-race bias. PMID:25180902

If You Build It, Will They Come? Patterns of Internet-Based and Face-To-Face Participation in a Parenting Program for Military Families

PubMed Central

Doty, Jennifer L; Rudi, Jessie H; Pinna, Keri L M; Hanson, Sheila K

2016-01-01

Background Some evidence suggests parents are drawn to media-based interventions over face-to-face interventions, but little is known about the factors associated with parents’ use of Internet-based or Internet-enhanced programs, especially among military families. Research is needed to understand characteristics of parents who may be most likely to use online components or attend face-to-face meetings in order to ensure maximum engagement. Objective In this study, we examined characteristics that predict various patterns of Internet use and face-to-face attendance in a parenting program designed for military families. Methods An ecological framework guided analysis of differences in patterns of Internet-based use and face-to-face attendance by parents’ demographic characteristics (gender, education, employment, and child age), incentives offered, and number of months the parent was deployed. We reported differences in the total number of online components completed over the 14 modules, total number of face-to-face sessions attended, and the use of different types of online components accessed (videos, downloadable handouts, mindfulness exercises, knowledge checks, and downloadable summaries). Then, we computed multinomial logistic regression accounting for nestedness (parents within families) to examine associations between demographic, programmatic, and military-related characteristics and patterns of engagement (use of online components and attendance at face-to-face sessions). Results Just over half (52.2%, 193/370) of the participants used the online components at least once, and the majority of participants (73.2%, 271/370) attended at least 1 face-to-face session. An examination of different patterns of participation revealed that compared with those who participated primarily in face-to-face sessions, parents who participated online but had little face-to-face participation were more likely to have received incentives than those who did not (95% CI 1.9-129.7). Among participants who had been deployed, those who had earned a 4-year degree (95% CI 1.0-2.2) and those who had been offered incentives to participate online (95% CI 2.1-58.6) were more likely to be highly engaged in online components and attend face-to-face compared with those who attended primarily face-to-face. However, those with a high number of months of deployment (95% CI 0.6-1.0) were less likely to be in the pattern of highly engaged in online components and face-to-face attendance. Compared with those who participated primarily face-to-face, deployed mothers were about 4 times more likely to engage in moderate online use with face-to-face attendance than deployed fathers (95% CI 1.21-11.83) and participate primarily online (95% CI 0.77-25.20). Conclusions Results imply that parents may be drawn to different delivery options of a parenting program (online components vs face-to-face sessions) depending on their education level, incentives to engage in online components, and their military-related experience. Results suggest potential directions for tailoring Internet-based interventions. PMID:27334833

If You Build It, Will They Come? Patterns of Internet-Based and Face-To-Face Participation in a Parenting Program for Military Families.

PubMed

Doty, Jennifer L; Rudi, Jessie H; Pinna, Keri L M; Hanson, Sheila K; Gewirtz, Abigail H

2016-06-22

Some evidence suggests parents are drawn to media-based interventions over face-to-face interventions, but little is known about the factors associated with parents' use of Internet-based or Internet-enhanced programs, especially among military families. Research is needed to understand characteristics of parents who may be most likely to use online components or attend face-to-face meetings in order to ensure maximum engagement. In this study, we examined characteristics that predict various patterns of Internet use and face-to-face attendance in a parenting program designed for military families. An ecological framework guided analysis of differences in patterns of Internet-based use and face-to-face attendance by parents' demographic characteristics (gender, education, employment, and child age), incentives offered, and number of months the parent was deployed. We reported differences in the total number of online components completed over the 14 modules, total number of face-to-face sessions attended, and the use of different types of online components accessed (videos, downloadable handouts, mindfulness exercises, knowledge checks, and downloadable summaries). Then, we computed multinomial logistic regression accounting for nestedness (parents within families) to examine associations between demographic, programmatic, and military-related characteristics and patterns of engagement (use of online components and attendance at face-to-face sessions). Just over half (52.2%, 193/370) of the participants used the online components at least once, and the majority of participants (73.2%, 271/370) attended at least 1 face-to-face session. An examination of different patterns of participation revealed that compared with those who participated primarily in face-to-face sessions, parents who participated online but had little face-to-face participation were more likely to have received incentives than those who did not (95% CI 1.9-129.7). Among participants who had been deployed, those who had earned a 4-year degree (95% CI 1.0-2.2) and those who had been offered incentives to participate online (95% CI 2.1-58.6) were more likely to be highly engaged in online components and attend face-to-face compared with those who attended primarily face-to-face. However, those with a high number of months of deployment (95% CI 0.6-1.0) were less likely to be in the pattern of highly engaged in online components and face-to-face attendance. Compared with those who participated primarily face-to-face, deployed mothers were about 4 times more likely to engage in moderate online use with face-to-face attendance than deployed fathers (95% CI 1.21-11.83) and participate primarily online (95% CI 0.77-25.20). Results imply that parents may be drawn to different delivery options of a parenting program (online components vs face-to-face sessions) depending on their education level, incentives to engage in online components, and their military-related experience. Results suggest potential directions for tailoring Internet-based interventions.

Lost in Translation: Adapting a Face-to-Face Course Into an Online Learning Experience.

PubMed

Kenzig, Melissa J

2015-09-01

Online education has grown dramatically over the past decade. Instructors who teach face-to-face courses are being called on to adapt their courses to the online environment. Many instructors do not have sufficient training to be able to effectively move courses to an online format. This commentary discusses the growth of online learning, common challenges faced by instructors adapting courses from face-to-face to online, and best practices for translating face-to-face courses into online learning opportunities. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

The shape of the face template: geometric distortions of faces and their detection in natural scenes.

PubMed

Pongakkasira, Kaewmart; Bindemann, Markus

2015-04-01

Human face detection might be driven by skin-coloured face-shaped templates. To explore this idea, this study compared the detection of faces for which the natural height-to-width ratios were preserved with distorted faces that were stretched vertically or horizontally. The impact of stretching on detection performance was not obvious when faces were equated to their unstretched counterparts in terms of their height or width dimension (Experiment 1). However, stretching impaired detection when the original and distorted faces were matched for their surface area (Experiment 2), and this was found with both vertically and horizontally stretched faces (Experiment 3). This effect was evident in accuracy, response times, and also observers' eye movements to faces. These findings demonstrate that height-to-width ratios are an important component of the cognitive template for face detection. The results also highlight important differences between face detection and face recognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visual Selective Attention Biases Contribute to the Other-Race Effect Among 9-Month-Old Infants

PubMed Central

Oakes, Lisa M.; Amso, Dima

2016-01-01

During the first year of life, infants maintain their ability to discriminate faces from their own race but become less able to differentiate other-race faces. Though this is likely due to daily experience with own-race faces, the mechanisms linking repeated exposure to optimal face processing remain unclear. One possibility is that frequent experience with own-race faces generates a selective attention bias to these faces. Selective attention elicits enhancement of attended information and suppression of distraction to improve visual processing of attended objects. Thus attention biases to own-race faces may boost processing and discrimination of these faces relative to other-race faces. We used a spatial cueing task to bias attention to own- or other-race faces among Caucasian 9-month-old infants. Infants discriminated faces in the focus of the attention bias, regardless of race, indicating that infants remained sensitive to differences among other-race faces. Instead, efficacy of face discrimination reflected the extent of attention engagement. PMID:26486228

Visual selective attention biases contribute to the other-race effect among 9-month-old infants.

PubMed

Markant, Julie; Oakes, Lisa M; Amso, Dima

2016-04-01

During the first year of life, infants maintain their ability to discriminate faces from their own race but become less able to differentiate other-race faces. Though this is likely due to daily experience with own-race faces, the mechanisms linking repeated exposure to optimal face processing remain unclear. One possibility is that frequent experience with own-race faces generates a selective attention bias to these faces. Selective attention elicits enhancement of attended information and suppression of distraction to improve visual processing of attended objects. Thus attention biases to own-race faces may boost processing and discrimination of these faces relative to other-race faces. We used a spatial cueing task to bias attention to own- or other-race faces among Caucasian 9-month-old infants. Infants discriminated faces in the focus of the attention bias, regardless of race, indicating that infants remained sensitive to differences among other-race faces. Instead, efficacy of face discrimination reflected the extent of attention engagement. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Face Gender Influences the Looking Preference for Smiling Expressions in 3.5-Month-Old Human Infants.

PubMed

Bayet, Laurie; Quinn, Paul C; Tanaka, James W; Lee, Kang; Gentaz, Édouard; Pascalis, Olivier

2015-01-01

Young infants are typically thought to prefer looking at smiling expressions. Although some accounts suggest that the preference is automatic and universal, we hypothesized that it is not rigid and may be influenced by other face dimensions, most notably the face's gender. Infants are sensitive to the gender of faces; for example, 3-month-olds raised by female caregivers typically prefer female over male faces. We presented neutral versus smiling pairs of faces from the same female or male individuals to 3.5-month-old infants (n = 25), controlling for low-level cues. Infants looked longer to the smiling face when faces were female but longer to the neutral face when faces were male, i.e., there was an effect of face gender on the looking preference for smiling. The results indicate that a preference for smiling in 3.5-month-olds is limited to female faces, possibly reflective of differential experience with male and female faces.

Not All Faces Are Processed Equally: Evidence for Featural Rather than Holistic Processing of One's Own Face in a Face-Imaging Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Seth N.; Goshen-Gottstein, Yonatan

2009-01-01

The present work considers the mental imaging of faces, with a focus in own-face imaging. Experiments 1 and 3 demonstrated an own-face disadvantage, with slower generation of mental images of one's own face than of other familiar faces. In contrast, Experiment 2 demonstrated that mental images of facial parts are generated more quickly for one's…

Face perception in high-functioning autistic adults: evidence for superior processing of face parts, not for a configural face-processing deficit.

PubMed

Lahaie, A; Mottron, L; Arguin, M; Berthiaume, C; Jemel, B; Saumier, D

2006-01-01

Configural processing in autism was studied in Experiment 1 by using the face inversion effect. A normal inversion effect was observed in the participants with autism, suggesting intact configural face processing. A priming paradigm using partial or complete faces served in Experiment 2 to assess both local and configural face processing. Overall, normal priming effects were found in participants with autism, irrespective of whether the partial face primes were intuitive face parts (i.e., eyes, nose, etc.) or arbitrary segments. An exception, however, was that participants with autism showed magnified priming with single face parts relative to typically developing control participants. The present findings argue for intact configural processing in autism along with an enhanced processing for individual face parts. The face-processing peculiarities known to characterize autism are discussed on the basis of these results and past congruent results with nonsocial stimuli.

A familiarity disadvantage for remembering specific images of faces.

PubMed

Armann, Regine G M; Jenkins, Rob; Burton, A Mike

2016-04-01

Familiar faces are remembered better than unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, it is much easier to match images of familiar than unfamiliar faces. These findings could be accounted for by quantitative differences in the ease with which faces are encoded. However, it has been argued that there are also some qualitative differences in familiar and unfamiliar face processing. Unfamiliar faces are held to rely on superficial, pictorial representations, whereas familiar faces invoke more abstract representations. Here we present 2 studies that show, for 1 task, an advantage for unfamiliar faces. In recognition memory, viewers are better able to reject a new picture, if it depicts an unfamiliar face. This rare advantage for unfamiliar faces supports the notion that familiarity brings about some representational changes, and further emphasizes the idea that theoretical accounts of face processing should incorporate familiarity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Brain responses differ to faces of mothers and fathers.

PubMed

Arsalidou, Marie; Barbeau, Emmanuel J; Bayless, Sarah J; Taylor, Margot J

2010-10-01

We encounter many faces each day but relatively few are personally familiar. Once faces are familiar, they evoke semantic and social information known about the person. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate differential brain activity to familiar and non-familiar faces; however, brain responses related to personally familiar faces have been more rarely studied. We examined brain activity with fMRI in adults in response to faces of their mothers and fathers compared to faces of celebrities and strangers. Overall, faces of mothers elicited more activity in core and extended brain regions associated with face processing, compared to fathers, celebrity or stranger faces. Fathers' faces elicited activity in the caudate, a deep brain structure associated with feelings of love. These new findings of differential brain responses elicited by faces of mothers and fathers are consistent with psychological research on attachment, evident even during adulthood. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Through the eyes of the own-race bias: eye-tracking and pupillometry during face recognition.

PubMed

Wu, Esther Xiu Wen; Laeng, Bruno; Magnussen, Svein

2012-01-01

People are generally better at remembering faces of their own race than faces of a different race, and this effect is known as the own-race bias (ORB) effect. We used eye-tracking and pupillometry to investigate whether Caucasian and Asian face stimuli elicited different-looking patterns in Caucasian participants in a face-memory task. Consistent with the ORB effect, we found better recognition performance for own-race faces than other-race faces, and shorter response times. In addition, at encoding, eye movements and pupillary responses to Asian faces (i.e., the other race) were different from those to Caucasian faces (i.e., the own race). Processing of own-race faces was characterized by more active scanning, with a larger number of shorter fixations, and more frequent saccades. Moreover, pupillary diameters were larger when viewing other-race than own-race faces, suggesting a greater cognitive effort when encoding other-race faces.

Face learning and the emergence of view-independent face recognition: an event-related brain potential study.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Friederike G S; Eimer, Martin

2013-06-01

Recognizing unfamiliar faces is more difficult than familiar face recognition, and this has been attributed to qualitative differences in the processing of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Familiar faces are assumed to be represented by view-independent codes, whereas unfamiliar face recognition depends mainly on view-dependent low-level pictorial representations. We employed an electrophysiological marker of visual face recognition processes in order to track the emergence of view-independence during the learning of previously unfamiliar faces. Two face images showing either the same or two different individuals in the same or two different views were presented in rapid succession, and participants had to perform an identity-matching task. On trials where both faces showed the same view, repeating the face of the same individual triggered an N250r component at occipito-temporal electrodes, reflecting the rapid activation of visual face memory. A reliable N250r component was also observed on view-change trials. Crucially, this view-independence emerged as a result of face learning. In the first half of the experiment, N250r components were present only on view-repetition trials but were absent on view-change trials, demonstrating that matching unfamiliar faces was initially based on strictly view-dependent codes. In the second half, the N250r was triggered not only on view-repetition trials but also on view-change trials, indicating that face recognition had now become more view-independent. This transition may be due to the acquisition of abstract structural codes of individual faces during face learning, but could also reflect the formation of associative links between sets of view-specific pictorial representations of individual faces. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early (M170) activation of face-specific cortex by face-like objects.

PubMed

Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Kveraga, Kestutis; Naik, Paulami; Ahlfors, Seppo P

2009-03-04

The tendency to perceive faces in random patterns exhibiting configural properties of faces is an example of pareidolia. Perception of 'real' faces has been associated with a cortical response signal arising at approximately 170 ms after stimulus onset, but what happens when nonface objects are perceived as faces? Using magnetoencephalography, we found that objects incidentally perceived as faces evoked an early (165 ms) activation in the ventral fusiform cortex, at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas common objects did not evoke such activation. An earlier peak at 130 ms was also seen for images of real faces only. Our findings suggest that face perception evoked by face-like objects is a relatively early process, and not a late reinterpretation cognitive phenomenon.

The wide window of face detection.

PubMed

Hershler, Orit; Golan, Tal; Bentin, Shlomo; Hochstein, Shaul

2010-08-20

Faces are detected more rapidly than other objects in visual scenes and search arrays, but the cause for this face advantage has been contested. In the present study, we found that under conditions of spatial uncertainty, faces were easier to detect than control targets (dog faces, clocks and cars) even in the absence of surrounding stimuli, making an explanation based only on low-level differences unlikely. This advantage improved with eccentricity in the visual field, enabling face detection in wider visual windows, and pointing to selective sparing of face detection at greater eccentricities. This face advantage might be due to perceptual factors favoring face detection. In addition, the relative face advantage is greater under flanked than non-flanked conditions, suggesting an additional, possibly attention-related benefit enabling face detection in groups of distracters.

Neural microgenesis of personally familiar face recognition

PubMed Central

Ramon, Meike; Vizioli, Luca; Liu-Shuang, Joan; Rossion, Bruno

2015-01-01

Despite a wealth of information provided by neuroimaging research, the neural basis of familiar face recognition in humans remains largely unknown. Here, we isolated the discriminative neural responses to unfamiliar and familiar faces by slowly increasing visual information (i.e., high-spatial frequencies) to progressively reveal faces of unfamiliar or personally familiar individuals. Activation in ventral occipitotemporal face-preferential regions increased with visual information, independently of long-term face familiarity. In contrast, medial temporal lobe structures (perirhinal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus) and anterior inferior temporal cortex responded abruptly when sufficient information for familiar face recognition was accumulated. These observations suggest that following detailed analysis of individual faces in core posterior areas of the face-processing network, familiar face recognition emerges categorically in medial temporal and anterior regions of the extended cortical face network. PMID:26283361

Neural microgenesis of personally familiar face recognition.

PubMed

Ramon, Meike; Vizioli, Luca; Liu-Shuang, Joan; Rossion, Bruno

2015-09-01

Despite a wealth of information provided by neuroimaging research, the neural basis of familiar face recognition in humans remains largely unknown. Here, we isolated the discriminative neural responses to unfamiliar and familiar faces by slowly increasing visual information (i.e., high-spatial frequencies) to progressively reveal faces of unfamiliar or personally familiar individuals. Activation in ventral occipitotemporal face-preferential regions increased with visual information, independently of long-term face familiarity. In contrast, medial temporal lobe structures (perirhinal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus) and anterior inferior temporal cortex responded abruptly when sufficient information for familiar face recognition was accumulated. These observations suggest that following detailed analysis of individual faces in core posterior areas of the face-processing network, familiar face recognition emerges categorically in medial temporal and anterior regions of the extended cortical face network.

Mere Exposure and Racial Prejudice: Exposure to Other-Race Faces Increases Liking for Strangers of That Race

PubMed Central

Zebrowitz, Leslie A.; White, Benjamin; Wieneke, Kristin

2009-01-01

White participants were exposed to other-race or own-race faces to test the generalized mere exposure hypothesis in the domain of face perception, namely that exposure to a set of faces yields increased liking for similar faces that have never been seen. In Experiment 1, rapid supraliminal exposures to Asian faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Asian faces. In Experiment 2, subliminal exposures to Black faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Black faces. The findings are consistent with prominent explanations for mere exposure effects as well as with the familiar face overgeneralization hypothesis that prejudice derives in part from negative reactions to faces that deviate from the familiar own-race prototype, PMID:19584948

Mere Exposure and Racial Prejudice: Exposure to Other-Race Faces Increases Liking for Strangers of That Race.

PubMed

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; White, Benjamin; Wieneke, Kristin

2008-01-01

White participants were exposed to other-race or own-race faces to test the generalized mere exposure hypothesis in the domain of face perception, namely that exposure to a set of faces yields increased liking for similar faces that have never been seen. In Experiment 1, rapid supraliminal exposures to Asian faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Asian faces. In Experiment 2, subliminal exposures to Black faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Black faces. The findings are consistent with prominent explanations for mere exposure effects as well as with the familiar face overgeneralization hypothesis that prejudice derives in part from negative reactions to faces that deviate from the familiar own-race prototype.

Fusiform gyrus face selectivity relates to individual differences in facial recognition ability.

PubMed

Furl, Nicholas; Garrido, Lúcia; Dolan, Raymond J; Driver, Jon; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-07-01

Regions of the occipital and temporal lobes, including a region in the fusiform gyrus (FG), have been proposed to constitute a "core" visual representation system for faces, in part because they show face selectivity and face repetition suppression. But recent fMRI studies of developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) raise questions about whether these measures relate to face processing skills. Although DPs manifest deficient face processing, most studies to date have not shown unequivocal reductions of functional responses in the proposed core regions. We scanned 15 DPs and 15 non-DP control participants with fMRI while employing factor analysis to derive behavioral components related to face identification or other processes. Repetition suppression specific to facial identities in FG or to expression in FG and STS did not show compelling relationships with face identification ability. However, we identified robust relationships between face selectivity and face identification ability in FG across our sample for several convergent measures, including voxel-wise statistical parametric mapping, peak face selectivity in individually defined "fusiform face areas" (FFAs), and anatomical extents (cluster sizes) of those FFAs. None of these measures showed associations with behavioral expression or object recognition ability. As a group, DPs had reduced face-selective responses in bilateral FFA when compared with non-DPs. Individual DPs were also more likely than non-DPs to lack expected face-selective activity in core regions. These findings associate individual differences in face processing ability with selectivity in core face processing regions. This confirms that face selectivity can provide a valid marker for neural mechanisms that contribute to face identification ability.

Effects of face feature and contour crowding in facial expression adaptation.

PubMed

Liu, Pan; Montaser-Kouhsari, Leila; Xu, Hong

2014-12-01

Prolonged exposure to a visual stimulus, such as a happy face, biases the perception of subsequently presented neutral face toward sad perception, the known face adaptation. Face adaptation is affected by visibility or awareness of the adapting face. However, whether it is affected by discriminability of the adapting face is largely unknown. In the current study, we used crowding to manipulate discriminability of the adapting face and test its effect on face adaptation. Instead of presenting flanking faces near the target face, we shortened the distance between facial features (internal feature crowding), and reduced the size of face contour (external contour crowding), to introduce crowding. We are interested in whether internal feature crowding or external contour crowding is more effective in inducing crowding effect in our first experiment. We found that combining internal feature and external contour crowding, but not either of them alone, induced significant crowding effect. In Experiment 2, we went on further to investigate its effect on adaptation. We found that both internal feature crowding and external contour crowding reduced its facial expression aftereffect (FEA) significantly. However, we did not find a significant correlation between discriminability of the adapting face and its FEA. Interestingly, we found a significant correlation between discriminabilities of the adapting and test faces. Experiment 3 found that the reduced adaptation aftereffect in combined crowding by the external face contour and the internal facial features cannot be decomposed into the effects from the face contour and facial features linearly. It thus suggested a nonlinear integration between facial features and face contour in face adaptation.

Recognition of own-race and other-race faces by three-month-old infants.

PubMed

Sangrigoli, Sandy; De Schonen, Scania

2004-10-01

People are better at recognizing faces of their own race than faces of another race. Such race specificity may be due to differential expertise in the two races. In order to find out whether this other-race effect develops as early as face-recognition skills or whether it is a long-term effect of acquired expertise, we tested face recognition in 3-month-old Caucasian infants by conducting two experiments using Caucasian and Asiatic faces and a visual pair-comparison task. We hypothesized that if the other race effect develops together with face processing skills during the first months of life, the ability to recognize own-race faces will be greater than the ability to recognize other-race faces: 3-month-old Caucasian infants should be better at recognizing Caucasian faces than Asiatic faces. If, on the contrary, the other-race effect is the long-term result of acquired expertise, no difference between recognizing own- and other-race faces will be observed at that age. In Experiment 1, Caucasian infants were habituated to a single face. Recognition was assessed by a novelty preference paradigm. The infants' recognition performance was better for Caucasian than for Asiatic faces. In Experiment 2, Caucasian infants were familiarized with three individual faces. Recognition was demonstrated with both Caucasian and Asiatic faces. These results suggest that (i) the representation of face information by 3-month-olds may be race-experience-dependent (Experiment 1), and (ii) short-term familiarization with exemplars of another race group is sufficient to reduce the other-race effect and to extend the power of face processing (Experiment 2).

Familiar Face Recognition in Children with Autism: The Differential Use of Inner and Outer Face Parts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Rebecca; Pascalis, Olivier; Blades, Mark

2007-01-01

We investigated whether children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) have a deficit in recognising familiar faces. Children with ASD were given a forced choice familiar face recognition task with three conditions: full faces, inner face parts and outer face parts. Control groups were children with developmental delay (DD) and typically…

Encouraging Participation in Face-to-Face Lectures: The Index Card Technique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daws, Laura Beth

2018-01-01

Courses: This activity will work in any face-to-face communication lecture course. Objectives: By the end of the semester in a face-to-face lecture class, every student will have engaged in verbal discussion.

Reward Promotes Self-Face Processing: An Event-Related Potential Study

PubMed Central

Zhan, Youlong; Chen, Jie; Xiao, Xiao; Li, Jin; Yang, Zilu; Fan, Wei; Zhong, Yiping

2016-01-01

The present study adopted a reward-priming paradigm to investigate whether and how monetary reward cues affected self-face processing. Event-related potentials were recorded during judgments of head orientation of target faces (self, friend, and stranger), with performance associated with a monetary reward. The results showed self-faces elicited larger N2 mean amplitudes than other-faces, and mean N2 amplitudes increased after monetary reward as compared with no reward cue. Moreover, an interaction effect between cue type and face type was observed for the P3 component, suggesting that both self-faces and friend-faces elicited larger P3 mean amplitudes than stranger-faces after no reward cue, with no significant difference between self-faces and friend-faces under this condition. However, self-faces elicited larger P3 mean amplitudes than friend-faces when monetary reward cues were provided. Interestingly, the enhancement of reward on friend-faces processing was observed at late positive potentials (LPP; 450–600 ms), suggesting that the LPP difference between friend-faces and stranger-faces was enhanced with monetary reward cues. Thus, we found that the enhancement effect of reward on self-relevant processing occurred at the later stages, but not at the early stage. These findings suggest that the activation of the reward expectations can enhance self-face processing, yielding a robust and sustained modulation over their overlapped brain areas where reward and self-relevant processing mechanisms may operate together. PMID:27242637

Beauty is in the ease of the beholding: A neurophysiological test of the averageness theory of facial attractiveness

PubMed Central

Trujillo, Logan T.; Jankowitsch, Jessica M.; Langlois, Judith H.

2014-01-01

Multiple studies show that people prefer attractive over unattractive faces. But what is an attractive face and why is it preferred? Averageness theory claims that faces are perceived as attractive when their facial configuration approximates the mathematical average facial configuration of the population. Conversely, faces that deviate from this average configuration are perceived as unattractive. The theory predicts that both attractive and mathematically averaged faces should be processed more fluently than unattractive faces, whereas the averaged faces should be processed marginally more fluently than the attractive faces. We compared neurocognitive and behavioral responses to attractive, unattractive, and averaged human faces to test these predictions. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction times (RTs) from 48 adults while they discriminated between human and chimpanzee faces. Participants categorized averaged and high attractive faces as “human” faster than low attractive faces. The posterior N170 (150 – 225 ms) face-evoked ERP component was smaller in response to high attractive and averaged faces versus low attractive faces. Single-trial EEG analysis indicated that this reduced ERP response arose from the engagement of fewer neural resources and not from a change in the temporal consistency of how those resources were engaged. These findings provide novel evidence that faces are perceived as attractive when they approximate a facial configuration close to the population average and suggest that processing fluency underlies preferences for attractive faces. PMID:24326966

Infant face interest is associated with voice information and maternal psychological health.

PubMed

Taylor, Gemma; Slade, Pauline; Herbert, Jane S

2014-11-01

Early infant interest in their mother's face is driven by an experience based face processing system, and is associated with maternal psychological health, even within a non clinical community sample. The present study examined the role of the voice in eliciting infants' interest in mother and stranger faces and in the association between infant face interest and maternal psychological health. Infants aged 3.5-months were shown photographs of their mother's and a stranger's face paired with an audio recording of their mother's and a stranger's voice that was either matched (e.g., mother's face and voice) or mismatched (e.g., mother's face and stranger's voice). Infants spent more time attending to the stranger's matched face and voice than the mother's matched face and voice and the mismatched faces and voices. Thus, infants demonstrated an earlier preference for a stranger's face when given voice information than when the face is presented alone. In the present sample, maternal psychological health varied with 56.7% of mothers reporting mild mood symptoms (depression, anxiety or stress response to childbirth). Infants of mothers with significant mild maternal mood symptoms looked longer at the faces and voices compared to infants of mothers who did not report mild maternal mood symptoms. In sum, infants' experience based face processing system is sensitive to their mothers' maternal psychological health and the multimodal nature of faces. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adherence to Internet-Based and Face-to-Face Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depression: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

van Ballegooijen, Wouter; Cuijpers, Pim; van Straten, Annemieke; Karyotaki, Eirini; Andersson, Gerhard; Smit, Jan H.; Riper, Heleen

2014-01-01

Background Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) is an effective and acceptable treatment for depression, especially when it includes guidance, but its treatment adherence has not yet been systematically studied. We conducted a meta-analysis, comparing the adherence to guided iCBT with the adherence to individual face-to-face CBT. Methods Studies were selected from a database of trials that investigate treatment for adult depression (see www.evidencebasedpsychotherapies.org), updated to January 2013. We identified 24 studies describing 26 treatment conditions (14 face-to-face CBT, 12 guided iCBT), by means of these inclusion criteria: targeting depressed adults, no comorbid somatic disorder or substance abuse, community recruitment, published in the year 2000 or later. The main outcome measure was the percentage of completed sessions. We also coded the percentage of treatment completers (separately coding for 100% or at least 80% of treatment completed). Results We did not find studies that compared guided iCBT and face-to-face CBT in a single trial that met our inclusion criteria. Face-to-face CBT treatments ranged from 12 to 28 sessions, guided iCBT interventions consisted of 5 to 9 sessions. Participants in face-to-face CBT completed on average 83.9% of their treatment, which did not differ significantly from participants in guided iCBT (80.8%, P  =  .59). The percentage of completers (total intervention) was significantly higher in face-to-face CBT (84.7%) than in guided iCBT (65.1%, P < .001), as was the percentage of completers of 80% or more of the intervention (face-to-face CBT: 85.2%, guided iCBT: 67.5%, P  =  .003). Non-completers of face-to-face CBT completed on average 24.5% of their treatment, while non-completers of guided iCBT completed on average 42.1% of their treatment. Conclusion We did not find studies that compared guided iCBT and face-to-face CBT in a single trial. Adherence to guided iCBT appears to be adequate and could be equal to adherence to face-to-face CBT. PMID:25029507

Barack Obama or Barry Dunham? The appearance of multiracial faces is affected by the names assigned to them.

PubMed

Hilliar, Kirin F; Kemp, Richard I

2008-01-01

Does semantic information in the form of stereotypical names influence participants' perceptions of the appearance of multiracial faces? Asian-Australian and European-Australian participants were asked to rate the appearance of Asian-Australian faces given typically Asian names, European-Australian faces given typically European names, multiracial faces given Asian names, and multiracial faces given European names. Participants rated the multiracial faces given European names as looking significantly 'more European' than the same multiracial faces given Asian names. This study demonstrates how socially derived expectations and stereotypes can influence face perception.

Infants experience-dependent processing of male and female faces: Insights from eye tracking and event-related potentials

PubMed Central

Righi, Giulia; Westerlund, Alissa; Congdon, Eliza L.; Troller-Renfree, Sonya; Nelson, Charles A.

2013-01-01

The goal of the present study was to investigate infants’ processing of female and male faces. We used an event-related potential (ERP) priming task, as well as a visual-paired comparison (VPC) eye tracking task to explore how 7-month-old “female expert” infants differed in their responses to faces of different genders. Female faces elicited larger N290 amplitudes than male faces. Furthermore, infants showed a priming effect for female faces only, whereby the N290 was significantly more negative for novel females compared to primed female faces. The VPC experiment was designed to test whether infants could reliably discriminate between two female and two male faces. Analyses showed that infants were able to differentiate faces of both genders. The results of the present study suggest that 7-month olds with a large amount of female face experience show a processing advantage for forming a neural representation of female faces, compared to male faces. However, the enhanced neural sensitivity to the repetition of female faces is not due to the infants' inability to discriminate male faces. Instead, the combination of results from the two tasks suggests that the differential processing for female faces may be a signature of expert-level processing. PMID:24200421

Emotional Expression and Heart Rate in High-Risk Infants during the Face-To-Face/Still-Face

PubMed Central

Mattson, Whitney I.; Ekas, Naomi V.; Lambert, Brittany; Tronick, Ed; Lester, Barry M.; Messinger, Daniel S.

2013-01-01

In infants, eye constriction—the Duchenne marker—and mouth opening appear to index the intensity of both positive and negative facial expressions. We combined eye constriction and mouth opening that co-occurred with smiles and cry-faces (respectively, the prototypic expressions of infant joy and distress) to measure emotional expression intensity. Expression intensity and heart rate were measured throughout the Face-to-Face/Still Face (FFSF) in a sample of infants with prenatal cocaine exposure who were at risk for developmental difficulties. Smiles declined and cry-faces increased in the still-face episode, but the distribution of eye constriction and mouth opening in smiles and cry-faces did not differ across episodes of the FFSF. As time elapsed in the still face episode potential indices of intensity increased, cry-faces were more likely to be accompanied by eye constriction and mouth opening. During cry-faces there were also moderately stable individual differences in the quantity of eye constriction and mouth opening. Infant heart rate was higher during cry-faces and lower during smiles, but did not vary with intensity of expression or by episode. In sum, infants express more intense negative affect as the still-face progresses, but do not show clear differences in expressive intensity between episodes of the FFSF. PMID:24095807

Judging Normality and Attractiveness in Faces: Direct Evidence of a More Refined Representation for Own-Race, Young Adult Faces.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaomei; Short, Lindsey A; Chan, Harmonie S J; Mondloch, Catherine J

2016-09-01

Young and older adults are more sensitive to deviations from normality in young than older adult faces, suggesting that the dimensions of face space are optimized for young adult faces. Here, we extend these findings to own-race faces and provide converging evidence using an attractiveness rating task. In Experiment 1, Caucasian and Chinese adults were shown own- and other-race face pairs; one member was undistorted and the other had compressed or expanded features. Participants indicated which member of each pair was more normal (a task that requires referencing a norm) and which was more expanded (a task that simply requires discrimination). Participants showed an own-race advantage in the normality task but not the discrimination task. In Experiment 2, participants rated the facial attractiveness of own- and other-race faces (Experiment 2a) or young and older adult faces (Experiment 2b). Between-rater variability in ratings of individual faces was higher for other-race and older adult faces; reduced consensus in attractiveness judgments reflects a less refined face space. Collectively, these results provide direct evidence that the dimensions of face space are optimized for own-race and young adult faces, which may underlie face race- and age-based deficits in recognition. © The Author(s) 2016.

Caucasian Infants Scan Own- and Other-Race Faces Differently

PubMed Central

Wheeler, Andrea; Anzures, Gizelle; Quinn, Paul C.; Pascalis, Olivier; Omrin, Danielle S.; Lee, Kang

2011-01-01

Young infants are known to prefer own-race faces to other race faces and recognize own-race faces better than other-race faces. However, it is entirely unclear as to whether infants also attend to different parts of own- and other-race faces differently, which may provide an important clue as to how and why the own-race face recognition advantage emerges so early. The present study used eye tracking methodology to investigate whether 6- to 10-month-old Caucasian infants (N = 37) have differential scanning patterns for dynamically displayed own- and other-race faces. We found that even though infants spent a similar amount of time looking at own- and other-race faces, with increased age, infants increasingly looked longer at the eyes of own-race faces and less at the mouths of own-race faces. These findings suggest experience-based tuning of the infant's face processing system to optimally process own-race faces that are different in physiognomy from other-race faces. In addition, the present results, taken together with recent own- and other-race eye tracking findings with infants and adults, provide strong support for an enculturation hypothesis that East Asians and Westerners may be socialized to scan faces differently due to each culture's conventions regarding mutual gaze during interpersonal communication. PMID:21533235

Face recognition increases during saccade preparation.

PubMed

Lin, Hai; Rizak, Joshua D; Ma, Yuan-ye; Yang, Shang-chuan; Chen, Lin; Hu, Xin-tian

2014-01-01

Face perception is integral to human perception system as it underlies social interactions. Saccadic eye movements are frequently made to bring interesting visual information, such as faces, onto the fovea for detailed processing. Just before eye movement onset, the processing of some basic features, such as the orientation, of an object improves at the saccade landing point. Interestingly, there is also evidence that indicates faces are processed in early visual processing stages similar to basic features. However, it is not known whether this early enhancement of processing includes face recognition. In this study, three experiments were performed to map the timing of face presentation to the beginning of the eye movement in order to evaluate pre-saccadic face recognition. Faces were found to be similarly processed as simple objects immediately prior to saccadic movements. Starting ∼ 120 ms before a saccade to a target face, independent of whether or not the face was surrounded by other faces, the face recognition gradually improved and the critical spacing of the crowding decreased as saccade onset was approaching. These results suggest that an upcoming saccade prepares the visual system for new information about faces at the saccade landing site and may reduce the background in a crowd to target the intended face. This indicates an important role of pre-saccadic eye movement signals in human face recognition.

Encoding deficit during face processing within the right fusiform face area in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Walther, Sebastian; Federspiel, Andrea; Horn, Helge; Bianchi, Piero; Wiest, Roland; Wirth, Miranka; Strik, Werner; Müller, Thomas Jörg

2009-06-30

Face processing is crucial to social interaction, but is impaired in schizophrenia patients, who experience delays in face recognition, difficulties identifying others, and misperceptions of affective content. The right fusiform face area plays an important role in the early stages of human face processing and thus may be affected in schizophrenia. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate whether face processing deficits are related to dysfunctions of the right fusiform face area in schizophrenia patients compared with controls. In a rapid, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design, we investigated the encoding of new faces, as well as the recognition of newly learned, famous, and unfamiliar faces, in 13 schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls. We applied region of interest analysis to each individual's right fusiform face area and tested for group differences. Controls displayed higher blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activation during the memorization of faces that were later successfully recognized. In schizophrenia patients, this effect was not observed. During the recognition task, schizophrenia patients exhibited lower BOLD responses, less accuracy, and longer reaction times to famous and unfamiliar faces. Our results support the hypothesis that impaired face processing in schizophrenia is related to early-stage deficits during the encoding and recognition of faces.

Problems of Face Recognition in Patients with Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.

PubMed

Chandra, Sadanandavalli Retnaswami; Patwardhan, Ketaki; Pai, Anupama Ramakanth

2017-01-01

Faces are very special as they are most essential for social cognition in humans. It is partly understood that face processing in its abstractness involves several extra striate areas. One of the most important causes for caregiver suffering in patients with anterior dementia is lack of empathy. This apart from being a behavioral disorder could be also due to failure to categorize the emotions of the people around them. Inlusion criteria: DSM IV for Bv FTD Tested for prosopagnosia - familiar faces, famous face, smiling face, crying face and reflected face using a simple picture card (figure 1). Advanced illness and mixed causes. 46 patients (15 females, 31 males) 24 had defective face recognition. (mean age 51.5),10/15 females (70%) and 14/31males(47. Familiar face recognition defect was found in 6/10 females and 6/14 males. Total- 40%(6/15) females and 19.35%(6/31)males with FTD had familiar face recognition. Famous Face: 9/10 females and 7/14 males. Total- 60% (9/15) females with FTD had famous face recognition defect as against 22.6%(7/31) males with FTD Smiling face defects in 8/10 female and no males. Total- 53.33% (8/15) females. Crying face recognition defect in 3/10 female and 2 /14 males. Total- 20%(3/15) females and 6.5%(2/31) males. Reflected face recognition defect in 4 females. Famous face recognition and positive emotion recognition defect in 80%, only 20% comprehend positive emotions, Face recognition defects are found in only 45% of males and more common in females. Face recognition is more affected in females with FTD There is differential involvement of different aspects of the face recognition could be one of the important factor underlying decline in the emotional and social behavior of these patients. Understanding these pathological processes will give more insight regarding patient behavior.

Interpersonal similarity between body movements in face-to-face communication in daily life.

PubMed

Higo, Naoki; Ogawa, Ken-ichiro; Minemura, Juichi; Xu, Bujie; Nozawa, Takayuki; Ogata, Taiki; Ara, Koji; Yano, Kazuo; Miyake, Yoshihiro

2014-01-01

Individuals are embedded in social networks in which they communicate with others in their daily lives. Because smooth face-to-face communication is the key to maintaining these networks, measuring the smoothness of such communication is an important issue. One indicator of smoothness is the similarity of the body movements of the two individuals concerned. A typical example noted in experimental environments is the interpersonal synchronization of body movements such as nods and gestures during smooth face-to-face communication. It should therefore be possible to estimate quantitatively the smoothness of face-to-face communication in social networks through measurement of the synchronization of body movements. However, this is difficult because social networks, which differ from disciplined experimental environments, are open environments for the face-to-face communication between two individuals. In such open environments, their body movements become complicated by various external factors and may follow unstable and nonuniform patterns. Nevertheless, we consider there to be some interaction during face-to-face communication that leads to the interpersonal synchronization of body movements, which can be seen through the interpersonal similarity of body movements. The present study aims to clarify such interaction in terms of body movements during daily face-to-face communication in real organizations of more than 100 people. We analyzed data on the frequency of body movement for each individual during face-to-face communication, as measured by a wearable sensor, and evaluated the degree of interpersonal similarity of body movements between two individuals as their frequency difference. Furthermore, we generated uncorrelated data by resampling the data gathered and compared these two data sets statistically to distinguish the effects of actual face-to-face communication from those of the activities accompanying the communication. Our results confirm an interpersonal similarity of body movements between two individuals in face-to-face communication, for all the organizations studied, and suggest that some body interaction is behind this similarity.

Interpersonal Similarity between Body Movements in Face-To-Face Communication in Daily Life

PubMed Central

Higo, Naoki; Ogawa, Ken-ichiro; Minemura, Juichi; Xu, Bujie; Nozawa, Takayuki; Ogata, Taiki; Ara, Koji; Yano, Kazuo; Miyake, Yoshihiro

2014-01-01

Individuals are embedded in social networks in which they communicate with others in their daily lives. Because smooth face-to-face communication is the key to maintaining these networks, measuring the smoothness of such communication is an important issue. One indicator of smoothness is the similarity of the body movements of the two individuals concerned. A typical example noted in experimental environments is the interpersonal synchronization of body movements such as nods and gestures during smooth face-to-face communication. It should therefore be possible to estimate quantitatively the smoothness of face-to-face communication in social networks through measurement of the synchronization of body movements. However, this is difficult because social networks, which differ from disciplined experimental environments, are open environments for the face-to-face communication between two individuals. In such open environments, their body movements become complicated by various external factors and may follow unstable and nonuniform patterns. Nevertheless, we consider there to be some interaction during face-to-face communication that leads to the interpersonal synchronization of body movements, which can be seen through the interpersonal similarity of body movements. The present study aims to clarify such interaction in terms of body movements during daily face-to-face communication in real organizations of more than 100 people. We analyzed data on the frequency of body movement for each individual during face-to-face communication, as measured by a wearable sensor, and evaluated the degree of interpersonal similarity of body movements between two individuals as their frequency difference. Furthermore, we generated uncorrelated data by resampling the data gathered and compared these two data sets statistically to distinguish the effects of actual face-to-face communication from those of the activities accompanying the communication. Our results confirm an interpersonal similarity of body movements between two individuals in face-to-face communication, for all the organizations studied, and suggest that some body interaction is behind this similarity. PMID:25014021

Visual search for faces by race: a cross-race study.

PubMed

Sun, Gang; Song, Luping; Bentin, Shlomo; Yang, Yanjie; Zhao, Lun

2013-08-30

Using a single averaged face of each race previous study indicated that the detection of one other-race face among own-race faces background was faster than vice versa (Levin, 1996, 2000). However, employing a variable mapping of face pictures one recent report found preferential detection of own-race faces vs. other-race faces (Lipp et al., 2009). Using the well-controlled design and a heterogeneous set of real face images, in the present study we explored the visual search for own and other race faces in Chinese and Caucasian participants. Across both groups, the search for a face of one race among other-race faces was serial and self-terminating. In Chinese participants, the search consistently faster for other-race than own-race faces, irrespective of upright or upside-down condition; however, this search asymmetry was not evident in Caucasian participants. These characteristics suggested that the race of a face is not a visual basic feature, and in Chinese participants the faster search for other-race than own-race faces also reflects perceptual factors. The possible mechanism underlying other-race search effects was discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation theory with face-to-face versus audiovisual instruction for secondary school students: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Cerezo Espinosa, Cristina; Nieto Caballero, Sergio; Juguera Rodríguez, Laura; Castejón-Mochón, José Francisco; Segura Melgarejo, Francisca; Sánchez Martínez, Carmen María; López López, Carmen Amalia; Pardo Ríos, Manuel

2018-02-01

To compare secondary students' learning of basic life support (BLS) theory and the use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) through face-to-face classroom instruction versus educational video instruction. A total of 2225 secondary students from 15 schools were randomly assigned to one of the following 5 instructional groups: 1) face-to-face instruction with no audiovisual support, 2) face-to-face instruction with audiovisual support, 3) audiovisual instruction without face-to-face instruction, 4) audiovisual instruction with face-to-face instruction, and 5) a control group that received no instruction. The students took a test of BLS and AED theory before instruction, immediately after instruction, and 2 months later. The median (interquartile range) scores overall were 2.33 (2.17) at baseline, 5.33 (4.66) immediately after instruction (P<.001) and 6.00 (3.33) (P<.001). All groups except the control group improved their scores. Scores immediately after instruction and 2 months later were statistically similar after all types of instruction. No significant differences between face-to-face instruction and audiovisual instruction for learning BLS and AED theory were found in secondary school students either immediately after instruction or 2 months later.

Bayesian Face Recognition and Perceptual Narrowing in Face-Space

PubMed Central

Balas, Benjamin

2012-01-01

During the first year of life, infants’ face recognition abilities are subject to “perceptual narrowing,” the end result of which is that observers lose the ability to distinguish previously discriminable faces (e.g. other-race faces) from one another. Perceptual narrowing has been reported for faces of different species and different races, in developing humans and primates. Though the phenomenon is highly robust and replicable, there have been few efforts to model the emergence of perceptual narrowing as a function of the accumulation of experience with faces during infancy. The goal of the current study is to examine how perceptual narrowing might manifest as statistical estimation in “face space,” a geometric framework for describing face recognition that has been successfully applied to adult face perception. Here, I use a computer vision algorithm for Bayesian face recognition to study how the acquisition of experience in face space and the presence of race categories affect performance for own and other-race faces. Perceptual narrowing follows from the establishment of distinct race categories, suggesting that the acquisition of category boundaries for race is a key computational mechanism in developing face expertise. PMID:22709406

Eye tracking reveals a crucial role for facial motion in recognition of faces by infants

PubMed Central

Xiao, Naiqi G.; Quinn, Paul C.; Liu, Shaoying; Ge, Liezhong; Pascalis, Olivier; Lee, Kang

2015-01-01

Current knowledge about face processing in infancy comes largely from studies using static face stimuli, but faces that infants see in the real world are mostly moving ones. To bridge this gap, 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Asian infants (N = 118) were familiarized with either moving or static Asian female faces and then their face recognition was tested with static face images. Eye tracking methodology was used to record eye movements during familiarization and test phases. The results showed a developmental change in eye movement patterns, but only for the moving faces. In addition, the more infants shifted their fixations across facial regions, the better was their face recognition, but only for the moving faces. The results suggest that facial movement influences the way faces are encoded from early in development. PMID:26010387

Recognition memory of newly learned faces.

PubMed

Ishai, Alumit; Yago, Elena

2006-12-11

We used event-related fMRI to study recognition memory of newly learned faces. Caucasian subjects memorized unfamiliar, neutral and happy South Korean faces and 4 days later performed a memory retrieval task in the MR scanner. We predicted that previously seen faces would be recognized faster and more accurately and would elicit stronger neural activation than novel faces. Consistent with our hypothesis, novel faces were recognized more slowly and less accurately than previously seen faces. We found activation in a distributed cortical network that included face-responsive regions in the visual cortex, parietal and prefrontal regions, and the hippocampus. Within all regions, correctly recognized, previously seen faces evoked stronger activation than novel faces. Additionally, in parietal and prefrontal cortices, stronger activation was observed during correct than incorrect trials. Finally, in the hippocampus, false alarms to happy faces elicited stronger responses than false alarms to neutral faces. Our findings suggest that face recognition memory is mediated by stimulus-specific representations stored in extrastriate regions; parietal and prefrontal regions where old and new items are classified; and the hippocampus where veridical memory traces are recovered.

Memory for faces: the effect of facial appearance and the context in which the face is encountered.

PubMed

Mattarozzi, Katia; Todorov, Alexander; Codispoti, Maurizio

2015-03-01

We investigated the effects of appearance of emotionally neutral faces and the context in which the faces are encountered on incidental face memory. To approximate real-life situations as closely as possible, faces were embedded in a newspaper article, with a headline that specified an action performed by the person pictured. We found that facial appearance affected memory so that faces perceived as trustworthy or untrustworthy were remembered better than neutral ones. Furthermore, the memory of untrustworthy faces was slightly better than that of trustworthy faces. The emotional context of encoding affected the details of face memory. Faces encountered in a neutral context were more likely to be recognized as only familiar. In contrast, emotionally relevant contexts of encoding, whether pleasant or unpleasant, increased the likelihood of remembering semantic and even episodic details associated with faces. These findings suggest that facial appearance (i.e., perceived trustworthiness) affects face memory. Moreover, the findings support prior evidence that the engagement of emotion processing during memory encoding increases the likelihood that events are not only recognized but also remembered.

Searching for differences in race: is there evidence for preferential detection of other-race faces?

PubMed

Lipp, Ottmar V; Terry, Deborah J; Smith, Joanne R; Tellegen, Cassandra L; Kuebbeler, Jennifer; Newey, Mareka

2009-06-01

Previous research has suggested that like animal and social fear-relevant stimuli, other-race faces (African American) are detected preferentially in visual search. Three experiments using Chinese or Indonesian faces as other-race faces yielded the opposite pattern of results: faster detection of same-race faces among other-race faces. This apparently inconsistent pattern of results was resolved by showing that Asian and African American faces are detected preferentially in tasks that have small stimulus sets and employ fixed target searches. Asian and African American other-race faces are found slower among Caucasian face backgrounds if larger stimulus sets are used in tasks with a variable mapping of stimulus to background or target. Thus, preferential detection of other-race faces was not found under task conditions in which preferential detection of animal and social fear-relevant stimuli is evident. Although consistent with the view that same-race faces are processed in more detail than other-race faces, the current findings suggest that other-race faces do not draw attention preferentially.

A novel thermal face recognition approach using face pattern words

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Yufeng

2010-04-01

A reliable thermal face recognition system can enhance the national security applications such as prevention against terrorism, surveillance, monitoring and tracking, especially at nighttime. The system can be applied at airports, customs or high-alert facilities (e.g., nuclear power plant) for 24 hours a day. In this paper, we propose a novel face recognition approach utilizing thermal (long wave infrared) face images that can automatically identify a subject at both daytime and nighttime. With a properly acquired thermal image (as a query image) in monitoring zone, the following processes will be employed: normalization and denoising, face detection, face alignment, face masking, Gabor wavelet transform, face pattern words (FPWs) creation, face identification by similarity measure (Hamming distance). If eyeglasses are present on a subject's face, an eyeglasses mask will be automatically extracted from the querying face image, and then masked with all comparing FPWs (no more transforms). A high identification rate (97.44% with Top-1 match) has been achieved upon our preliminary face dataset (of 39 subjects) from the proposed approach regardless operating time and glasses-wearing condition.e

System for face recognition under expression variations of neutral-sampled individuals using recognized expression warping and a virtual expression-face database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petpairote, Chayanut; Madarasmi, Suthep; Chamnongthai, Kosin

2018-01-01

The practical identification of individuals using facial recognition techniques requires the matching of faces with specific expressions to faces from a neutral face database. A method for facial recognition under varied expressions against neutral face samples of individuals via recognition of expression warping and the use of a virtual expression-face database is proposed. In this method, facial expressions are recognized and the input expression faces are classified into facial expression groups. To aid facial recognition, the virtual expression-face database is sorted into average facial-expression shapes and by coarse- and fine-featured facial textures. Wrinkle information is also employed in classification by using a process of masking to adjust input faces to match the expression-face database. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method using the CMU multi-PIE, Cohn-Kanade, and AR expression-face databases, and we find that it provides significantly improved results in terms of face recognition accuracy compared to conventional methods and is acceptable for facial recognition under expression variation.

The special status of sad infant faces: age and valence differences in adults' cortical face processing.

PubMed

Colasante, Tyler; Mossad, Sarah I; Dudek, Joanna; Haley, David W

2017-04-01

Understanding the relative and joint prioritization of age- and valence-related face characteristics in adults' cortical face processing remains elusive because these two characteristics have not been manipulated in a single study of neural face processing. We used electroencephalography to investigate adults' P1, N170, P2 and LPP responses to infant and adult faces with happy and sad facial expressions. Viewing infant vs adult faces was associated with significantly larger P1, N170, P2 and LPP responses, with hemisphere and/or participant gender moderating this effect in select cases. Sad faces were associated with significantly larger N170 responses than happy faces. Sad infant faces were associated with significantly larger N170 responses in the right hemisphere than all other combinations of face age and face valence characteristics. We discuss the relative and joint neural prioritization of infant face characteristics and negative facial affect, and their biological value as distinct caregiving and social cues. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effects of incisor extraction on jaw and tongue motor representations within face sensorimotor cortex of adult rats.

PubMed

Avivi-Arber, Limor; Lee, Jye-Chang; Sessle, Barry J

2010-04-01

Loss of teeth is associated with changes in somatosensory inputs and altered patterns of mastication, but it is unclear whether tooth loss is associated with changes in motor representations within face sensorimotor cortex of rats. We used intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and recordings of cortically evoked muscle electromyographic (EMG) activities to test whether changes occur in the ICMS-defined motor representations of the left and right jaw muscles [masseter, anterior digastric (LAD, RAD)] and tongue muscle [genioglossus (GG)] within the cytoarchitectonically defined face primary motor cortex (face-M1) and adjacent face primary somatosensory cortex (face-S1) 1 week following extraction of the right mandibular incisor in anesthetized (ketamine-HCl) adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Under local and general anesthesia, an "extraction" group (n = 8) received mucoalveolar bone surgery and extraction of the mandibular right incisor. A "sham-extraction" group (n = 6) received surgery with no extraction. A "naive" group (n = 6) had neither surgery nor extraction. Data were compared by using mixed-model repeated-measures ANOVA. Dental extraction was associated with a significantly increased number of sites within face-M1 and face-S1 from which ICMS evoked RAD EMG activities, a lateral shift of the RAD and LAD centers of gravity within face-M1, shorter onset latencies of ICMS-evoked GG activities within face-M1 and face-S1, and an increased number of sites within face-M1 from which ICMS simultaneously evoked RAD and GG activities. Our novel findings suggest that dental extraction may be associated with significant neuroplastic changes within the rat's face-M1 and adjacent face-S1 that may be related to the animal's ability to adapt to the altered oral state. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Meta-analytic review of the development of face discrimination in infancy: Face race, face gender, infant age, and methodology moderate face discrimination.

PubMed

Sugden, Nicole A; Marquis, Alexandra R

2017-11-01

Infants show facility for discriminating between individual faces within hours of birth. Over the first year of life, infants' face discrimination shows continued improvement with familiar face types, such as own-race faces, but not with unfamiliar face types, like other-race faces. The goal of this meta-analytic review is to provide an effect size for infants' face discrimination ability overall, with own-race faces, and with other-race faces within the first year of life, how this differs with age, and how it is influenced by task methodology. Inclusion criteria were (a) infant participants aged 0 to 12 months, (b) completing a human own- or other-race face discrimination task, (c) with discrimination being determined by infant looking. Our analysis included 30 works (165 samples, 1,926 participants participated in 2,623 tasks). The effect size for infants' face discrimination was small, 6.53% greater than chance (i.e., equal looking to the novel and familiar). There was a significant difference in discrimination by race, overall (own-race, 8.18%; other-race, 3.18%) and between ages (own-race: 0- to 4.5-month-olds, 7.32%; 5- to 7.5-month-olds, 9.17%; and 8- to 12-month-olds, 7.68%; other-race: 0- to 4.5-month-olds, 6.12%; 5- to 7.5-month-olds, 3.70%; and 8- to 12-month-olds, 2.79%). Multilevel linear (mixed-effects) models were used to predict face discrimination; infants' capacity to discriminate faces is sensitive to face characteristics including race, gender, and emotion as well as the methods used, including task timing, coding method, and visual angle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The other face of the other-race effect: An fMRI investigation of the other-race face categorization advantage

PubMed Central

Feng, Lu; Liu, Jiangang; Wang, Zhe; Li, Jun; Li, Ling; Ge, Liezhong; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

2011-01-01

The present study was the first to use the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology to investigate the neural correlates of race categorization of own- and other-race faces. We found that Chinese participants categorized the race of Caucasian faces more accurately and faster than that of Chinese faces, replicating the robust effect of the other-race categorization advantage. Regions of interest (ROI) analyses revealed greater neural activations when participants were categorizing own-race faces than other-race faces in the bilateral ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOT) such as the fusiform face areas (FFA) and the occipital face areas (OFA). Within the left FFA, there was also a significant negative correlation between the behavioral difference of own- and other-race face categorization accuracy and the activation difference between categorizing own- and other-race faces. Whole brain analyses showed that categorizing own-race faces induced greater activations in the right medial frontal cortex (MFC) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than categorizing other-race faces. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses revealed that the frontal cortical regions interacted more strongly with the posterior VOT during the categorization of own-race faces than that of other-race faces. Overall, our findings suggest that relative to the categorization of other-race faces, more cortical resources are engaged during the categorization of own-race faces with which we have a higher level of processing expertise. This increased involvement of cortical neural sources perhaps serves to provide more in-depth processing of own-race faces (such as individuation), which in turn paradoxically results in the behavioral other-race categorization advantage. PMID:21971308

Facilitation of face recognition through the retino-tectal pathway.

PubMed

Nakano, Tamami; Higashida, Noriko; Kitazawa, Shigeru

2013-08-01

Humans can shift their gazes faster to human faces than to non-face targets during a task in which they are required to choose between face and non-face targets. However, it remains unclear whether a direct projection from the retina to the superior colliculus is specifically involved in this facilitated recognition of faces. To address this question, we presented a pair of face and non-face pictures to participants modulated in greyscale (luminance-defined stimuli) in one condition and modulated in a blue-yellow scale (S-cone-isolating stimuli) in another. The information of the S-cone-isolating stimuli is conveyed through the retino-geniculate pathway rather than the retino-tectal pathway. For the luminance stimuli, the reaction time was shorter towards a face than towards a non-face target. The facilitatory effect while choosing a face disappeared with the S-cone stimuli. Moreover, fearful faces elicited a significantly larger facilitatory effect relative to neutral faces, when the face (with or without emotion) and non-face stimuli were presented in greyscale. The effect of emotional expressions disappeared with the S-cone stimuli. In contrast to the S-cone stimuli, the face facilitatory effect was still observed with negated stimuli that were prepared by reversing the polarity of the original colour pictures and looked as unusual as the S-cone stimuli but still contained luminance information. These results demonstrate that the face facilitatory effect requires the facial and emotional information defined by luminance, suggesting that the luminance information conveyed through the retino-tectal pathway is responsible for the faster recognition of human faces. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Looking at faces from different angles: Europeans fixate different features in Asian and Caucasian faces.

PubMed

Brielmann, Aenne A; Bülthoff, Isabelle; Armann, Regine

2014-07-01

Race categorization of faces is a fast and automatic process and is known to affect further face processing profoundly and at earliest stages. Whether processing of own- and other-race faces might rely on different facial cues, as indicated by diverging viewing behavior, is much under debate. We therefore aimed to investigate two open questions in our study: (1) Do observers consider information from distinct facial features informative for race categorization or do they prefer to gain global face information by fixating the geometrical center of the face? (2) Does the fixation pattern, or, if facial features are considered relevant, do these features differ between own- and other-race faces? We used eye tracking to test where European observers look when viewing Asian and Caucasian faces in a race categorization task. Importantly, in order to disentangle centrally located fixations from those towards individual facial features, we presented faces in frontal, half-profile and profile views. We found that observers showed no general bias towards looking at the geometrical center of faces, but rather directed their first fixations towards distinct facial features, regardless of face race. However, participants looked at the eyes more often in Caucasian faces than in Asian faces, and there were significantly more fixations to the nose for Asian compared to Caucasian faces. Thus, observers rely on information from distinct facial features rather than facial information gained by centrally fixating the face. To what extent specific features are looked at is determined by the face's race. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in cortical face selectivity predict behavioral performance in face recognition

PubMed Central

Huang, Lijie; Song, Yiying; Li, Jingguang; Zhen, Zonglei; Yang, Zetian; Liu, Jia

2014-01-01

In functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, object selectivity is defined as a higher neural response to an object category than other object categories. Importantly, object selectivity is widely considered as a neural signature of a functionally-specialized area in processing its preferred object category in the human brain. However, the behavioral significance of the object selectivity remains unclear. In the present study, we used the individual differences approach to correlate participants' face selectivity in the face-selective regions with their behavioral performance in face recognition measured outside the scanner in a large sample of healthy adults. Face selectivity was defined as the z score of activation with the contrast of faces vs. non-face objects, and the face recognition ability was indexed as the normalized residual of the accuracy in recognizing previously-learned faces after regressing out that for non-face objects in an old/new memory task. We found that the participants with higher face selectivity in the fusiform face area (FFA) and the occipital face area (OFA), but not in the posterior part of the superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), possessed higher face recognition ability. Importantly, the association of face selectivity in the FFA and face recognition ability cannot be accounted for by FFA response to objects or behavioral performance in object recognition, suggesting that the association is domain-specific. Finally, the association is reliable, confirmed by the replication from another independent participant group. In sum, our finding provides empirical evidence on the validity of using object selectivity as a neural signature in defining object-selective regions in the human brain. PMID:25071513

Prevalence of face recognition deficits in middle childhood.

PubMed

Bennetts, Rachel J; Murray, Ebony; Boyce, Tian; Bate, Sarah

2017-02-01

Approximately 2-2.5% of the adult population is believed to show severe difficulties with face recognition, in the absence of any neurological injury-a condition known as developmental prosopagnosia (DP). However, to date no research has attempted to estimate the prevalence of face recognition deficits in children, possibly because there are very few child-friendly, well-validated tests of face recognition. In the current study, we examined face and object recognition in a group of primary school children (aged 5-11 years), to establish whether our tests were suitable for children and to provide an estimate of face recognition difficulties in children. In Experiment 1 (n = 184), children completed a pre-existing test of child face memory, the Cambridge Face Memory Test-Kids (CFMT-K), and a bicycle test with the same format. In Experiment 2 (n = 413), children completed three-alternative forced-choice matching tasks with faces and bicycles. All tests showed good psychometric properties. The face and bicycle tests were well matched for difficulty and showed a similar developmental trajectory. Neither the memory nor the matching tests were suitable to detect impairments in the youngest groups of children, but both tests appear suitable to screen for face recognition problems in middle childhood. In the current sample, 1.2-5.2% of children showed difficulties with face recognition; 1.2-4% showed face-specific difficulties-that is, poor face recognition with typical object recognition abilities. This is somewhat higher than previous adult estimates: It is possible that face matching tests overestimate the prevalence of face recognition difficulties in children; alternatively, some children may "outgrow" face recognition difficulties.

Neurophysiological evidence (ERPs) for hemispheric processing of facial expressions of emotions: Evidence from whole face and chimeric face stimuli.

PubMed

Damaskinou, Nikoleta; Watling, Dawn

2018-05-01

This study was designed to investigate the patterns of electrophysiological responses of early emotional processing at frontocentral sites in adults and to explore whether adults' activation patterns show hemispheric lateralization for facial emotion processing. Thirty-five adults viewed full face and chimeric face stimuli. After viewing two faces, sequentially, participants were asked to decide which of the two faces was more emotive. The findings from the standard faces and the chimeric faces suggest that emotion processing is present during the early phases of face processing in the frontocentral sites. In particular, sad emotional faces are processed differently than neutral and happy (including happy chimeras) faces in these early phases of processing. Further, there were differences in the electrode amplitudes over the left and right hemisphere, particularly in the early temporal window. This research provides supporting evidence that the chimeric face test is a test of emotion processing that elicits right hemispheric processing.

Face Gender Influences the Looking Preference for Smiling Expressions in 3.5-Month-Old Human Infants

PubMed Central

Bayet, Laurie; Quinn, Paul C.; Tanaka, James W.; Lee, Kang; Gentaz, Édouard; Pascalis, Olivier

2015-01-01

Young infants are typically thought to prefer looking at smiling expressions. Although some accounts suggest that the preference is automatic and universal, we hypothesized that it is not rigid and may be influenced by other face dimensions, most notably the face’s gender. Infants are sensitive to the gender of faces; for example, 3-month-olds raised by female caregivers typically prefer female over male faces. We presented neutral versus smiling pairs of faces from the same female or male individuals to 3.5-month-old infants (n = 25), controlling for low-level cues. Infants looked longer to the smiling face when faces were female but longer to the neutral face when faces were male, i.e., there was an effect of face gender on the looking preference for smiling. The results indicate that a preference for smiling in 3.5-month-olds is limited to female faces, possibly reflective of differential experience with male and female faces. PMID:26068460

Effective connectivities of cortical regions for top-down face processing: A Dynamic Causal Modeling study

PubMed Central

Li, Jun; Liu, Jiangang; Liang, Jimin; Zhang, Hongchuan; Zhao, Jizheng; Rieth, Cory A.; Huber, David E.; Li, Wu; Shi, Guangming; Ai, Lin; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

2013-01-01

To study top-down face processing, the present study used an experimental paradigm in which participants detected non-existent faces in pure noise images. Conventional BOLD signal analysis identified three regions involved in this illusory face detection. These regions included the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in addition to the right fusiform face area (FFA) and right occipital face area (OFA), both of which were previously known to be involved in both top-down and bottom-up processing of faces. We used Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) and Bayesian model selection to further analyze the data, revealing both intrinsic and modulatory effective connectivities among these three cortical regions. Specifically, our results support the claim that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a crucial role in the top-down processing of faces by regulating the activities of the occipital face area, and the occipital face area in turn detects the illusory face features in the visual stimuli and then provides this information to the fusiform face area for further analysis. PMID:20423709

The many faces of research on face perception.

PubMed

Little, Anthony C; Jones, Benedict C; DeBruine, Lisa M

2011-06-12

Face perception is fundamental to human social interaction. Many different types of important information are visible in faces and the processes and mechanisms involved in extracting this information are complex and can be highly specialized. The importance of faces has long been recognized by a wide range of scientists. Importantly, the range of perspectives and techniques that this breadth has brought to face perception research has, in recent years, led to many important advances in our understanding of face processing. The articles in this issue on face perception each review a particular arena of interest in face perception, variously focusing on (i) the social aspects of face perception (attraction, recognition and emotion), (ii) the neural mechanisms underlying face perception (using brain scanning, patient data, direct stimulation of the brain, visual adaptation and single-cell recording), and (iii) comparative aspects of face perception (comparing adult human abilities with those of chimpanzees and children). Here, we introduce the central themes of the issue and present an overview of the articles.

Becoming a Lunari or Taiyo expert: learned attention to parts drives holistic processing of faces.

PubMed

Chua, Kao-Wei; Richler, Jennifer J; Gauthier, Isabel

2014-06-01

Faces are processed holistically, but the locus of holistic processing remains unclear. We created two novel races of faces (Lunaris and Taiyos) to study how experience with face parts influences holistic processing. In Experiment 1, subjects individuated Lunaris wherein the top, bottom, or both face halves contained diagnostic information. Subjects who learned to attend to face parts exhibited no holistic processing. This suggests that individuation only leads to holistic processing when the whole face is attended. In Experiment 2, subjects individuated both Lunaris and Taiyos, with diagnostic information in complementary face halves of the two races. Holistic processing was measured with composites made of either diagnostic or nondiagnostic face parts. Holistic processing was only observed for composites made from diagnostic face parts, demonstrating that holistic processing can occur for diagnostic face parts that were never seen together. These results suggest that holistic processing is an expression of learned attention to diagnostic face parts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The role of features and configural processing in face-race classification

PubMed Central

Zhao, Lun; Bentin, Shlomo

2011-01-01

We explored perceptual factors that might account for the other-race classification advantage (ORCA) in classifying faces by race. Testing Chinese participants in China and Israeli participants in Israel we show that: (a) The distinction between Chinese and Israeli faces is highly accurate even on the basis of isolated eyes or faces with eyes concealed, but full faces are categorized faster. (b) The ORCA is similarly robust for full faces and for face parts. (c) The ORCA was larger when the configuration of the inner-face components was distorted, reflecting delayed categorization of own-race distorted faces relative to own-race normally configured faces but no conspicuous distortion effect on other-race faces. These data demonstrate that perceptual factors can account for the ORCA independently of social bias. We suggest that one source of the ORCA in race categorization is the configural analysis applied by default while processing own-race but not other-race faces. PMID:22008980

The Feeling of "Face" in Confucian Society: From a Perspective of Psychosocial Equilibrium.

PubMed

Han, Kuei-Hsiang

2016-01-01

Previous research on the feeling of "face" has long described "face" as a complicated phenomenon in Confucian societies. Indeed, the feeling of face is highly context dependent. One may have very different (having or losing) face perception if the same face event occurs in a different context. To better capture the features of how face is felt, effects on possible responses need to be considered. Therefore, this article adopts a perspective of psychosocial equilibrium to elaborate people's feeling of face in Taiwan, a Confucian society. The first section illustrates the concept of psychosocial equilibrium and its psychodynamic effects on people's feeling of face. Then, the second section of this article takes positive social situations (having face events) as backdrop to exhibit how people balance their psychosocial equilibrium with different relationships. Following the positive social situations, the third section of this article then focuses on the negative situations (losing face events) to explain how losing face is felt due to unbalance of psychosocial equilibrium with one's relation in that specific context.

Kicking the digital dog: a longitudinal investigation of young adults' victimization and cyber-displaced aggression.

PubMed

Wright, Michelle F; Li, Yan

2012-09-01

Using the general strain theory as a theoretical framework, the present longitudinal study investigated both face-to-face and cyber victimization in relation to cyber-displaced aggression. Longitudinal data were collected from 130 (70 women) young adults who completed measures assessing their victimization (face-to-face and cyber), cyber aggression, and both face-to-face and cyber-displaced aggression. Findings indicated that victimization in both social contexts (face-to-face and cyber) contributed to cyber-displaced aggression 6 months later (Time 2), after controlling for gender, cyber aggression, face-to-face displaced aggression, and cyber-displaced aggression at Time 1. A significant two-way interaction revealed that Time 1 cyber victimization was more strongly related to Time 2 cyber-displaced aggression when young adults had higher levels of face-to-face victimization at Time 1. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as a call for more research investigating displaced aggression in the cyber context.

Individual differences in adaptive coding of face identity are linked to individual differences in face recognition ability.

PubMed

Rhodes, Gillian; Jeffery, Linda; Taylor, Libby; Hayward, William G; Ewing, Louise

2014-06-01

Despite their similarity as visual patterns, we can discriminate and recognize many thousands of faces. This expertise has been linked to 2 coding mechanisms: holistic integration of information across the face and adaptive coding of face identity using norms tuned by experience. Recently, individual differences in face recognition ability have been discovered and linked to differences in holistic coding. Here we show that they are also linked to individual differences in adaptive coding of face identity, measured using face identity aftereffects. Identity aftereffects correlated significantly with several measures of face-selective recognition ability. They also correlated marginally with own-race face recognition ability, suggesting a role for adaptive coding in the well-known other-race effect. More generally, these results highlight the important functional role of adaptive face-coding mechanisms in face expertise, taking us beyond the traditional focus on holistic coding mechanisms. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

A multi-view face recognition system based on cascade face detector and improved Dlib

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Hongjun; Chen, Pei; Shen, Wei

2018-03-01

In this research, we present a framework for multi-view face detect and recognition system based on cascade face detector and improved Dlib. This method is aimed to solve the problems of low efficiency and low accuracy in multi-view face recognition, to build a multi-view face recognition system, and to discover a suitable monitoring scheme. For face detection, the cascade face detector is used to extracted the Haar-like feature from the training samples, and Haar-like feature is used to train a cascade classifier by combining Adaboost algorithm. Next, for face recognition, we proposed an improved distance model based on Dlib to improve the accuracy of multiview face recognition. Furthermore, we applied this proposed method into recognizing face images taken from different viewing directions, including horizontal view, overlooks view, and looking-up view, and researched a suitable monitoring scheme. This method works well for multi-view face recognition, and it is also simulated and tested, showing satisfactory experimental results.

Gender differences in recognition of toy faces suggest a contribution of experience.

PubMed

Ryan, Kaitlin F; Gauthier, Isabel

2016-12-01

When there is a gender effect, women perform better then men in face recognition tasks. Prior work has not documented a male advantage on a face recognition task, suggesting that women may outperform men at face recognition generally either due to evolutionary reasons or the influence of social roles. Here, we question the idea that women excel at all face recognition and provide a proof of concept based on a face category for which men outperform women. We developed a test of face learning to measures individual differences with face categories for which men and women may differ in experience, using the faces of Barbie dolls and of Transformers. The results show a crossover interaction between subject gender and category, where men outperform women with Transformers' faces. We demonstrate that men can outperform women with some categories of faces, suggesting that explanations for a general face recognition advantage for women are in fact not needed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Childhood fever management program for Korean pediatric nurses: A comparison between blended and face-to-face learning method.

PubMed

Jeong, Yong Sun; Kim, Jin Sun

2014-01-01

A blended learning can be a useful learning strategy to improve the quality of fever and fever management education for pediatric nurses. This study compared the effects of a blended and face-to-face learning program on pediatric nurses' childhood fever management, using theory of planned behavior. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. A fever management education program using blended learning (combining face-to-face and online learning components) was offered to 30 pediatric nurses, and 29 pediatric nurses received face-to-face education. Learning outcomes did not significantly differ between the two groups. However, learners' satisfaction was higher for the blended learning program than the face-to-face learning program. A blended learning pediatric fever management program was as effective as a traditional face-to-face learning program. Therefore, a blended learning pediatric fever management-learning program could be a useful and flexible learning method for pediatric nurses.

You may look unhappy unless you smile: the distinctiveness of a smiling face against faces without an explicit smile.

PubMed

Park, Hyung-Bum; Han, Ji-Eun; Hyun, Joo-Seok

2015-05-01

An expressionless face is often perceived as rude whereas a smiling face is considered as hospitable. Repetitive exposure to such perceptions may have developed stereotype of categorizing an expressionless face as expressing negative emotion. To test this idea, we displayed a search array where the target was an expressionless face and the distractors were either smiling or frowning faces. We manipulated set size. Search reaction times were delayed with frowning distractors. Delays became more evident as the set size increased. We also devised a short-term comparison task where participants compared two sequential sets of expressionless, smiling, and frowning faces. Detection of an expression change across the sets was highly inaccurate when the change was made between frowning and expressionless face. These results indicate that subjects were confused with expressed emotions on frowning and expressionless faces, suggesting that it is difficult to distinguish expressionless face from frowning faces. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

More Realistic Face Model Surface Improves Relevance of Pediatric In-Vitro Aerosol Studies.

PubMed

Amirav, Israel; Halamish, Asaf; Gorenberg, Miguel; Omar, Hamza; Newhouse, Michael T

2015-01-01

Various hard face models are commonly used to evaluate the efficiency of aerosol face masks. Softer more realistic "face" surface materials, like skin, deform upon mask application and should provide more relevant in-vitro tests. Studies that simultaneously take into consideration many of the factors characteristic of the in vivo face are lacking. These include airways, various application forces, comparison of various devices, comparison with a hard-surface model and use of a more representative model face based on large numbers of actual faces. To compare mask to "face" seal and aerosol delivery of two pediatric masks using a soft vs. a hard, appropriately representative, pediatric face model under various applied forces. Two identical face models and upper airways replicas were constructed, the only difference being the suppleness and compressibility of the surface layer of the "face." Integrity of the seal and aerosol delivery of two different masks [AeroChamber (AC) and SootherMask (SM)] were compared using a breath simulator, filter collection and realistic applied forces. The soft "face" significantly increased the delivery efficiency and the sealing characteristics of both masks. Aerosol delivery with the soft "face" was significantly greater for the SM compared to the AC (p< 0.01). No statistically significant difference between the two masks was observed with the hard "face." The material and pliability of the model "face" surface has a significant influence on both the seal and delivery efficiency of face masks. This finding should be taken into account during in-vitro aerosol studies.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use: effect of telephone-administered vs. face-to-face treatment-a secondary analysis.

PubMed

Kalapatapu, Raj K; Ho, Joyce; Cai, Xuan; Vinogradov, Sophia; Batki, Steven L; Mohr, David C

2014-01-01

This secondary analysis of a larger study compared adherence to telephone-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy (T-CBT) vs. face-to-face CBT and depression outcomes in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use. To our knowledge, T-CBT has never been directly compared to face-to-face CBT in such a sample of primary care patients. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to face-to-face CBT or T-CBT for depression. Participants receiving T-CBT (n = 50) and face-to-face CBT (n = 53) were compared at baseline, end of treatment (week 18), and three-month and six-month follow-ups. Face-to-face CBT and T-CBT groups did not significantly differ in age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, severity of depression, antidepressant use, and total score on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Face-to-face CBT and T-CBT groups were similar on all treatment adherence outcomes and depression outcomes at all time points. T-CBT and face-to-face CBT had similar treatment adherence and efficacy for the treatment of depression in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use. When targeting patients who might have difficulties in accessing care, primary care clinicians may consider both types of CBT delivery when treating depression in patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use.

The face evoked steady-state visual potentials are sensitive to the orientation, viewpoint, expression and configuration of the stimuli.

PubMed

Vakli, Pál; Németh, Kornél; Zimmer, Márta; Kovács, Gyula

2014-12-01

Previous studies demonstrated that the steady-state visual-evoked potential (SSVEP) is reduced to the repetition of the same identity face when compared with the presentation of different identities, suggesting high-level neural adaptation to face identity. Here we investigated whether the SSVEP is sensitive to the orientation, viewpoint, expression and configuration of faces (Experiment 1), and whether adaptation to identity at the level of the SSVEP is robust enough to generalize across these properties (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, repeating the same identity face with continuously changing orientation, viewpoint or expression evoked a larger SSVEP than the repetition of an unchanged face, presumably reflecting a release of adaptation. A less robust effect was observed in the case of changes affecting face configuration. In Experiment 2, we found a similar release of adaptation for faces with changing orientation, viewpoint and configuration, as there was no difference between the SSVEP for the same and different identity faces. However, we found an adaptation effect for faces with changing expressions, suggesting that face identity coding, as reflected in the SSVEP, is largely independent of the emotion displayed by faces. Taken together, these results imply that the SSVEP taps high-level face representations which abstract away from the changeable aspects of the face and likely incorporate information about face configuration, but which are specific to the orientation and viewpoint of the face. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cross-modal face recognition using multi-matcher face scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Yufeng; Blasch, Erik

2015-05-01

The performance of face recognition can be improved using information fusion of multimodal images and/or multiple algorithms. When multimodal face images are available, cross-modal recognition is meaningful for security and surveillance applications. For example, a probe face is a thermal image (especially at nighttime), while only visible face images are available in the gallery database. Matching a thermal probe face onto the visible gallery faces requires crossmodal matching approaches. A few such studies were implemented in facial feature space with medium recognition performance. In this paper, we propose a cross-modal recognition approach, where multimodal faces are cross-matched in feature space and the recognition performance is enhanced with stereo fusion at image, feature and/or score level. In the proposed scenario, there are two cameras for stereo imaging, two face imagers (visible and thermal images) in each camera, and three recognition algorithms (circular Gaussian filter, face pattern byte, linear discriminant analysis). A score vector is formed with three cross-matched face scores from the aforementioned three algorithms. A classifier (e.g., k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, binomial logical regression [BLR]) is trained then tested with the score vectors by using 10-fold cross validations. The proposed approach was validated with a multispectral stereo face dataset from 105 subjects. Our experiments show very promising results: ACR (accuracy rate) = 97.84%, FAR (false accept rate) = 0.84% when cross-matching the fused thermal faces onto the fused visible faces by using three face scores and the BLR classifier.

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism.

PubMed

de Klerk, Carina C J M; Gliga, Teodora; Charman, Tony; Johnson, Mark H

2014-07-01

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow-up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face-processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high-risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high-risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face-processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life. © 2013 The Authors. Developmental Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

More efficient rejection of happy than of angry face distractors in visual search.

PubMed

Horstmann, Gernot; Scharlau, Ingrid; Ansorge, Ulrich

2006-12-01

In the present study, we examined whether the detection advantage for negative-face targets in crowds of positive-face distractors over positive-face targets in crowds of negative faces can be explained by differentially efficient distractor rejection. Search Condition A demonstrated more efficient distractor rejection with negative-face targets in positive-face crowds than vice versa. Search Condition B showed that target identity alone is not sufficient to account for this effect, because there was no difference in processing efficiency for positive- and negative-face targets within neutral crowds. Search Condition C showed differentially efficient processing with neutral-face targets among positive- or negative-face distractors. These results were obtained with both a within-participants (Experiment 1) and a between-participants (Experiment 2) design. The pattern of results is consistent with the assumption that efficient rejection of positive (more homogenous) distractors is an important determinant of performance in search among (face) distractors.

Eye tracking reveals a crucial role for facial motion in recognition of faces by infants.

PubMed

Xiao, Naiqi G; Quinn, Paul C; Liu, Shaoying; Ge, Liezhong; Pascalis, Olivier; Lee, Kang

2015-06-01

Current knowledge about face processing in infancy comes largely from studies using static face stimuli, but faces that infants see in the real world are mostly moving ones. To bridge this gap, 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Asian infants (N = 118) were familiarized with either moving or static Asian female faces, and then their face recognition was tested with static face images. Eye-tracking methodology was used to record eye movements during the familiarization and test phases. The results showed a developmental change in eye movement patterns, but only for the moving faces. In addition, the more infants shifted their fixations across facial regions, the better their face recognition was, but only for the moving faces. The results suggest that facial movement influences the way faces are encoded from early in development. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Face-space architectures: evidence for the use of independent color-based features.

PubMed

Nestor, Adrian; Plaut, David C; Behrmann, Marlene

2013-07-01

The concept of psychological face space lies at the core of many theories of face recognition and representation. To date, much of the understanding of face space has been based on principal component analysis (PCA); the structure of the psychological space is thought to reflect some important aspects of a physical face space characterized by PCA applications to face images. In the present experiments, we investigated alternative accounts of face space and found that independent component analysis provided the best fit to human judgments of face similarity and identification. Thus, our results challenge an influential approach to the study of human face space and provide evidence for the role of statistically independent features in face encoding. In addition, our findings support the use of color information in the representation of facial identity, and we thus argue for the inclusion of such information in theoretical and computational constructs of face space.

What can individual differences reveal about face processing?

PubMed Central

Yovel, Galit; Wilmer, Jeremy B.; Duchaine, Brad

2014-01-01

Faces are probably the most widely studied visual stimulus. Most research on face processing has used a group-mean approach that averages behavioral or neural responses to faces across individuals and treats variance between individuals as noise. However, individual differences in face processing can provide valuable information that complements and extends findings from group-mean studies. Here we demonstrate that studies employing an individual differences approach—examining associations and dissociations across individuals—can answer fundamental questions about the way face processing operates. In particular these studies allow us to associate and dissociate the mechanisms involved in face processing, tie behavioral face processing mechanisms to neural mechanisms, link face processing to broader capacities and quantify developmental influences on face processing. The individual differences approach we illustrate here is a powerful method that should be further explored within the domain of face processing as well as fruitfully applied across the cognitive sciences. PMID:25191241

Age-Group Differences in Interference from Young and Older Emotional Faces.

PubMed

Ebner, Natalie C; Johnson, Marcia K

2010-11-01

Human attention is selective, focusing on some aspects of events at the expense of others. In particular, angry faces engage attention. Most studies have used pictures of young faces, even when comparing young and older age groups. Two experiments asked (1) whether task-irrelevant faces of young and older individuals with happy, angry, and neutral expressions disrupt performance on a face-unrelated task, (2) whether interference varies for faces of different ages and different facial expressions, and (3) whether young and older adults differ in this regard. Participants gave speeded responses on a number task while irrelevant faces appeared in the background. Both age groups were more distracted by own than other-age faces. In addition, young participants' responses were slower for angry than happy faces, whereas older participants' responses were slower for happy than angry faces. Factors underlying age-group differences in interference from emotional faces of different ages are discussed.

Holistic processing is finely tuned for faces of one's own race.

PubMed

Michel, Caroline; Rossion, Bruno; Han, Jaehyun; Chung, Chan-Sup; Caldara, Roberto

2006-07-01

Recognizing individual faces outside one's race poses difficulty, a phenomenon known as the other-race effect. Most researchers agree that this effect results from differential experience with same-race (SR) and other-race (OR) faces. However, the specific processes that develop with visual experience and underlie the other-race effect remain to be clarified. We tested whether the integration of facial features into a whole representation-holistic processing-was larger for SR than OR faces in Caucasians and Asians without life experience with OR faces. For both classes of participants, recognition of the upper half of a composite-face stimulus was more disrupted by the bottom half (the composite-face effect) for SR than OR faces, demonstrating that SR faces are processed more holistically than OR faces. This differential holistic processing for faces of different races, probably a by-product of visual experience, may be a critical factor in the other-race effect.

78 FR 52996 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Face to Face: Flanders...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8441] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting'' Exhibition SUMMARY: Notice is... objects to be included in the exhibition ``Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting...

Activity in Face-Responsive Brain Regions is Modulated by Invisible, Attended Faces: Evidence from Masked Priming

PubMed Central

Eger, Evelyn; Dolan, Raymond; Henson, Richard N.

2009-01-01

It is often assumed that neural activity in face-responsive regions of primate cortex correlates with conscious perception of faces. However, whether such activity occurs without awareness is still debated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in conjunction with a novel masked face priming paradigm, we observed neural modulations that could not be attributed to perceptual awareness. More specifically, we found reduced activity in several classic face-processing regions, including the “fusiform face area,” “occipital face area,” and superior temporal sulcus, when a face was preceded by a briefly flashed image of the same face, relative to a different face, even when 2 images of the same face differed. Importantly, unlike most previous studies, which have minimized awareness by using conditions of inattention, the present results occurred when the stimuli (the primes) were attended. By contrast, when primes were perceived consciously, in a long-lag priming paradigm, we found repetition-related activity increases in additional frontal and parietal regions. These data not only demonstrate that fMRI activity in face-responsive regions can be modulated independently of perceptual awareness, but also document where such subliminal face-processing occurs (i.e., restricted to face-responsive regions of occipital and temporal cortex) and to what extent (i.e., independent of the specific image). PMID:18400791

Dissociated neural basis of two behavioral hallmarks of holistic face processing: The whole-part effect and composite-face effect.

PubMed

Li, Jin; Huang, Lijie; Song, Yiying; Liu, Jia

2017-07-28

It has been long proposed that our extraordinary face recognition ability stems from holistic face processing. Two widely-used behavioral hallmarks of holistic face processing are the whole-part effect (WPE) and composite-face effect (CFE). However, it remains unknown whether these two effects reflect similar or different aspects of holistic face processing. Here we investigated this question by examining whether the WPE and CFE involved shared or distinct neural substrates in a large sample of participants (N=200). We found that the WPE and CFE showed hemispheric dissociation in the fusiform face area (FFA), that is, the WPE was correlated with face selectivity in the left FFA, while the CFE was correlated with face selectivity in the right FFA. Further, the correlation between the WPE and face selectivity was largely driven by the FFA response to faces, whereas the association between the CFE and face selectivity resulted from suppressed response to objects in the right FFA. Finally, we also observed dissociated correlation patterns of the WPE and CFE in other face-selective regions and across the whole brain. These results suggest that the WPE and CFE may reflect different aspects of holistic face processing, which shed new light on the behavioral dissociations of these two effects demonstrated in literature. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotional expression and heart rate in high-risk infants during the face-to-face/still-face.

PubMed

Mattson, Whitney I; Ekas, Naomi V; Lambert, Brittany; Tronick, Ed; Lester, Barry M; Messinger, Daniel S

2013-12-01

In infants, eye constriction-the Duchenne marker-and mouth opening appear to index the intensity of both positive and negative facial expressions. We combined eye constriction and mouth opening that co-occurred with smiles and cry-faces (respectively, the prototypic expressions of infant joy and distress) to measure emotional expression intensity. Expression intensity and heart rate were measured throughout the face-to-face/still-face (FFSF) in a sample of infants with prenatal cocaine exposure who were at risk for developmental difficulties. Smiles declined and cry-faces increased in the still-face episode, but the distribution of eye constriction and mouth opening in smiles and cry-faces did not differ across episodes of the FFSF. As time elapsed in the still face episode potential indices of intensity increased, cry-faces were more likely to be accompanied by eye constriction and mouth opening. During cry-faces there were also moderately stable individual differences in the quantity of eye constriction and mouth opening. Infant heart rate was higher during cry-faces and lower during smiles, but did not vary with intensity of expression or by episode. In sum, infants express more intense negative affect as the still-face progresses, but do not show clear differences in expressive intensity between episodes of the FFSF. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reverse engineering the face space: Discovering the critical features for face identification.

PubMed

Abudarham, Naphtali; Yovel, Galit

2016-01-01

How do we identify people? What are the critical facial features that define an identity and determine whether two faces belong to the same person or different people? To answer these questions, we applied the face space framework, according to which faces are represented as points in a multidimensional feature space, such that face space distances are correlated with perceptual similarities between faces. In particular, we developed a novel method that allowed us to reveal the critical dimensions (i.e., critical features) of the face space. To that end, we constructed a concrete face space, which included 20 facial features of natural face images, and asked human observers to evaluate feature values (e.g., how thick are the lips). Next, we systematically and quantitatively changed facial features, and measured the perceptual effects of these manipulations. We found that critical features were those for which participants have high perceptual sensitivity (PS) for detecting differences across identities (e.g., which of two faces has thicker lips). Furthermore, these high PS features vary minimally across different views of the same identity, suggesting high PS features support face recognition across different images of the same face. The methods described here set an infrastructure for discovering the critical features of other face categories not studied here (e.g., Asians, familiar) as well as other aspects of face processing, such as attractiveness or trait inferences.

Collaborative Accounting Problem Solving via Group Support Systems in a Face-to-Face versus Distant Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Jacqueline A.

2001-01-01

Accounting students (n=128) used either face-to-face or distant Group support systems to complete collaborative tasks. Participation and social presence perceptions were significantly higher face to face. Task difficulty did not affect participation in either environment. (Contains 54 references.) (JOW)

Mapping Teacher-Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Greg; Cook, Ian

2013-01-01

This paper uses Deleuze and Guattari's concept of faciality to analyse the teacher's face. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the teacher-face is a special type of face because it is an "overcoded" face produced in specific landscapes. This paper suggests four limit-faces for teacher faciality that actualise different mixes of significance and…

A Better Blend

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demski, Jennifer

2010-01-01

In May 2009, the US Department of Education released a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies of online, face-to-face, and blended learning models. The analysis found that online learning produced better student outcomes than face-to-face classes, and that blended learning offered an even "larger advantage" over face-to-face. The hybrid approach…

Semantic Learning Modifies Perceptual Face Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heisz, Jennifer J.; Shedden, Judith M.

2009-01-01

Face processing changes when a face is learned with personally relevant information. In a five-day learning paradigm, faces were presented with rich semantic stories that conveyed personal information about the faces. Event-related potentials were recorded before and after learning during a passive viewing task. When faces were novel, we observed…

The Role of Face Familiarity in Eye Tracking of Faces by Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Dawson, Geraldine; Webb, Sara; Murias, Michael; Munson, Jeffrey; Panagiotides, Heracles; Aylward, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

It has been shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate normal activation in the fusiform gyrus when viewing familiar, but not unfamiliar faces. The current study utilized eye tracking to investigate patterns of attention underlying familiar versus unfamiliar face processing in ASD. Eye movements of 18 typically developing participants and 17 individuals with ASD were recorded while passively viewing three face categories: unfamiliar non-repeating faces, a repeating highly familiar face, and a repeating previously unfamiliar face. Results suggest that individuals with ASD do not exhibit more normative gaze patterns when viewing familiar faces. A second task assessed facial recognition accuracy and response time for familiar and novel faces. The groups did not differ on accuracy or reaction times. PMID:18306030

Control of edge effects of oxidant electrode

DOEpatents

Carr, Peter; Chi, Chen H.

1981-09-08

Described is an electrode assembly comprising; a. a porous electrode having a first and second exterior face with a cavity formed in the interior between said exterior faces thereby having first and second interior faces positioned opposite the first and second exterior faces; b. a counter electrode positioned facing each of the first and second exterior faces of the porous electrode; c. means for passing an oxidant through said porous electrode; and d. screening means for blocking the interior face of the porous electrode a greater amount than the blocking of the respective exterior face of the porous electrode, thereby maintaining a differential of oxidant electrode surface between the interior face and the exterior face. The electrode assembly is useful in a metal, halogen, halogen hydrate electrical energy storage device.

Method for control of edge effects of oxidant electrode

DOEpatents

Carr, Peter; Chi, Chen H.

1980-12-23

Described is an electrode assembly comprising; a. a porous electrode having a first and second exterior face with a cavity formed in the interior between said exterior faces thereby having first and second interior faces positioned opposite the first and second exterior faces; b. a counter electrode positioned facing each of the first and second exterior faces of the porous electrode; c. means for passing an oxidant through said porous electrode; and d. screening means for blocking the interior face of the porous electrode a greater amount than the blocking of the respective exterior face of the porous electrode, thereby maintaining a differential of oxidant electrode surface between the interior face and the exterior face. The electrode assembly is useful in a metal, halogen, halogen hydrate electrical energy storage device.

Face familiarity promotes stable identity recognition: exploring face perception using serial dependence

PubMed Central

Kok, Rebecca; Van der Burg, Erik; Rhodes, Gillian; Alais, David

2017-01-01

Studies suggest that familiar faces are processed in a manner distinct from unfamiliar faces and that familiarity with a face confers an advantage in identity recognition. Our visual system seems to capitalize on experience to build stable face representations that are impervious to variation in retinal input that may occur due to changes in lighting, viewpoint, viewing distance, eye movements, etc. Emerging evidence also suggests that our visual system maintains a continuous perception of a face's identity from one moment to the next despite the retinal input variations through serial dependence. This study investigates whether interactions occur between face familiarity and serial dependence. In two experiments, participants used a continuous scale to rate attractiveness of unfamiliar and familiar faces (either experimentally learned or famous) presented in rapid sequences. Both experiments revealed robust inter-trial effects in which attractiveness ratings for a given face depended on the preceding face's attractiveness. This inter-trial attractiveness effect was most pronounced for unfamiliar faces. Indeed, when participants were familiar with a given face, attractiveness ratings showed significantly less serial dependence. These results represent the first evidence that familiar faces can resist the temporal integration seen in sequential dependencies and highlight the importance of familiarity to visual cognition. PMID:28405355

For Your Local Eyes Only: Culture-Specific Face Typicality Influences Perceptions of Trustworthiness.

PubMed

Sofer, Carmel; Dotsch, Ron; Oikawa, Masanori; Oikawa, Haruka; Wigboldus, Daniel H J; Todorov, Alexander

2017-08-01

Recent findings show that typical faces are judged as more trustworthy than atypical faces. However, it is not clear whether employment of typicality cues in trustworthiness judgment happens across cultures and if these cues are culture specific. In two studies, conducted in Japan and Israel, participants judged trustworthiness and attractiveness of faces. In Study 1, faces varied along a cross-cultural dimension ranging from a Japanese to an Israeli typical face. Own-culture typical faces were perceived as more trustworthy than other-culture typical faces, suggesting that people in both cultures employ typicality cues when judging trustworthiness, but that the cues, indicative of typicality, are culture dependent. Because perceivers may be less familiar with other-culture typicality cues, Study 2 tested the extent to which they rely on available facial information other than typicality, when judging other-culture faces. In Study 2, Japanese and Israeli faces varied from either Japanese or Israeli attractive to unattractive with the respective typical face at the midpoint. For own-culture faces, trustworthiness judgments peaked around own-culture typical face. However, when judging other-culture faces, both cultures also employed attractiveness cues, but this effect was more apparent for Japanese participants. Our findings highlight the importance of culture when considering the effect of typicality on trustworthiness judgments.

Impaired face detection may explain some but not all cases of developmental prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Dalrymple, Kirsten A; Duchaine, Brad

2016-05-01

Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is defined by severe face recognition difficulties due to the failure to develop the visual mechanisms for processing faces. The two-process theory of face recognition (Morton & Johnson, 1991) implies that DP could result from a failure of an innate face detection system; this failure could prevent an individual from then tuning higher-level processes for face recognition (Johnson, 2005). Work with adults indicates that some individuals with DP have normal face detection whereas others are impaired. However, face detection has not been addressed in children with DP, even though their results may be especially informative because they have had less opportunity to develop strategies that could mask detection deficits. We tested the face detection abilities of seven children with DP. Four were impaired at face detection to some degree (i.e. abnormally slow, or failed to find faces) while the remaining three children had normal face detection. Hence, the cases with impaired detection are consistent with the two-process account suggesting that DP could result from a failure of face detection. However, the cases with normal detection implicate a higher-level origin. The dissociation between normal face detection and impaired identity perception also indicates that these abilities depend on different neurocognitive processes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Face-specific and domain-general visual processing deficits in children with developmental prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Dalrymple, Kirsten A; Elison, Jed T; Duchaine, Brad

2017-02-01

Evidence suggests that face and object recognition depend on distinct neural circuitry within the visual system. Work with adults with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) demonstrates that some individuals have preserved object recognition despite severe face recognition deficits. This face selectivity in adults with DP indicates that face- and object-processing systems can develop independently, but it is unclear at what point in development these mechanisms are separable. Determining when individuals with DP first show dissociations between faces and objects is one means to address this question. In the current study, we investigated face and object processing in six children with DP (5-12-years-old). Each child was assessed with one face perception test, two different face memory tests, and two object memory tests that were matched to the face memory tests in format and difficulty. Scores from the DP children on the matched face and object tasks were compared to within-subject data from age-matched controls. Four of the six DP children, including the 5-year-old, showed evidence of face-specific deficits, while one child appeared to have more general visual-processing deficits. The remaining child had inconsistent results. The presence of face-specific deficits in children with DP suggests that face and object perception depend on dissociable processes in childhood.

Outlining face processing skills of portrait artists: Perceptual experience with faces predicts performance.

PubMed

Devue, Christel; Barsics, Catherine

2016-10-01

Most humans seem to demonstrate astonishingly high levels of skill in face processing if one considers the sophisticated level of fine-tuned discrimination that face recognition requires. However, numerous studies now indicate that the ability to process faces is not as fundamental as once thought and that performance can range from despairingly poor to extraordinarily high across people. Here we studied people who are super specialists of faces, namely portrait artists, to examine how their specific visual experience with faces relates to a range of face processing skills (perceptual discrimination, short- and longer term recognition). Artists show better perceptual discrimination and, to some extent, recognition of newly learned faces than controls. They are also more accurate on other perceptual tasks (i.e., involving non-face stimuli or mental rotation). By contrast, artists do not display an advantage compared to controls on longer term face recognition (i.e., famous faces) nor on person recognition from other sensorial modalities (i.e., voices). Finally, the face inversion effect exists in artists and controls and is not modulated by artistic practice. Advantages in face processing for artists thus seem to closely mirror perceptual and visual short term memory skills involved in portraiture. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method for Face-Emotion Retrieval Using A Cartoon Emotional Expression Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostov, Vlaho; Yanagisawa, Hideyoshi; Johansson, Martin; Fukuda, Shuichi

A simple method for extracting emotion from a human face, as a form of non-verbal communication, was developed to cope with and optimize mobile communication in a globalized and diversified society. A cartoon face based model was developed and used to evaluate emotional content of real faces. After a pilot survey, basic rules were defined and student subjects were asked to express emotion using the cartoon face. Their face samples were then analyzed using principal component analysis and the Mahalanobis distance method. Feature parameters considered as having relations with emotions were extracted and new cartoon faces (based on these parameters) were generated. The subjects evaluated emotion of these cartoon faces again and we confirmed these parameters were suitable. To confirm how these parameters could be applied to real faces, we asked subjects to express the same emotions which were then captured electronically. Simple image processing techniques were also developed to extract these features from real faces and we then compared them with the cartoon face parameters. It is demonstrated via the cartoon face that we are able to express the emotions from very small amounts of information. As a result, real and cartoon faces correspond to each other. It is also shown that emotion could be extracted from still and dynamic real face images using these cartoon-based features.

Neural Correlates of Covert Face Processing: fMRI Evidence from a Prosopagnosic Patient

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiangang; Wang, Meiyun; Shi, Xiaohong; Feng, Lu; Li, Ling; Thacker, Justine Marie; Tian, Jie; Shi, Dapeng; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

Brains can perceive or recognize a face even though we are subjectively unaware of the existence of that face. However, the exact neural correlates of such covert face processing remain unknown. Here, we compared the fMRI activities between a prosopagnosic patient and normal controls when they saw famous and unfamiliar faces. When compared with objects, the patient showed greater activation to famous faces in the fusiform face area (FFA) though he could not overtly recognize those faces. In contrast, the controls showed greater activation to both famous and unfamiliar faces in the FFA. Compared with unfamiliar faces, famous faces activated the controls', but not the patient's lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) known to be involved in familiar face recognition. In contrast, the patient showed greater activation in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus (MeFG). Functional connectivity analyses revealed that the patient's right middle fusiform gyrus (FG) showed enhanced connectivity to the MeFG, whereas the controls' middle FG showed enhanced connectivity to the LPFC. These findings suggest that the FFA may be involved in both covert and overt face recognition. The patient's impairment in overt face recognition may be due to the absence of the coupling between the right FG and the LPFC. PMID:23448870

Relations between scanning and recognition of own- and other-race faces in 6- and 9-month-old infants.

PubMed

Liu, Shaoying; Quinn, Paul C; Xiao, Naiqi G; Wu, Zhijun; Liu, Guangxi; Lee, Kang

2018-06-01

Infants typically see more own-race faces than other-race faces. Existing evidence shows that this difference in face race experience has profound consequences for face processing: as early as 6 months of age, infants scan own- and other-race faces differently and display superior recognition for own- relative to other-race faces. However, it is unclear whether scanning of own-race faces is related to the own-race recognition advantage in infants. To bridge this gap in the literature, the current study used eye tracking to investigate the relation between own-race face scanning and recognition in 6- and 9-month-old Asian infants (N = 82). The infants were familiarized with dynamic own- and other-race faces, and then their face recognition was tested with static face images. Both age groups recognized own- but not other-race faces. Also, regardless of race, the more infants scanned the eyes of the novel versus familiar faces at test, the better their face-recognition performance. In addition, both 6- and 9-month-olds fixated significantly longer on the nose of own-race faces, and greater fixation on the nose during test trials correlated positively with individual novelty preference scores in the own- but not other-race condition. The results suggest that some aspects of the relation between recognition and scanning are independent of differential experience with face race, whereas other aspects are affected by such experience. More broadly, the findings imply that scanning and recognition may become linked during infancy at least in part through the influence of perceptual experience. © 2018 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Effects of spatial frequency content on classification of face gender and expression.

PubMed

Aguado, Luis; Serrano-Pedraza, Ignacio; Rodríguez, Sonia; Román, Francisco J

2010-11-01

The role of different spatial frequency bands on face gender and expression categorization was studied in three experiments. Accuracy and reaction time were measured for unfiltered, low-pass (cut-off frequency of 1 cycle/deg) and high-pass (cutoff frequency of 3 cycles/deg) filtered faces. Filtered and unfiltered faces were equated in root-mean-squared contrast. For low-pass filtered faces reaction times were higher than unfiltered and high-pass filtered faces in both categorization tasks. In the expression task, these results were obtained with expressive faces presented in isolation (Experiment 1) and also with neutral-expressive dynamic sequences where each expressive face was preceded by a briefly presented neutral version of the same face (Experiment 2). For high-pass filtered faces different effects were observed on gender and expression categorization. While both speed and accuracy of gender categorization were reduced comparing to unfiltered faces, the efficiency of expression classification remained similar. Finally, we found no differences between expressive and non expressive faces in the effects of spatial frequency filtering on gender categorization (Experiment 3). These results show a common role of information from the high spatial frequency band in the categorization of face gender and expression.

Random-Profiles-Based 3D Face Recognition System

PubMed Central

Joongrock, Kim; Sunjin, Yu; Sangyoun, Lee

2014-01-01

In this paper, a noble nonintrusive three-dimensional (3D) face modeling system for random-profile-based 3D face recognition is presented. Although recent two-dimensional (2D) face recognition systems can achieve a reliable recognition rate under certain conditions, their performance is limited by internal and external changes, such as illumination and pose variation. To address these issues, 3D face recognition, which uses 3D face data, has recently received much attention. However, the performance of 3D face recognition highly depends on the precision of acquired 3D face data, while also requiring more computational power and storage capacity than 2D face recognition systems. In this paper, we present a developed nonintrusive 3D face modeling system composed of a stereo vision system and an invisible near-infrared line laser, which can be directly applied to profile-based 3D face recognition. We further propose a novel random-profile-based 3D face recognition method that is memory-efficient and pose-invariant. The experimental results demonstrate that the reconstructed 3D face data consists of more than 50 k 3D point clouds and a reliable recognition rate against pose variation. PMID:24691101

Electrophysiological evidence for separation between human face and non-face object processing only in the right hemisphere.

PubMed

Niina, Megumi; Okamura, Jun-ya; Wang, Gang

2015-10-01

Scalp event-related potential (ERP) studies have demonstrated larger N170 amplitudes when subjects view faces compared to items from object categories. Extensive attempts have been made to clarify face selectivity and hemispheric dominance for face processing. The purpose of this study was to investigate hemispheric differences in N170s activated by human faces and non-face objects, as well as the extent of overlap of their sources. ERP was recorded from 20 subjects while they viewed human face and non-face images. N170s obtained during the presentation of human faces appeared earlier and with larger amplitude than for other category images. Further source analysis with a two-dipole model revealed that the locations of face and object processing largely overlapped in the left hemisphere. Conversely, the source for face processing in the right hemisphere located more anterior than the source for object processing. The results suggest that the neuronal circuits for face and object processing are largely shared in the left hemisphere, with more distinct circuits in the right hemisphere. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-esteem Modulates the P3 Component in Response to the Self-face Processing after Priming with Emotional Faces

PubMed Central

Guan, Lili; Zhao, Yufang; Wang, Yige; Chen, Yujie; Yang, Juan

2017-01-01

The self-face processing advantage (SPA) refers to the research finding that individuals generally recognize their own face faster than another’s face; self-face also elicits an enhanced P3 amplitude compared to another’s face. It has been suggested that social evaluation threats could weaken the SPA and that self-esteem could be regarded as a threat buffer. However, little research has directly investigated the neural evidence of how self-esteem modulates the social evaluation threat to the SPA. In the current event-related potential study, 27 healthy Chinese undergraduate students were primed with emotional faces (angry, happy, or neutral) and were asked to judge whether the target face (self, friend, and stranger) was familiar or unfamiliar. Electrophysiological results showed that after priming with emotional faces (angry and happy), self-face elicited similar P3 amplitudes to friend-face in individuals with low self-esteem, but not in individuals with high self-esteem. The results suggest that as low self-esteem raises fears of social rejection and exclusion, priming with emotional faces (angry and happy) can weaken the SPA in low self-esteem individuals but not in high self-esteem individuals. PMID:28868041

Recognition Memory for Realistic Synthetic Faces

PubMed Central

Yotsumoto, Yuko; Kahana, Michael J.; Wilson, Hugh R.; Sekuler, Robert

2006-01-01

A series of experiments examined short-term recognition memory for trios of briefly-presented, synthetic human faces derived from three real human faces. The stimuli were graded series of faces, which differed by varying known amounts from the face of the average female. Faces based on each of the three real faces were transformed so as to lie along orthogonal axes in a 3-D face space. Experiment 1 showed that the synthetic faces' perceptual similarity stucture strongly influenced recognition memory. Results were fit by NEMo, a noisy exemplar model of perceptual recognition memory. The fits revealed that recognition memory was influenced both by the similarity of the probe to series items, and by the similarities among the series items themselves. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) showed that faces' perceptual representations largely preserved the 3-D space in which the face stimuli were arrayed. NEMo gave a better account of the results when similarity was defined as perceptual, MDS similarity rather than physical proximity of one face to another. Experiment 2 confirmed the importance of within-list homogeneity directly, without mediation of a model. We discuss the affinities and differences between visual memory for synthetic faces and memory for simpler stimuli. PMID:17948069

Self-esteem Modulates the P3 Component in Response to the Self-face Processing after Priming with Emotional Faces.

PubMed

Guan, Lili; Zhao, Yufang; Wang, Yige; Chen, Yujie; Yang, Juan

2017-01-01

The self-face processing advantage (SPA) refers to the research finding that individuals generally recognize their own face faster than another's face; self-face also elicits an enhanced P3 amplitude compared to another's face. It has been suggested that social evaluation threats could weaken the SPA and that self-esteem could be regarded as a threat buffer. However, little research has directly investigated the neural evidence of how self-esteem modulates the social evaluation threat to the SPA. In the current event-related potential study, 27 healthy Chinese undergraduate students were primed with emotional faces (angry, happy, or neutral) and were asked to judge whether the target face (self, friend, and stranger) was familiar or unfamiliar. Electrophysiological results showed that after priming with emotional faces (angry and happy), self-face elicited similar P3 amplitudes to friend-face in individuals with low self-esteem, but not in individuals with high self-esteem. The results suggest that as low self-esteem raises fears of social rejection and exclusion, priming with emotional faces (angry and happy) can weaken the SPA in low self-esteem individuals but not in high self-esteem individuals.

Reward learning modulates the attentional processing of faces in children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Li, Tianbi; Wang, Xueqin; Pan, Junhao; Feng, Shuyuan; Gong, Mengyuan; Wu, Yaxue; Li, Guoxiang; Li, Sheng; Yi, Li

2017-11-01

The processing of social stimuli, such as human faces, is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which could be accounted for by their lack of social motivation. The current study examined how the attentional processing of faces in children with ASD could be modulated by the learning of face-reward associations. Sixteen high-functioning children with ASD and 20 age- and ability-matched typically developing peers participated in the experiments. All children started with a reward learning task, in which the children were presented with three female faces that were attributed with positive, negative, and neutral values, and were required to remember the faces and their associated values. After this, they were tested on the recognition of the learned faces and a visual search task in which the learned faces served as the distractor. We found a modulatory effect of the face-reward associations on the visual search but not the recognition performance in both groups despite the lower efficacy among children with ASD in learning the face-reward associations. Specifically, both groups responded faster when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values than when the distractor face was neutral, suggesting an efficient attentional processing of these reward-associated faces. Our findings provide direct evidence for the perceptual-level modulatory effect of reward learning on the attentional processing of faces in individuals with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1797-1807. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In our study, we tested whether the face processing of individuals with ASD could be changed when the faces were associated with different social meanings. We found no effect of social meanings on face recognition, but both groups responded faster in the visual search task when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values than when the neutral face. The findings suggest that children with ASD could efficiently process faces associated with different values like typical children. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Detecting 'infant-directedness' in face and voice.

PubMed

Kim, Hojin I; Johnson, Scott P

2014-07-01

Five- and 3-month-old infants' perception of infant-directed (ID) faces and the role of speech in perceiving faces were examined. Infants' eye movements were recorded as they viewed a series of two side-by-side talking faces, one infant-directed and one adult-directed (AD), while listening to ID speech, AD speech, or in silence. Infants showed consistently greater dwell time on ID faces vs. AD faces, and this ID face preference was consistent across all three sound conditions. ID speech resulted in higher looking overall, but it did not increase looking at the ID face per se. Together, these findings demonstrate that infants' preferences for ID speech extend to ID faces. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An adaptation study of internal and external features in facial representations.

PubMed

Hills, Charlotte; Romano, Kali; Davies-Thompson, Jodie; Barton, Jason J S

2014-07-01

Prior work suggests that internal features contribute more than external features to face processing. Whether this asymmetry is also true of the mental representations of faces is not known. We used face adaptation to determine whether the internal and external features of faces contribute differently to the representation of facial identity, whether this was affected by familiarity, and whether the results differed if the features were presented in isolation or as part of a whole face. In a first experiment, subjects performed a study of identity adaptation for famous and novel faces, in which the adapting stimuli were whole faces, the internal features alone, or the external features alone. In a second experiment, the same faces were used, but the adapting internal and external features were superimposed on whole faces that were ambiguous to identity. The first experiment showed larger aftereffects for unfamiliar faces, and greater aftereffects from internal than from external features, and the latter was true for both familiar and unfamiliar faces. When internal and external features were presented in a whole-face context in the second experiment, aftereffects from either internal or external features was less than that from the whole face, and did not differ from each other. While we reproduce the greater importance of internal features when presented in isolation, we find this is equally true for familiar and unfamiliar faces. The dominant influence of internal features is reduced when integrated into a whole-face context, suggesting another facet of expert face processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Face Pareidolia in the Rhesus Monkey.

PubMed

Taubert, Jessica; Wardle, Susan G; Flessert, Molly; Leopold, David A; Ungerleider, Leslie G

2017-08-21

Face perception in humans and nonhuman primates is rapid and accurate [1-4]. In the human brain, a network of visual-processing regions is specialized for faces [5-7]. Although face processing is a priority of the primate visual system, face detection is not infallible. Face pareidolia is the compelling illusion of perceiving facial features on inanimate objects, such as the illusory face on the surface of the moon. Although face pareidolia is commonly experienced by humans, its presence in other species is unknown. Here we provide evidence for face pareidolia in a species known to possess a complex face-processing system [8-10]: the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). In a visual preference task [11, 12], monkeys looked longer at photographs of objects that elicited face pareidolia in human observers than at photographs of similar objects that did not elicit illusory faces. Examination of eye movements revealed that monkeys fixated the illusory internal facial features in a pattern consistent with how they view photographs of faces [13]. Although the specialized response to faces observed in humans [1, 3, 5-7, 14] is often argued to be continuous across primates [4, 15], it was previously unclear whether face pareidolia arose from a uniquely human capacity. For example, pareidolia could be a product of the human aptitude for perceptual abstraction or result from frequent exposure to cartoons and illustrations that anthropomorphize inanimate objects. Instead, our results indicate that the perception of illusory facial features on inanimate objects is driven by a broadly tuned face-detection mechanism that we share with other species. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Improving Posthospital Discharge Telephone Reach Rates Through Prehospital Discharge Face-to-Face Meetings.

PubMed

Vergara, Franz H; Sheridan, Daniel J; Sullivan, Nancy J; Budhathoki, Chakra

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a face-to-face meeting with patients by a telephonic case manager prehospital discharge would result in increased telephone follow-up (TFU) reach rates posthospital discharge. Acute care adult medicine inpatient units. A quasiexperimental design was utilized. Two adult inpatient medicine units were selected as the intervention and comparison groups. The framework of the study is the transitions theory. A convenience sampling technique was used, whereby 88 eligible patients on the intervention unit received face-to-face meetings prehospital discharge whereas 123 patients on the comparison unit received standard care (no face-to-face meetings). Cross-tabulation and chi-square tests were employed to examine the association of face-to-face meeting intervention and TFU reach rates. Implementing brief (<10 min) face-to-face meetings by a telephonic case manager prehospital discharge resulted in a TFU reach rate of 87% on the intervention unit, whereas the comparison unit only had a 58% TFU reach rate (p < .001). Increasing reach rates by a telephonic case manager facilitates communication with more patients posthospital discharge. A brief prehospital discharge face-to-face meeting with patients assisted them to understand the reasons for a posthospital discharge telephone call, identified the best times to call using accurate telephone numbers, and taught patients how best to prepare for the call. In addition, by meeting patients face-to-face, the telephonic case manager was no longer an unknown person on the telephone asking them questions about their medical condition. These factors combined may have significantly helped to increase TFU reach rates.

How Negative Social Bias Affects Memory for Faces: An Electrical Neuroimaging Study

PubMed Central

Proverbio, Alice Mado; La Mastra, Francesca; Zani, Alberto

2016-01-01

During social interactions, we make inferences about people’s personal characteristics based on their appearance. These inferences form a potential prejudice that can positively or negatively bias our interaction with them. Not much is known about the effects of negative bias on face perception and the ability to recognize people faces. This ability was investigated by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) from 128 sites in 16 volunteers. In the first session (encoding), they viewed 200 faces associated with a short fictional story that described anecdotal positive or negative characteristics about each person. In the second session (recognition), they underwent an old/new memory test, in which they had to distinguish 100 new faces from the previously shown faces. ERP data relative to the encoding phase showed a larger anterior negativity in response to negatively (vs. positively) biased faces, indicating an additional processing of faces with unpleasant social traits. In the recognition task, ERPs recorded in response to new faces elicited a larger FN400 than to old faces, and to positive than negative faces. Additionally, old faces elicited a larger Old-New parietal response than new faces, in the form of an enlarged late positive (LPC) component. An inverse solution SwLORETA (450–550 ms) indicated that remembering old faces was associated with the activation of right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left medial temporal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus. Only negatively connoted faces strongly activated the limbic and parahippocampal areas and the left SFG. A dissociation was found between familiarity (modulated by negative bias) and recollection (distinguishing old from new faces). PMID:27655327

Measuring sexual dimorphism with a race-gender face space.

PubMed

Hopper, William J; Finklea, Kristin M; Winkielman, Piotr; Huber, David E

2014-10-01

Faces are complex visual objects, and faces chosen to vary in 1 regard may unintentionally vary in other ways, particularly if the correlation is a property of the population of faces. Here, we present an example of a correlation that arises from differences in the degree of sexual dimorphism. In Experiment 1, paired similarity ratings were collected for a set of 40 real face images chosen to vary in terms of gender and race (Asian vs. White). Multidimensional scaling (MDS) placed these stimuli in a "face space," with different attributes corresponding to different dimensions. Gender was found to vary more for White faces, resulting in a negative or positive correlation between gender and race when only considering male or only considering female faces. This increased sexual dimorphism for White faces may provide an alternative explanation for differences in face processing between White and Asian faces (e.g., the own-race bias, face attractiveness biases, etc.). Studies of face processing that are unconfounded by this difference in the degree of sexual dimorphism require stimuli that are decorrelated in terms of race and gender. Decorrelated faces were created using a morphing technique, spacing the morphs uniformly around a ring in the 2-dimensional (2D) race-gender plane. In Experiment 2, paired similarity ratings confirmed the 2D positions of the morph faces. In Experiment 3, race and gender category judgments varied uniformly for these decorrelated stimuli. Our results and stimuli should prove useful for studying sexual dimorphism and for the study of face processing more generally.

Comparing Online and Face-to-Face Instruction at a Large Virtual University: Data and Issues in the Measurement of Quality. AIR 2001 Annual Forum Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisan, Gail; Nazma, Shirin; Pscherer, Charles P., Jr.

The fiscal year 2000 Alumni Survey at a large, substantially online university was used to assess undergraduate students' satisfaction with both online and face-to-face academic quality and student services. Students who had taken online classes evaluated both their online and face-to-face classes. In addition, students who took only face-to-face…

The Role of Higher Level Adaptive Coding Mechanisms in the Development of Face Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pimperton, Hannah; Pellicano, Elizabeth; Jeffery, Linda; Rhodes, Gillian

2009-01-01

DevDevelopmental improvements in face identity recognition ability are widely documented, but the source of children's immaturity in face recognition remains unclear. Differences in the way in which children and adults visually represent faces might underlie immaturities in face recognition. Recent evidence of a face identity aftereffect (FIAE),…

Smiling emphasizes perceived distinctiveness of faces.

PubMed

Kawamura, Satoru; Komori, Masashi

2008-08-01

In this study, 114 Japanese observers (56 men and 58 women) rated the distinctiveness of 48 neutral faces and 48 smiling faces. Analysis showed smiling faces were rated as significantly more distinctive than neutral ones. Greater perceived distinctiveness provides an explanation for previous results that smiling faces are better remembered than faces with neutral expressions.

Conjunction Faces Alter Confidence-Accuracy Relations for Old Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reinitz, Mark Tippens; Loftus, Geoffrey R.

2017-01-01

The authors used a state-trace methodology to investigate the informational dimensions used to recognize old and conjunction faces (made by combining parts of separately studied faces). Participants in 3 experiments saw faces presented for 1 s each. They then received a recognition test; faces were presented for varying brief durations and…

24 CFR 203.604 - Contact with the mortgagor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Contact with the mortgagor. (a) [Reserved] (b) The mortgagee must have a face-to-face interview with the... personal interview, the mortgagee must have a face-to-face meeting with the mortgagor, or make a reasonable... face-to-face meeting is not required if: (1) The mortgagor does not reside in the mortgaged property...

24 CFR 203.604 - Contact with the mortgagor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Contact with the mortgagor. (a) [Reserved] (b) The mortgagee must have a face-to-face interview with the... personal interview, the mortgagee must have a face-to-face meeting with the mortgagor, or make a reasonable... face-to-face meeting is not required if: (1) The mortgagor does not reside in the mortgaged property...

24 CFR 203.604 - Contact with the mortgagor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Contact with the mortgagor. (a) [Reserved] (b) The mortgagee must have a face-to-face interview with the... personal interview, the mortgagee must have a face-to-face meeting with the mortgagor, or make a reasonable... face-to-face meeting is not required if: (1) The mortgagor does not reside in the mortgaged property...

24 CFR 203.604 - Contact with the mortgagor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Contact with the mortgagor. (a) [Reserved] (b) The mortgagee must have a face-to-face interview with the... personal interview, the mortgagee must have a face-to-face meeting with the mortgagor, or make a reasonable... face-to-face meeting is not required if: (1) The mortgagor does not reside in the mortgaged property...

Examining the Roles of the Facilitator in Online and Face-to-Face PD Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Gina; Johnson, Heather; Vath, Richard; Kubitskey, Beth; Fishman, Barry

2013-01-01

Online teacher professional development has become an alternative to face-to-face professional development. Such a shift from face-to-face to online professional development, however, brings new challenges for professional development facilitators, whose roles are crucial in orchestrating teacher learning. This paper is motivated by the need to…

The Use of Computer-Mediated Communication To Enhance Subsequent Face-to-Face Discussions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dietz-Uhler, Beth; Bishop-Clark, Cathy

2001-01-01

Describes a study of undergraduate students that assessed the effects of synchronous (Internet chat) and asynchronous (Internet discussion board) computer-mediated communication on subsequent face-to-face discussions. Results showed that face-to-face discussions preceded by computer-mediated communication were perceived to be more enjoyable.…

Gender-Based Prototype Formation in Face Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Brochard, Renaud

2011-01-01

The role of gender categories in prototype formation during face recognition was investigated in 2 experiments. The participants were asked to learn individual faces and then to recognize them. During recognition, individual faces were mixed with faces, which were blended faces of same or different genders. The results of the 2 experiments showed…

Bayesian Face Recognition and Perceptual Narrowing in Face-Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balas, Benjamin

2012-01-01

During the first year of life, infants' face recognition abilities are subject to "perceptual narrowing", the end result of which is that observers lose the ability to distinguish previously discriminable faces (e.g. other-race faces) from one another. Perceptual narrowing has been reported for faces of different species and different races, in…

Down Syndrome and Automatic Processing of Familiar and Unfamiliar Emotional Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Guadalupe E.; Lopez, Ernesto O.

2010-01-01

Participants with Down syndrome (DS) were required to participate in a face recognition experiment to recognize familiar (DS faces) and unfamiliar emotional faces (non DS faces), by using an affective priming paradigm. Pairs of emotional facial stimuli were presented (one face after another) with a short Stimulus Onset Asynchrony of 300…

77 FR 55525 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-10

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

Recognition and identification of famous faces in patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Seidenberg, Michael; Griffith, Randall; Sabsevitz, David; Moran, Maria; Haltiner, Alan; Bell, Brian; Swanson, Sara; Hammeke, Thomas; Hermann, Bruce

2002-01-01

We examined the performance of 21 patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and hippocampal damage (10 lefts, and 11 rights) and 10 age-matched controls on the recognition and identification (name and occupation) of well-known faces. Famous face stimuli were selected from four time periods; 1970s, 1980s, 1990-1994, and 1995-1996. Differential patterns of performance were observed for the left and right TLE group across distinct face processing components. The left TLE group showed a selective impairment in naming famous faces while they performed similar to the controls in face recognition and semantic identification (i.e. occupation). In contrast, the right TLE group was impaired across all components of face memory; face recognition, semantic identification, and face naming. Face naming impairment in the left TLE group was characterized by a temporal gradient with better naming performance for famous faces from more distant time periods. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of the temporal lobe system for the acquisition, retention, and retrieval of face semantic networks, and the differential effects of lateralized temporal lobe lesions in this process.

The effects of distinctiveness on memory and metamemory for face-name associations.

PubMed

Watier, Nicholas; Collin, Charles

2012-01-01

We examined the influence of face and name distinctiveness on memory and metamemory for face-name associations. Four types of monitoring judgements were solicited during encoding and retrieval of face-name pairs that contained distinct or typical faces (Experiment 1) or names (Experiment 2). The beneficial effects of distinctiveness on associative memory were symmetrical between faces and names, such that relative to their typical counterparts, distinct faces enhanced memory for names, and distinct names enhanced memory for faces. These effects were also apparent in metamemory. Estimates of prospective and retrospective memory performance were greater for face-name associations that contained a distinct face or name compared with a typical face or name, regardless of whether the distinct item was a cue or target. Moreover, the predictive validity of prospective monitoring improved with name distinctiveness, whereas the predictive validity of retrospective monitoring improved with facial distinctiveness. Our results indicate that distinctiveness affects not only the strength of the association between a face and a name, but also the ability to monitor that association.

Observed touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the human observer's own face.

PubMed

Beck, Brianna; Bertini, Caterina; Scarpazza, Cristina; Làdavas, Elisabetta

2013-01-01

Visual remapping of touch (VRT) is a phenomenon in which seeing a human face being touched enhances detection of tactile stimuli on the observer's own face, especially when the observed face expresses fear. This study tested whether VRT would occur when seeing touch on monkey faces and whether it would be similarly modulated by facial expressions. Human participants detected near-threshold tactile stimulation on their own cheeks while watching fearful, happy, and neutral human or monkey faces being concurrently touched or merely approached by fingers. We predicted minimal VRT for neutral and happy monkey faces but greater VRT for fearful monkey faces. The results with human faces replicated previous findings, demonstrating stronger VRT for fearful expressions than for happy or neutral expressions. However, there was no VRT (i.e. no difference between accuracy in touch and no-touch trials) for any of the monkey faces, regardless of facial expression, suggesting that touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the somatosensory system of the human observer.

Observed Touch on a Non-Human Face Is Not Remapped onto the Human Observer's Own Face

PubMed Central

Beck, Brianna; Bertini, Caterina; Scarpazza, Cristina; Làdavas, Elisabetta

2013-01-01

Visual remapping of touch (VRT) is a phenomenon in which seeing a human face being touched enhances detection of tactile stimuli on the observer's own face, especially when the observed face expresses fear. This study tested whether VRT would occur when seeing touch on monkey faces and whether it would be similarly modulated by facial expressions. Human participants detected near-threshold tactile stimulation on their own cheeks while watching fearful, happy, and neutral human or monkey faces being concurrently touched or merely approached by fingers. We predicted minimal VRT for neutral and happy monkey faces but greater VRT for fearful monkey faces. The results with human faces replicated previous findings, demonstrating stronger VRT for fearful expressions than for happy or neutral expressions. However, there was no VRT (i.e. no difference between accuracy in touch and no-touch trials) for any of the monkey faces, regardless of facial expression, suggesting that touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the somatosensory system of the human observer. PMID:24250781

Novel face-detection method under various environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Min-Quan; Chen, Ling-Hwei

2009-06-01

We propose a method to detect a face with different poses under various environments. On the basis of skin color information, skin regions are first extracted from an input image. Next, the shoulder part is cut out by using shape information and the head part is then identified as a face candidate. For a face candidate, a set of geometric features is applied to determine if it is a profile face. If not, then a set of eyelike rectangles extracted from the face candidate and the lighting distribution are used to determine if the face candidate is a nonprofile face. Experimental results show that the proposed method is robust under a wide range of lighting conditions, different poses, and races. The detection rate for the HHI face database is 93.68%. For the Champion face database, the detection rate is 95.15%.

Dissociation of face-selective cortical responses by attention.

PubMed

Furey, Maura L; Tanskanen, Topi; Beauchamp, Michael S; Avikainen, Sari; Uutela, Kimmo; Hari, Riitta; Haxby, James V

2006-01-24

We studied attentional modulation of cortical processing of faces and houses with functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG detected an early, transient face-selective response. Directing attention to houses in "double-exposure" pictures of superimposed faces and houses strongly suppressed the characteristic, face-selective functional MRI response in the fusiform gyrus. By contrast, attention had no effect on the M170, the early, face-selective response detected with MEG. Late (>190 ms) category-related MEG responses elicited by faces and houses, however, were strongly modulated by attention. These results indicate that hemodynamic and electrophysiological measures of face-selective cortical processing complement each other. The hemodynamic signals reflect primarily late responses that can be modulated by feedback connections. By contrast, the early, face-specific M170 that was not modulated by attention likely reflects a rapid, feed-forward phase of face-selective processing.

A comparison of the effectiveness of a game informed online learning activity and face to face teaching in increasing knowledge about managing aggression in health settings.

PubMed

McKenzie, Karen

2013-12-01

The present study compared the impact of face to face teaching with a short online game informed learning activity on health participants' knowledge about, and confidence in, managing aggressive situations. Both forms of teaching resulted in a significant increase in participants' knowledge and confidence. Face to face training led to significantly greater increases in knowledge but was equivalent in terms of confidence. Both forms of teaching were rated positively, but face to face teaching received significantly higher ratings than the online activity. The study suggests that short online game informed learning activities may offer an effective alternative for health professional training where face to face training is not possible. Further research is needed on the longer term impact of both types of training on practice.

A shape-based account for holistic face processing.

PubMed

Zhao, Mintao; Bülthoff, Heinrich H; Bülthoff, Isabelle

2016-04-01

Faces are processed holistically, so selective attention to 1 face part without any influence of the others often fails. In this study, 3 experiments investigated what type of facial information (shape or surface) underlies holistic face processing and whether generalization of holistic processing to nonexperienced faces requires extensive discrimination experience. Results show that facial shape information alone is sufficient to elicit the composite face effect (CFE), 1 of the most convincing demonstrations of holistic processing, whereas facial surface information is unnecessary (Experiment 1). The CFE is eliminated when faces differ only in surface but not shape information, suggesting that variation of facial shape information is necessary to observe holistic face processing (Experiment 2). Removing 3-dimensional (3D) facial shape information also eliminates the CFE, indicating the necessity of 3D shape information for holistic face processing (Experiment 3). Moreover, participants show similar holistic processing for faces with and without extensive discrimination experience (i.e., own- and other-race faces), suggesting that generalization of holistic processing to nonexperienced faces requires facial shape information, but does not necessarily require further individuation experience. These results provide compelling evidence that facial shape information underlies holistic face processing. This shape-based account not only offers a consistent explanation for previous studies of holistic face processing, but also suggests a new ground-in addition to expertise-for the generalization of holistic processing to different types of faces and to nonface objects. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Pleasant and unpleasant odour-face combinations influence face and odour perception: An event-related potential study.

PubMed

Cook, Stephanie; Kokmotou, Katerina; Soto, Vicente; Fallon, Nicholas; Tyson-Carr, John; Thomas, Anna; Giesbrecht, Timo; Field, Matt; Stancak, Andrej

2017-08-30

Odours alter evaluations of concurrent visual stimuli. However, neural mechanisms underlying the effects of congruent and incongruent odours on facial expression perception are not clear. Moreover, the influence of emotional faces on odour perception is not established. We investigated the effects of one pleasant and one unpleasant odour paired with happy and disgusted faces, on subjective ratings and ERP responses to faces. Participants rated the pleasantness of happy and disgusted faces that appeared during 3s pleasant or unpleasant odour pulses, or without odour. Odour pleasantness and intensity ratings were recorded in each trial. EEG was recorded continuously using a 128-channel system. Happy and disgusted faces paired with pleasant and unpleasant odour were rated as more or less pleasant, respectively, compared to the same faces presented in the other odour conditions. Odours were rated as more pleasant when paired with happy faces, and unpleasant odour was rated more intense when paired with disgusted faces. Unpleasant odour paired with disgusted faces also decreased inspiration. Odour-face interactions were evident in the N200 and N400 components. Our results reveal bi-directional effects of odours and faces, and suggest that odour-face interactions may be represented in ERP components. Pairings of unpleasant odour and disgusted faces resulted in stronger hedonic ratings, ERP changes, increased odour intensity ratings and respiratory adjustment. This finding likely represents heightened adaptive responses to multimodal unpleasant stimuli, prompting appropriate behaviour in the presence of danger. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Neurons responsive to face-view in the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Romanski, L M; Diehl, M M

2011-08-25

Studies have indicated that temporal and prefrontal brain regions process face and vocal information. Face-selective and vocalization-responsive neurons have been demonstrated in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and some prefrontal cells preferentially respond to combinations of face and corresponding vocalizations. These studies suggest VLPFC in nonhuman primates may play a role in communication that is similar to the role of inferior frontal regions in human language processing. If VLPFC is involved in communication, information about a speaker's face including identity, face-view, gaze, and emotional expression might be encoded by prefrontal neurons. In the following study, we examined the effect of face-view in ventrolateral prefrontal neurons by testing cells with auditory, visual, and a set of human and monkey faces rotated through 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and -30°. Prefrontal neurons responded selectively to either the identity of the face presented (human or monkey) or to the specific view of the face/head, or to both identity and face-view. Neurons which were affected by the identity of the face most often showed an increase in firing in the second part of the stimulus period. Neurons that were selective for face-view typically preferred forward face-view stimuli (0° and 30° rotation). The neurons which were selective for forward face-view were also auditory responsive compared to other neurons which responded to other views or were unselective which were not auditory responsive. Our analysis showed that the human forward face (0°) was decoded better and also contained the most information relative to other face-views. Our findings confirm a role for VLPFC in the processing and integration of face and vocalization information and add to the growing body of evidence that the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role in social communication and is an important model in understanding the cellular mechanisms of communication. Copyright © 2011 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acceptance of technology-enhanced learning for a theoretical radiological science course: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Nkenke, Emeka; Vairaktaris, Elefterios; Bauersachs, Anne; Eitner, Stephan; Budach, Alexander; Knipfer, Christoph; Stelzle, Florian

2012-03-30

Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) gives a view to improved education. However, there is a need to clarify how TEL can be used effectively. The study compared students' attitudes and opinions towards a traditional face-to-face course on theoretical radiological science and a TEL course where students could combine face-to-face lectures and e-learning modules at their best convenience. 42 third-year dental students were randomly assigned to the traditional face-to-face group and the TEL group. Both groups completed questionnaires before the beginning and after completion of the course on attitudes and opinions towards a traditional face-to-face lectures and technology-enhanced learning. After completion of the course both groups also filled in the validated German-language TRIL (Trierer Inventar zur Lehrevaluation) questionnaire for the evaluation of courses given at universities. Both groups had a positive attitude towards e-learning that did not change over time. The TEL group attended significantly less face-to-face lectures than the traditional group. However, both groups stated that face-to-face lectures were the basis for education in a theoretical radiological science course. The members of the TEL group rated e-mail reminders significantly more important when they filled in the questionnaire on attitudes and opinions towards a traditional face-to-face lectures and technology-enhanced learning for the second time after completion of the course. The members of the technology-enhanced learning group were significantly less confident in passing the exam compared to the members of the traditional group. However, examination results did not differ significantly for traditional and the TEL group. It seems that technology-enhanced learning in a theoretical radiological science course has the potential to reduce the need for face-to-face lectures. At the same time examination results are not impaired. However, technology-enhanced learning cannot completely replace traditional face-to-face lectures, because students indicate that they consider traditional teaching as the basis of their education.

Neurons responsive to face-view in the Primate Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex

PubMed Central

Romanski, Lizabeth M.; Diehl, Maria M.

2011-01-01

Studies have indicated that temporal and prefrontal brain regions process face and vocal information. Face-selective and vocalization-responsive neurons have been demonstrated in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and some prefrontal cells preferentially respond to combinations of face and corresponding vocalizations. These studies suggest VLPFC in non-human primates may play a role in communication that is similar to the role of inferior frontal regions in human language processing. If VLPFC is involved in communication, information about a speaker's face including identity, face-view, gaze and emotional expression might be encoded by prefrontal neurons. In the following study, we examined the effect of face-view in ventrolateral prefrontal neurons by testing cells with auditory, visual, and a set of human and monkey faces rotated through 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and −30°. Prefrontal neurons responded selectively to either the identity of the face presented (human or monkey) or to the specific view of the face/head, or to both identity and face-view. Neurons which were affected by the identity of the face most often showed an increase in firing in the second part of the stimulus period. Neurons that were selective for face-view typically preferred forward face-view stimuli (0° and 30° rotation). The neurons which were selective for forward face-view were also auditory responsive compared to other neurons which responded to other views or were unselective which were not auditory responsive. Our analysis showed that the human forward face (0°) was decoded better and also contained the most information relative to other face-views. Our findings confirm a role for VLPFC in the processing and integration of face and vocalization information and add to the growing body of evidence that the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role in social communication and is an important model in understanding the cellular mechanisms of communication. PMID:21605632

InterFace: A software package for face image warping, averaging, and principal components analysis.

PubMed

Kramer, Robin S S; Jenkins, Rob; Burton, A Mike

2017-12-01

We describe InterFace, a software package for research in face recognition. The package supports image warping, reshaping, averaging of multiple face images, and morphing between faces. It also supports principal components analysis (PCA) of face images, along with tools for exploring the "face space" produced by PCA. The package uses a simple graphical user interface, allowing users to perform these sophisticated image manipulations without any need for programming knowledge. The program is available for download in the form of an app, which requires that users also have access to the (freely available) MATLAB Runtime environment.

Contextual Variation in Automatic Evaluative Bias to Racially-Ambiguous Faces

PubMed Central

Ito, Tiffany A.; Willadsen-Jensen, Eve C.; Kaye, Jesse T.; Park, Bernadette

2011-01-01

Three studies examined the implicit evaluative associations activated by racially-ambiguous Black-White faces. In the context of both Black and White faces, Study 1 revealed a graded pattern of bias against racially-ambiguous faces that was weaker than the bias to Black faces but stronger than that to White faces. Study 2 showed that significant bias was present when racially-ambiguous faces appeared in the context of only White faces, but not in the context of only Black faces. Study 3 demonstrated that context produces perceptual contrast effects on racial-prototypicality judgments. Racially-ambiguous faces were perceived as more prototypically Black in a White-only than mixed-race context, and less prototypically Black in a Black-only context. Conversely, they were seen as more prototypically White in a Black-only than mixed context, and less prototypically White in a White-only context. The studies suggest that both race-related featural properties within a face (i.e., racial ambiguity) and external contextual factors affect automatic evaluative associations. PMID:21691437

Priming global and local processing of composite faces: revisiting the processing-bias effect on face perception.

PubMed

Gao, Zaifeng; Flevaris, Anastasia V; Robertson, Lynn C; Bentin, Shlomo

2011-07-01

We used the composite-face illusion and Navon stimuli to determine the consequences of priming local or global processing on subsequent face recognition. The composite-face illusion reflects the difficulty of ignoring the task-irrelevant half-face while attending the task-relevant half if the half-faces in the composite are aligned. On each trial, participants first matched two Navon stimuli, attending to either the global or the local level, and then matched the upper halves of two composite faces presented sequentially. Global processing of Navon stimuli increased the sensitivity to incongruence between the upper and the lower halves of the composite face, relative to a baseline in which the composite faces were not primed. Local processing of Navon stimuli did not influence the sensitivity to incongruence. Although incongruence induced a bias toward different responses, this bias was not modulated by priming. We conclude that global processing of Navon stimuli augments holistic processing of the face.