scholarly journals Face Memory and Face Perception in Autism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirta Stantic ◽  
Eri Ichijo ◽  
Caroline Catmur ◽  
Geoff Bird

AbstractIt has been argued that autistic individuals have difficulties with face memory but typical face perception. However, only one previous study has examined both face memory and face perception in the same individuals, and this study was conducted with a small group of autistic children. Here face recognition was examined with a group of autistic adults using two face perception tasks (including one designed to avoid a neurotypical bias), and a standard test of face memory. Self-reported face recognition difficulties in everyday life were also recorded. The group of adults with autism scored lower than a matched neurotypical control group on all face tasks, and reported more problems with face recognition in everyday life. On the whole results suggest difficulties with both face perception and face memory in autistic adults, although it should be noted that a wide range of scores were recorded from the autistic individuals, with some scoring in the neurotypical range.

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132110276
Author(s):  
Mirta Stantić ◽  
Eri Ichijo ◽  
Caroline Catmur ◽  
Geoffrey Bird

It has been argued that autistic individuals have difficulties with face memory but typical face perception. However, only one previous study has examined both face memory and face perception in the same individuals, and this study was conducted with a small group of autistic children. Here, face recognition was examined with a group of autistic adults using two face perception tasks (including one designed to avoid a neurotypical bias) and a standard test of face memory. Self-reported face recognition difficulties in everyday life were also recorded. The group of adults with autism scored lower than a matched neurotypical control group on all face tasks and reported more problems with face recognition in everyday life. On the whole, results suggest difficulties with both face perception and face memory in autistic adults, although it should be noted that a wide range of scores were recorded from the autistic individuals, with some scoring in the neurotypical range. Lay abstract It is well known that some people with autism have difficulties recognizing faces. It is generally thought that this is not because autistic individuals cannot perceive faces, but because autistic individuals have greater problems than people without autism in remembering faces. Here, we worked with a group of autistic adults and a group of non-autistic adults to test their ability to perceive and remember faces. We also asked each person to report any difficulties that they have with recognizing faces in everyday life. We find that, as a group, people with autism have difficulties with both remembering and perceiving faces, and report more problems recognizing faces in everyday life. However, it is worth noting that we observed a wide range of scores in the group of people with autism, with some autistic participants scoring as well as the group of people without autism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maruti Mishra ◽  
Regan Fry ◽  
Elyana Saad ◽  
Joseph Arizpe ◽  
Yuri-Grace Ohashi ◽  
...  

Numerous neurological, developmental, and psychiatric conditions demonstrate impaired face recognition abilities, which can be socially debilitating. These impairments could be caused by either deficient face perceptual processes, such as reduced ability to integrate face parts into a whole, or deficient face memory processes, such as reduced ability to associate a face with semantic information. Research and clinical practice have focused more on developing face memory assessments, while it currently remains unclear which face perception assessments best captures perceptual deficits. A validated face perception measure could not only help with diagnosing the causes of face recognition deficits but could also help determine the most appropriate treatment. Here, we compare several available face perception assessments to identify those that can best assess perception deficits in developmental prosopagnosics. Thirty prosopagnosics and thirty age-matched neurotypical controls completed a battery of four face perception assessments, namely, computerized Benton Face Recognition Test, Cambridge Face Perception Test, University of Southern California Face Perception Test, and Telling Faces Together Test. They were also evaluated on two face recognition/ memory measures- Cambridge face memory test and famous faces memory test. We used logistic regression for the perception tests to predict prosopagnosic vs. control group membership and used multiple linear regressions to predict continuous objective and subjective measures of face recognition memory. Our results show that the Benton face test was the most reliable (α = 0.74), sensitive (AUC= 0.83), and predictive assessment of prosopagnosia diagnosis and face memory performance across the groups. The Cambridge face perception test also performed adequately well in terms of test sensitivity (AUC=0.80) and predicted face memory performance across the groups. Further, we found that face lighting change trials better predicted DP group membership and face recognition abilities than viewpoint-change trials. Together, these results have direct clinical application in assessing populations with face processing difficulties.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ella Macaskill

<p>Face recognition is a fundamental cognitive function that is essential for social interaction – yet not everyone has it. Developmental prosopagnosia is a lifelong condition in which people have severe difficulty recognising faces but have normal intellect and no brain damage. Despite much research, the component processes of face recognition that are impaired in developmental prosopagnosia are not well understood. Two core processes are face perception, being the formation of visual representations of a currently seen face, and face memory, being the storage, maintenance, and retrieval of those representations. Most studies of developmental prosopagnosia focus on face memory deficits, but a few recent studies indicate that face perception deficits might also be important. Characterising face perception in developmental prosopagnosia is crucial for a better understanding of the condition. In this thesis, I addressed this issue in a large-scale experiment with 108 developmental prosopagnosics and 136 matched controls. I assessed face perception abilities with multiple measures and ran a broad range of analyses to establish the severity, scope, and nature of face perception deficits in developmental prosopagnosia. Three major results stand out. First, face perception deficits in developmental prosopagnosia were severe, and could be comparable in size to face memory deficits. Second, the face perception deficits were widespread, affecting the whole sample rather than a subset of individuals. Third, the deficits were mainly driven by impairments to mechanisms specialised for processing upright faces. Further analyses revealed several other features of the deficits, including the use of atypical and inconsistent strategies for perceiving faces, difficulties matching the same face across different pictures, equivalent impact of lighting and viewpoint variations in face images, and atypical perceptual and non-perceptual components of test performance. Overall, my thesis shows that face perception deficits are more central to developmental prosopagnosia than previously thought and motivates further research on the issue.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Bate ◽  
Rachel J. Bennetts ◽  
Nicola Gregory ◽  
Jeremy J. Tree ◽  
Ebony Murray ◽  
...  

In the last 15 years, increasing numbers of individuals have self-referred to research laboratories in the belief that they experience severe everyday difficulties with face recognition. The condition “developmental prosopagnosia” (DP) is typically diagnosed when impairment is identified on at least two objective face-processing tests, usually involving assessments of face perception, unfamiliar face memory, and famous face recognition. While existing evidence suggests that some individuals may have a mnemonic form of prosopagnosia, it is also possible that other subtypes exist. The current study assessed 165 adults who believe they experience DP, and 38% of the sample were impaired on at least two of the tests outlined above. While statistical dissociations between face perception and face memory were only observed in four cases, a further 25% of the sample displayed dissociations between impaired famous face recognition and intact short-term unfamiliar face memory and face perception. We discuss whether this pattern of findings reflects (a) limitations within dominant diagnostic tests and protocols, (b) a less severe form of DP, or (c) a currently unrecognized but prevalent form of the condition that affects long-term face memory, familiar face recognition or semantic processing.


Perception ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 1002-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elite Mardo ◽  
Galia Avidan ◽  
Bat-Sheva Hadad

Recent studies on the development of face processing argue for a late, quantitative, domain-specific development of face processing, and face memory in particular. Most previous findings were based on separately tracking the developmental course of face perception skills, comparing performance across different age groups. Here, we adopted a different approach studying the mechanisms underlying the development of face processing by focusing on how different face skills are interrelated over the years (age 6 to adulthood). Specifically, we examined correlations within and between different categories of tasks: face domain-specific skills involving face recognition based on long-term representations (famous face), and short-term memory retention (Cambridge Face Memory Test), perceptual face-specific marker (inversion effect), global effects in scene perception (global–local task), and the perception of facial expressions. Factor analysis revealed that face identity skills have a similar pattern of interrelations throughout development, identifying two factors: a face domain-specific factor comprising adultlike markers of face processing and a general factor incorporating related, but nonspecific perceptual skills. Domain-specific age-related changes in face recognition entailing short- and long-term retention of face representations were observed, along with mature perceptual face-specific markers and more general perceptual effects predicting face perception skills already at age 6. The results suggest that the domain-specific changes in face processing are unlikely to result from developmental changes in perceptual skills driving face recognition. Instead, development may either involve improvement in the ability to retain face representations in memory or changes in the interactions between the perceptual representations of faces and their representations in long-term memory.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Macaskill

<p>Face recognition is a fundamental cognitive function that is essential for social interaction – yet not everyone has it. Developmental prosopagnosia is a lifelong condition in which people have severe difficulty recognising faces but have normal intellect and no brain damage. Despite much research, the component processes of face recognition that are impaired in developmental prosopagnosia are not well understood. Two core processes are face perception, being the formation of visual representations of a currently seen face, and face memory, being the storage, maintenance, and retrieval of those representations. Most studies of developmental prosopagnosia focus on face memory deficits, but a few recent studies indicate that face perception deficits might also be important. Characterising face perception in developmental prosopagnosia is crucial for a better understanding of the condition. In this thesis, I addressed this issue in a large-scale experiment with 108 developmental prosopagnosics and 136 matched controls. I assessed face perception abilities with multiple measures and ran a broad range of analyses to establish the severity, scope, and nature of face perception deficits in developmental prosopagnosia. Three major results stand out. First, face perception deficits in developmental prosopagnosia were severe, and could be comparable in size to face memory deficits. Second, the face perception deficits were widespread, affecting the whole sample rather than a subset of individuals. Third, the deficits were mainly driven by impairments to mechanisms specialised for processing upright faces. Further analyses revealed several other features of the deficits, including the use of atypical and inconsistent strategies for perceiving faces, difficulties matching the same face across different pictures, equivalent impact of lighting and viewpoint variations in face images, and atypical perceptual and non-perceptual components of test performance. Overall, my thesis shows that face perception deficits are more central to developmental prosopagnosia than previously thought and motivates further research on the issue.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirta Stantic ◽  
Geoffrey Bird ◽  
Caroline Catmur ◽  
Bethan Hearne

Effects of ageing on both face perception and face memory have previously been reported. Previous studies, however, have not controlled for the effects of face perception when assessing face memory, meaning that apparent effects of ageing on face memory may actually be due to effects of ageing on face perception. Here, both face perception and face memory were assessed in a sample of adults ranging in age from 18 to 93, and the effect of age on face memory was assessed after controlling for face perception. Face perception was assessed using both a standard test and the Oxford Face Matching Test (OFMT), deliberately designed to avoid the bias towards younger, neurotypical samples that may be present in other tests. An effect of ageing on face perception was found using both tests, with the unbiased OFMT being more sensitive to the effect of age. Importantly, when controlling for face perception using the OFMT, no effect of age on face memory was found. Indicative scores on the OFMT from a sample of 989 participants are provided, broken down by age and gender.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catrina Hacker ◽  
Irving Biederman

Tests of face recognition implicitly assume it to be an undifferentiated ability. However, several possible independent components could comprise face recognition proficiency, such as those for the perceptual discrimination of faces, face memory, and the ability to generalize across viewpoints. We assessed two possible components of face recognition ability: the proficiency for the perceptual discrimination of faces using a quantitative measure of face similarity and the proficiency for remembering those faces using a minimal delayed match-to-sample task. We document a strong cost of delay on error rates and mean correct reaction times in face matching. We further demonstrate that the slope of performance over increased perceptual difficulty is parallel for each of three levels of delay. These results provide evidence, by additive factors logic, that face memory and face perception are independent processes within subjects. Finally, we document an independence of the proficiencies for face memory and face perception across subjects.


Author(s):  
Asrina Sari Siregar ◽  
Sumarsih Sumarsih ◽  
Masitowarni Siregar

This study attempts to discover the effect of applying Small Group Work Strategy on students’ achievement in writing procedure text. It was conducted by using experimental research design. The population of this research was the nineth (IX) grade students of SMP N 1 Padang Bolak Julu which consists of 3 parallel classes with the total number of students is 90. The samples of this research were taken by random sampling through lottery technique. The result was class IX1 consisted of 30 students became the experimental group and class IX3 consisted of 30 students became the control group. The experimental group was taught by Small Group Work Strategy while the control group was taught by using individual work strategy. The instrument was used to collect the data was writing procedure text. After the data were analyzed, it was found that the value of t-observed was 3.37 with the degree of freedom (df) = 58 at the level significance 0.05. it means that t-observed was higher than t-table (3.37 > 2.00. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) is reected and the hypothesis alternative (Ha) is accepted.Key words : Small Group Work Strategy, Writing Procedure Text.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Martin Braschler ◽  
Linda Cappellato ◽  
Fabio Crestani ◽  
Nicola Ferro ◽  
Gundula Heinatz Bürki ◽  
...  

This is a report on the tenth edition of the Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum (CLEF 2019), held from September 9--12, 2019, in Lugano, Switzerland. CLEF was a four day event combining a Conference and an Evaluation Forum. The Conference featured keynotes by Bruce Croft, Yair Neuman, and Miguel Martínez, and presentation of peer reviewed research papers covering a wide range of topics in addition to many posters. The Evaluation Forum consisted to nine Labs: CENTRE, CheckThat, eHealth, eRisk, ImageCLEF, LifeCLEF, PAN, PIR-CLEF, and ProtestNews, addressing a wide range of tasks, media, languages, and ways to go beyond standard test collections. CLEF 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of CLEF, which was celebrated with a dedicated session and a book on the lessons learnt in twenty years of evaluation activities and the future perspectives for CLEF. CLEF 2019 also introduced the Industry Days to further extend the reach and impact of CLEF.


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