Perceived Race Affects Configural Processing but Not Holistic Processing in the Composite-Face Task

Background: Holistic processing is defined as the perceptual integration of facial features, and plays an important role in face recognition. While researchers recognize the crucial role played by holistic processing in face perception, a complete delineation of the underlying mechanisms is impending. Very few studies have examined the effects of perceptual discrimination and spatial perception on holistic processing. Hence, the present study aimed to examine the influence of perceptual discrimination and spatial perception on face recognition.Methods: We conducted two experiments by manipulating the perceptual discriminability of the target (the top-half faces) and non-target face (the bottom-half faces) parts in the composite-face task and examined how perceptual discriminability may affect holistic processing of faces.Results: The results of Experiment 1 illustrated that holistic processing was modulated by the perceptual discriminability of the face. Furthermore, differential patterns of perceptual discriminability with the target and non-target parts suggested that different mechanisms may be responsible for the influence of target and non-target parts on face perception. The results of Experiment 2 illustrated that holistic processing was modulated by spatial distance between two faces, implicating that feature-by-feature strategy might decrease the magnitude of holistic processing.Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that holistic processing may lead to augmented perception effect exaggerating the differences between the two faces and may also be affected by the feature-by-feature strategy.

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There's a Time and a Face: The Time Course of Composite Face Processing

10.31234/osf.io/z4ydx ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carmen Lynch ◽

Xue Jun Cheng ◽

Daniel R. Little

Keyword(s):

Face Processing ◽

Processing Time ◽

Time Course ◽

Holistic Processing ◽

Response Signal ◽

The Face ◽

Task Recognition ◽

Speed Accuracy ◽

Composite Face ◽

Face Task

Faces are considered a special class of holistically-processed object. The composite face task is a widely-used tool to infer holistic processing. In this task, recognition of one half of a composite face is shown to be hampered by interference from the other half of the face. Although this effect has been documented numerous times, when used in different paradigms, composite faces do not always exhibit effects consistent with holistic processing. The present study explored the cause of these discrepant findings by combining a composite face task with a signal-to-respond paradigm. The amount of time to make a face recognition decision was manipulated by introducing a response signal, and the resulting changes in accuracy were mapped over the time course of processing, which was then used to fit a speed-accuracy trade-off model. We found that holistic processing emerges late in the time course (after approximately 600 ms processing time). Additionally, we found that only easy-to-detect changes elicited holistic processing.

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Holistic face processing is influenced by non-conscious visual information

10.31234/osf.io/j8g6z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Haiyang Jin ◽

Matt Oxner ◽

Paul Michael Corballis ◽

William Hayward

Keyword(s):

Face Perception ◽

Face Processing ◽

Visual Information ◽

Irrelevant Information ◽

Composite Effect ◽

Continuous Flash Suppression ◽

Facial Information ◽

Holistic Face Processing ◽

Composite Face ◽

Face Task

Holistic face processing has been widely implicated in conscious face perception. Yet, little is known about whether holistic face processing occurs when faces are processed unconsciously. The present study used the composite face task and continuous flash suppression (CFS) to inspect whether the processing of target facial information (the top half of a face) is influenced by irrelevant information (the bottom half) that is presented unconsciously. Results of multiple experiments showed that the composite effect was observed in both the monocular and CFS conditions, providing the first evidence that the processing of top facial halves is influenced by the aligned bottom halves no matter whether they are presented consciously or unconsciously. However, much of the composite effect for faces without masking was disrupted when bottom facial parts were rendered with CFS. These results suggest that holistic face processing can occur unconsciously, but also highlight the significance of holistic processing of consciously presented faces.

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Decomposing the composite face effect: Evidence for non-holistic processing based on the ex-Gaussian distribution

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021820904222 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (6) ◽

pp. 819-840 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Fitousi

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Gaussian Distribution ◽

Face Processing ◽

Holistic Processing ◽

Attentional Processes ◽

Memory Processes ◽

Exponential Component ◽

Independent Features ◽

Composite Face

Composite faces fuse the top and bottom halves from two different faces to create a powerful illusion of a novel face. It has been argued that composite faces are processed holistically, namely that the constituent face parts are perceived as a template, rather than independent features. This study sought to uncover the locus of the composite face effect by relating its empirical reaction time distributions to theoretical ex-Gaussian parameters. The results showed that the composite face effect for unfamiliar (Experiment 1) and familiar (Experiment 2) faces is generated by pure changes in the exponential component of the ex-Gaussian distribution. This held true for both partial and complete design measures. The exponential component has been attributed to working memory and attentional processes. The results suggest the involvement of attentional and working memory processes in the composite face effect and in the perception of faces in general. They cast doubts on the holistic nature of face processing. The results also provide important constraints on future computational theories of the effect.

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The Role of Extraversion, IQ and Contact in the Own-Ethnicity Face Recognition Bias

Attention Perception & Psychophysics ◽

10.3758/s13414-019-01947-6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 82 (4) ◽

pp. 1872-1882

Author(s):

Peter J. Hills ◽

Leanne Lowe ◽

Brooke Hedges ◽

Ana Rita Teixeira

Keyword(s):

Face Recognition ◽

Eye Contact ◽

Facial Features ◽

Multiple Forms ◽

Diagnostic Features ◽

Black Faces ◽

Composite Face ◽

Face Task

AbstractWhile IQ is weakly related to the overall face recognition (Shakeshaft & Plomin, 2015), it plays a larger role in the processing of misaligned faces in the composite face task (Zhu et al., 2010). This type of stimuli are relatively novel and may reflect the involvement of intelligence in the processing of infrequently encountered faces, such as those of other-ethnicities. Extraversion is associated with increased eye contact which signifies less viewing of diagnostic features for Black faces. Using an old/new recognition paradigm, we found that IQ negatively correlated with the magnitude of the own-ethnicity bias (OEB) and that this relationship was moderated by contact with people from another ethnicity. We interpret these results in terms of IQ enhancing the ability to process novel stimuli by utilising multiple forms of coding. Extraversion was positively correlated with the OEB in White participants and negatively correlated with the OEB in Black participants suggesting that extraverts have lower attention to diagnostic facial features of Black faces, leading to poorer recognition of Black faces in both White and Black participants, thereby contributing to the relative OEB in these participants. The OEB is dependent on participant variables such as intelligence and extraversion.

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Holistic face processing of own- and other-age faces in young and older adults: ERP evidence from the composite face task

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.051 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 74 ◽

pp. 306-317 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Holger Wiese ◽

Ulrike Kachel ◽

Stefan R. Schweinberger

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Face Processing ◽

Holistic Face Processing ◽

Composite Face ◽

Face Task

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Prism adaptation does not alter configural processing of faces

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.2-215.v1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 215 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Janet H. Bultitude ◽

Paul E. Downing ◽

Robert D. Rafal

Keyword(s):

Spatial Attention ◽

Brain Lesion ◽

Dorsal Stream ◽

Visual Image ◽

Prism Adaptation ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

Sensorimotor Training ◽

Composite Face ◽

Face Task ◽

Healthy Participants

Patients with hemispatial neglect (‘neglect’) following a brain lesion show difficulty responding or orienting to objects and events on the left side of space. Substantial evidence supports the use of a sensorimotor training technique called prism adaptation as a treatment for neglect. Reaching for visual targets viewed through prismatic lenses that induce a rightward shift in the visual image results in a leftward recalibration of reaching movements that is accompanied by a reduction of symptoms in patients with neglect. The understanding of prism adaptation has also been advanced through studies of healthy participants, in whom adaptation to leftward prismatic shifts results in temporary neglect-like performance. Interestingly, prism adaptation can also alter aspects of non-lateralised spatial attention. We previously demonstrated that prism adaptation alters the extent to which neglect patients and healthy participants process local features versus global configurations of visual stimuli. Since deficits in non-lateralised spatial attention are thought to contribute to the severity of neglect symptoms, it is possible that the effect of prism adaptation on these deficits contributes to its efficacy. This study examines the pervasiveness of the effects of prism adaptation on perception by examining the effect of prism adaptation on configural face processing using a composite face task. The composite face task is a persuasive demonstration of the automatic global-level processing of faces: the top and bottom halves of two familiar faces form a seemingly new, unknown face when viewed together. Participants identified the top or bottom halves of composite faces before and after prism adaptation. Sensorimotor adaptation was confirmed by significant pointing aftereffect, however there was no significant change in the extent to which the irrelevant face half interfered with processing. The results support the proposal that the therapeutic effects of prism adaptation are limited to dorsal stream processing.

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Correlations between holistic processing, Autism quotient, extraversion, and experience and the own-gender bias in face recognition

10.1101/492322 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mia Morgan ◽

Peter James Hills

Keyword(s):

Face Recognition ◽

Gender Bias ◽

Holistic Processing ◽

Personality Characteristics ◽

Face Inversion Effect ◽

Autism Quotient ◽

The Face ◽

Processing Mechanisms ◽

Composite Face ◽

Opposite Gender

The variability in the own-gender bias (OGB) in face-recognition is thought to be based on experience (Herlitz & Lovén, 2013) and the engagement of expert face processing mechanisms for own-gender faces. Experience is also associated with personality characteristics such as extraversion and Autism, yet the effects of these variables on the own-gender bias has not been explored. We ran a face recognition study exploring the relationships between opposite-gender experience, holistic processing (measured using the face-inversion effect, composite face effect, and the parts-and-wholes test), personality characteristics (extraversion and Autism Quotient) and the OGB. Findings did not support a mediational account where experience increases holistic processing and this increases the OGB. Rather, there was a direct relationship between extraversion and Autism Quotient and the OGB. We interpret this as personality characteristics having an effect on the motivation to process own-gender faces more deeply than opposite-gender faces.

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