scholarly journals Face Adaptation Effects on Non-Configural Face Information

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-192
Author(s):  
Ronja Mueller ◽  
Sandra Utz ◽  
Claus-Christian Carbon ◽  
Tilo Strobach
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Configural Information ◽  
Facial Memory ◽  
Facial Information ◽  
Face Adaptation ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Inspecting new visual information in a face can affect the perception of subsequently seen faces. In experimental settings for example, previously seen manipulated versions of a face can lead to a clear bias of the participant’s perception of subsequent images: Original images are then perceived as manipulated in the opposite direction of the adaptor while images that are more similar to the adaptor are perceived as normal or natural. These so-called face adaptation effects can be a useful tool to provide information about which facial information is processed and stored in facial memory. Most experiments so far used variants of the second-order relationship configural information (e.g., spatial relations between facial features) when investigating these effects. However, non-configural face information (e.g., color) was mainly neglected when focusing on face adaptation, although this type of information plays an important role in face processing. Therefore, we investigated adaptation effects of non-configural face information by employing brightness alterations. Our results provide clear evidence for brightness adaptation effects (Experiment 1). These effects are face-specific to some extent (Experiments 2 and 3) and robust over time (Experiments 4 and 5). They support the assumption that non-configural face information is not only relevant in face perception but also in face retention. Brightness information seems to be stored in memory and thus is even involved in face recognition.

scholarly journals Face Adaptation—Investigating Nonconfigural Saturation Alterations

i-Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 204166952110563
Author(s):  
Ronja Mueller ◽  
Sandra Utz ◽  
Claus-Christian Carbon ◽  
Tilo Strobach
Keyword(s):  
Color Information ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Adaptation Studies ◽  
Facial Memory ◽  
Face Images ◽  
The Face ◽  
Facial Changes ◽  
Face Stimuli ◽  
Face Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Recognizing familiar faces requires a comparison of the incoming perceptual information with mental face representations stored in memory. Mounting evidence indicates that these representations adapt quickly to recently perceived facial changes. This becomes apparent in face adaptation studies where exposure to a strongly manipulated face alters the perception of subsequent face stimuli: original, non-manipulated face images then appear to be manipulated, while images similar to the adaptor are perceived as “normal.” The face adaptation paradigm serves as a good tool for investigating the information stored in facial memory. So far, most of the face adaptation studies focused on configural (second-order relationship) face information, mainly neglecting non-configural face information (i.e., that does not affect spatial face relations), such as color, although several (non-adaptation) studies were able to demonstrate the importance of color information in face perception and identification. The present study therefore focuses on adaptation effects on saturation color information and compares the results with previous findings on brightness. The study reveals differences in the effect pattern and robustness, indicating that adaptation effects vary considerably even within the same class of non-configural face information.

scholarly journals Holistic face processing is influenced by non-conscious visual information

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.

scholarly journals Brain Activation during Face Perception: Evidence of a Developmental Change

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. Aylward ◽  
J. E. Park ◽  
K. M. Field ◽  
A. C. Parsons ◽  
T. L. Richards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Developmental Change ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Fusiform Gyrus ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Mri Scans

Behavioral studies suggest that children under age 10 process faces using a piecemeal strategy based on individual distinctive facial features, whereas older children use a configural strategy based on the spatial relations among the face's features. The purpose of this study was to determine whether activation of the fusiform gyrus, which is involved in face processing in adults, is greater during face processing in older children (12–14 years) than in younger children (8– 10 years). Functional MRI scans were obtained while children viewed faces and houses. A developmental change was observed: Older children, but not younger children, showed significantly more activation in bilateral fusiform gyri for faces than for houses. Activation in the fusiform gyrus correlated significantly with age and with a behavioral measure of configural face processing. Regions believed to be involved in processing basic facial features were activated in both younger and older children. Some evidence was also observed for greater activation for houses versus faces for the older children than for the younger children, suggesting that processing of these two stimulus types becomes more differentiated as children age. The current results provide biological insight into changes in visual processing of faces that occur with normal development.

Chinese Aesthetic Mask: Three Forehead and Five Eyes—Holistic Processing and Facial Attractiveness

Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 030100662110155
Author(s):  
Jia Lin ◽  
Guomei Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Holistic Processing ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Aesthetic Theory ◽  
Rating Task ◽  
Human Face ◽  
Configural Information ◽  
Forced Choice Task

Human face processing has been attributed to holistic processing. Here, we ask whether humans are sensitive to configural information when perceiving facial attractiveness. By referring to a traditional Chinese aesthetic theory—Three Forehead and Five Eyes—we generated a series of faces that differed in spacing between facial features. We adopted a two-alternative forced-choice task in Experiment 1 and a rating task in Experiment 2 to assess attractiveness. Both tasks showed a consistent result: The faces which fit the Chinese aesthetic theory were chosen or rated as most attractive. This effect of configural information on facial attractiveness was larger for faces with highly attractive features than for faces with low attractive features. These findings provide experimental evidence for the traditional Chinese aesthetic theory. This issue can be further explored from the perspective of culture in the future.

Computational Modeling of Face Recognition Based on Psychophysical Experiments

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Schwaninger ◽  
Christian Wallraven ◽  
Heinrich H. Bülthoff
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Face Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Striking Similarity ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Configural Information ◽  
Psychophysical Studies

Recent results from psychophysical studies are discussed which clearly show that face processing is not only holistic. Humans do encode face parts (component information) in addition to information about the spatial interrelationship of facial features (global configural information). Based on these findings we propose a computational architecture of face recognition, which implements a component and configural route for encoding and recognizing faces. Modeling results showed a striking similarity between human psychophysical data and the computational model. In addition, we could show that our framework is able to achieve good recognition performance even under large view rotations. Thus, our study is an example of how an interdisciplinary approach can provide a deeper understanding of cognitive processes and lead to further insights in human psychophysics as well as computer vision.

Face Inversion Effect Emerges Under Critical Configural Discrepancy

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jisien Yang ◽  
Adrian Schwaninger
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Inversion Effect ◽  
Configural Processing ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
Face Inversion Effect ◽  
Configural Information ◽  
Face Inversion ◽  
The Face

Configural processing has been considered the major contributor to the face inversion effect (FIE) in face recognition. However, most researchers have only obtained the FIE with one specific ratio of configural alteration. It remains unclear whether the ratio of configural alteration itself can mediate the occurrence of the FIE. We aimed to clarify this issue by manipulating the configural information parametrically using six different ratios, ranging from 4% to 24%. Participants were asked to judge whether a pair of faces were entirely identical or different. The paired faces that were to be compared were presented either simultaneously (Experiment 1) or sequentially (Experiment 2). Both experiments revealed that the FIE was observed only when the ratio of configural alteration was in the intermediate range. These results indicate that even though the FIE has been frequently adopted as an index to examine the underlying mechanism of face processing, the emergence of the FIE is not robust with any configural alteration but dependent on the ratio of configural alteration.

External and internal facial features modulate processing of vertical but not horizontal spatial relations

2019 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 44-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günter Meinhardt ◽  
David Kurbel ◽  
Bozana Meinhardt-Injac ◽  
Malte Persike
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Facial Features

Biometrical Processing of Faces in Security and Forensics

2010 ◽  
pp. 79-103
Author(s):  
Pawel T. Puslecki
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Face Detection ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Comprehensive Description ◽  
Facial Processing ◽  
Human Faces

The aim of this chapter is the overall and comprehensive description of the machine face processing issue and presentation of its usefulness in security and forensic applications. The chapter overviews the methods of face processing as the field deriving from various disciplines. After a brief introduction to the field, the conclusions concerning human processing of faces that have been drawn by the psychology researchers and neuroscientists are described. Then the most important tasks related to the computer facial processing are shown: face detection, face recognition and processing of facial features, and the main strategies as well as the methods applied in the related fields are presented. Finally, the applications of digital biometrical processing of human faces are presented.

scholarly journals Does Prosopagnosia Take the Eyes Out of Face Representations? Evidence for a Defect in Representing Diagnostic Facial Information following Brain Damage

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1652-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Caldara ◽  
Philippe Schyns ◽  
Eugéne Mayer ◽  
Marie L. Smith ◽  
Frédéric Gosselin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Damage ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Facial Information ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽  
Response Classification ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces ◽  
Normal Controls

One of the most impressive disorders following brain damage to the ventral occipitotemporal cortex is prosopagnosia, or the inability to recognize faces. Although acquired prosopagnosia with preserved general visual and memory functions is rare, several cases have been described in the neuropsychological literature and studied at the functional and neural level over the last decades. Here we tested a brain-damaged patient (PS) presenting a deficit restricted to the category of faces to clarify the nature of the missing and preserved components of the face processing system when it is selectively damaged. Following learning to identify 10 neutral and happy faces through extensive training, we investigated patient PS's recognition of faces using Bubbles, a response classification technique that sampled facial information across the faces in different bandwidths of spatial frequencies [Gosselin, F., & Schyns, P. E., Bubbles: A technique to reveal the use of information in recognition tasks. Vision Research, 41, 2261-2271, 2001]. Although PS gradually used less information (i.e., the number of bubbles) to identify faces over testing, the total information required was much larger than for normal controls and decreased less steeply with practice. Most importantly, the facial information used to identify individual faces differed between PS and controls. Specifically, in marked contrast to controls, PS did not use the optimal eye information to identify familiar faces, but instead the lower part of the face, including the mouth and the external contours, as normal observers typically do when processing unfamiliar faces. Together, the findings reported here suggest that damage to the face processing system is characterized by an inability to use the information that is optimal to judge identity, focusing instead on suboptimal information.

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