Cognition - Lecture 2 - Is face processing special?

Question 1

What is particularly important in Face recognition?

Answer 1

Facial Configuration [i.e., the spatial relations between features]

Question 2

What may help us to recognise an individual face?

Answer 2

The amount it deviates from an internal representation of the ‘average face’.

Question 3

Who did work using photographs of Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne in 1987?

Answer 3

Young et al. (1987)

Question 4

According to Young et al, participants recognise the … faces in the composite image more often than in the … case than in the … case

Answer 4

Individual; Misaligned; Aligned

Question 5

When the upper and lower parts of the two faces are … our brain appears to percieve a … facial configuration and this … recognition of the individual faces

Answer 5

Aligned; Novel; Impedes

Question 6

Which researcher came up with the Face … effect?

Answer 6

the face superiority effect; (Tanaka & Farah, 1993)

Question 7

The Face superiority effect tasks involved …

Answer 7

A learning phase and 3 recognition phases [1. feature only; 2. feature within face; 3. feature within scrambled face]

Question 8

Another Face effect which has been studied is called the …

Answer 8

Face Inversion Effect

Question 9

Tanaka & Farah (1993) found two interesting things with the FSE…

Answer 9

1. Configuration is important for recognition

2. Features alone are hard to recognise

Question 10

What happens to normal proficiency when faces are inverted?

Answer 10

There is a LOSS of normal proficiency at face perception when faces are inverted!!

Question 11

in the FIE loss of proficiency is measured by …

Answer 11

By recognition accuracy for recently learned faces, (Yin, ‘69) reported 90% accuracy [Upright] and 60% accuracy [Inverted].

Question 12

What is interesting about the Face Inversion effect is that …

Answer 12

Similar decrement in performance is not found for other objects!!

Question 13

There are different processes used to perceive upright and inverted faces. These are …

Answer 13

1. ‘configural’ processing = upright

2. ‘Local’ processing = inverted

Question 14

An illusion which demonstrates the Face … effects is the … illusion (Thompson, 1980)

Answer 14

Face inversion effect; THATCHER illusion (Thompson, 1980)

Question 15

Upside down faces are hard to recognise because … ?

Answer 15

Face recognition relies on percieving the configuration of faces (Diamond & Carey, 1986)

Question 16

The race effect (other race effect) in face perception suggests that people are … accurate in recognizing faces from another … group than from their … group

Answer 16

Less; racial; own

Question 17

Who conducted a meta-analysis of 14 studies involving 693 black and 753 white participants???

What was found?

Answer 17

Brigham (1986)

The detriment in cross-race recognition was the same for both blacks + whites

Question 18

What do composite-face effect + face superiority effect suggest for face recognition??

Answer 18

That face recognition is based on configural processing (that is, ‘integration of various object features into a comprehensive, global configuration’)

Question 19

What is prosopagnosia??

Answer 19

The inability to recognise faces!!!

Question 20

What do the face inversion effect + thatcher illusion suggest??

Answer 20

That configural processing (integration of object features into global configuration) operates at UPRIGHT orientations !

Question 21

What do the caricature effects + race effects suggest about configuration???

Answer 21

That we configure with respect to an INTERNAL AVERAGE (!)

Question 22

What may help us understand the other race effect (ORE)??

Answer 22

‘Average face’ - this represents the type of face exposure we are used to, therefore, it is important to recognising and discriminating people from THAT group. Being good at own group may lead to being bad at another!!

Question 23

What do Diamond + Carey (1986) propose about face configuration?? [Hint: distinct]

Answer 23

To do with configuration of features in a face

Question 24

What is configural processing??

Answer 24

Integration of various object features into a comprehensive, global configuration.

Question 25

Define Featural processing?

Answer 25

Ability to perceive individual components, or features, of an object without being able to integrate those components into a global form