Faces

Question 1

what is pareidolia?

Answer 1

the L+R fusiform gyrus detects facial patterns in objects where there should be none

this suggests our systems are predisposed to seeing faces in different kinds of inputs.

Question 2

what did johnson (1991) show about newborn babies?

Answer 2

newborn babies have preferences for cartoonish faces – innate predisposition

Question 3

what do infants lose by 9m?

Answer 3

infants lose the ability to discriminate monkey faces as well as human faces (pascalis, 2002)

shows face processing in infants undergoes similar progression to language-related processes.

Question 4

features vs configuration

Answer 4

features = identifiable parts of the face, e.g., eyes, nose, mouth

configuration = the arrangement of face features, e.g., spacing, symmetry, position within outline

Question 5

what does holistic face processing involve?

Answer 5

integrating information from the configuration of faces

Question 6

examples of holistic face processing

Answer 6

inversion and thatcher effect:
show face processing is interrupted by interfering with configurations

Diamond and Carey (1987) show correlation between inversion effects and image familiarity.

Question 7

what do single-cell recordings show about face processing?

Answer 7

show double dissociations between identity and emotion processing systems

Question 8

identity after-effect

Answer 8

adapting to an identity over time reduces the firing rate of their neurons.

this means a 50-50 image will be perceived as the other identity via neural adaptation

Question 9

different brain areas involved in processing identity and emotion

Answer 9

narumoto (2001) found the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and lateral fusiform gyrus (LFG) showed higher activity when viewing faces,

the superior temporal sulcus (STS) heightened for viewing emotion.

Question 10

emotion after-effect

Answer 10

adapting to a happy face makes a neutral one look angry, and vice versa

Question 11

types of face processing models

Answer 11

bruce and young (1986)
haxby, hoffman, and gobbini (2000)

Question 12

bruce and young (1986) suggest there are two main stages of face processing:

Answer 12

1. structural encoding – deals with visual information, e.g., viewpoint and lighting
2. extended processing – splits into two pathways:

a. expression analysis – facial expression, mood, emotion (changing)
b. face recognition – person identity nodes and name retrieval (fixed)

Question 13

haxby, hoffman, and gobbini (2000) created a model for a distributed system of face perception:

Answer 13

1. inferior occipital gyrus – early perception of facial features

a. lateral fusiform gyrus – processes fixed aspects of faces and unique identity
b. superior temporal sulcus – processes changeable aspects, e.g., gaze, expression

i. intraparietal sulcus – spatially directed attention
ii. auditory cortex – prelexical processing
iii. amygdala, insula, limbic system – emotion processing
iv. anterior temporal processes – personal identity and name

Question 14

what is N170?

Answer 14

N170 is a strong ERP waveform, which is assumed to reflect structural encoding in facial images.

Question 15

what did bentin (1996) show about N170?

Answer 15

ERP N170 is flexible for faces and differentiates faces from other visual input.

Question 16

what is FMRI used for?

Answer 16

to identify brain areas sensitive for particular categories.

Question 17

kanwisher (1997) subtracted activation for ‘scrambled faces’ and found:

Answer 17

LOC = sensitivity to objects
FFA = sensitive to unscrambled faces
PPA = activates for outdoor scenes

Question 18

what did serences (2004) concldue about FFA?

Answer 18

found increased activation in FFA when asked to identify faces vs. houses for PPA.

concluded our attention selection tells these areas whether they should boost or reduce activation.

Question 19

pticher (2009) and TMS

Answer 19

applied TMS to OFA and found this was critically related to face processing.

right OFA is critical for part-based identification.

Question 20

what is the repetition suppression effect?

Answer 20

(RS) = reduced brain activity following stimulus repetition

Question 21

winston (2004) findings’ about RS:

Answer 21

used RS across two conditions

FFA and posterior STS codes identity and the anterior STS codes for emotion.

double dissociation between identity and emotion face processing.

Question 22

prosopagnosia

Answer 22

= failure to overtly recognise people, despite covert recognition (damage to FFA).

Question 23

capgras syndrome

Answer 23

= feeling people are imposters, despite overt recognition (damage to STS).

Question 24

how are different facial expressions read?

Answer 24

through the use of different face and eye muscles.

patients with amygdala damage or autism spend more time fixating on the mouth than the eyes when reading facial expressions.

Question 25

behrman (2006) atypical face processing

Answer 25

reduced performance in differentiating faces for sex and individual identity in both RT and accuracy

Question 26

autism and inversion effect

Answer 26

there is no evidence of face inversion effect for autism.

Question 27

what is there a correlation between in atypical face processing?

Answer 27

correlation between reduced face processing and more ASD behaviours (scherf, 2015).

Question 28

what is face space theory?

Answer 28

valentine (2015) = faces are represented in a multidimensional space (MDS) where each feature has its axis.

the brain uses representations to recognise faces, based on their deviation from the average face.

Question 29

implications of face space theory

Answer 29

the ‘average face’ is used to determine attractiveness, which can influence social cohesion.

faces further from the ‘average’ will experience better recognition.

Question 30

what can influence face space?

Answer 30

exposure to diverse faces leads to a more elaborate MDS; less experience means smaller MDS.

Question 31

other race and other age effects

Answer 31

= difficulty recognising faces of other races or ages

ORE is reduced by experience, and OAE may depend on how intergenerational social groups are