1
|
Gingras F, Estéphan A, Fiset D, Lingnan H, Caldara R, Blais C. Differences in eye movements for face recognition between Canadian and Chinese participants are not modulated by social orientation. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0295256. [PMID: 38096320 PMCID: PMC10721205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Face recognition strategies do not generalize across individuals. Many studies have reported robust cultural differences between West Europeans/North Americans and East Asians in eye movement strategies during face recognition. The social orientation hypothesis posits that individualistic vs. collectivistic (IND/COL) value systems, respectively defining West European/North American and East Asian societies, would be at the root of many cultural differences in visual perception. Whether social orientation is also responsible for such cultural contrast in face recognition remains to be clarified. To this aim, we conducted two experiments with West European/North American and Chinese observers. In Experiment 1, we probed the existence of a link between IND/COL social values and eye movements during face recognition, by using an IND/COL priming paradigm. In Experiment 2, we dissected the latter relationship in greater depth, by using two IND/COL questionnaires, including subdimensions to those concepts. In both studies, cultural differences in fixation patterns were revealed between West European/North American and East Asian observers. Priming IND/COL values did not modulate eye movement visual sampling strategies, and only specific subdimensions of the IND/COL questionnaires were associated with distinct eye-movement patterns. Altogether, we show that the typical contrast between IND/COL cannot fully account for cultural differences in eye movement strategies for face recognition. Cultural differences in eye movements for faces might originate from mechanisms distinct from social orientation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francis Gingras
- Département de psychoéducation et psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada
- Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Amanda Estéphan
- Département de psychoéducation et psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada
- Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Daniel Fiset
- Département de psychoéducation et psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada
| | - He Lingnan
- School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Blais
- Département de psychoéducation et psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nuthmann A, Clark CNL. Pseudoneglect during object search in naturalistic scenes. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:2345-2360. [PMID: 37610677 PMCID: PMC10471692 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06679-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Pseudoneglect, that is the tendency to pay more attention to the left side of space, is typically assessed with paper-and-pencil tasks, particularly line bisection. In the present study, we used an everyday task with more complex stimuli. Subjects' task was to look for pre-specified objects in images of real-world scenes. In half of the scenes, the search object was located on the left side of the image (L-target); in the other half of the scenes, the target was on the right side (R-target). To control for left-right differences in the composition of the scenes, half of the scenes were mirrored horizontally. Eye-movement recordings were used to track the course of pseudoneglect on a millisecond timescale. Subjects' initial eye movements were biased to the left of the scene, but less so for R-targets than for L-targets, indicating that pseudoneglect was modulated by task demands and scene guidance. We further analyzed how horizontal gaze positions changed over time. When the data for L- and R-targets were pooled, the leftward bias lasted, on average, until the first second of the search process came to an end. Even for right-side targets, the gaze data showed an early left-bias, which was compensated by adjustments in the direction and amplitude of later saccades. Importantly, we found that pseudoneglect affected search efficiency by leading to less efficient scan paths and consequently longer search times for R-targets compared with L-targets. It may therefore be prudent to take spatial asymmetries into account when studying visual search in scenes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antje Nuthmann
- Institute of Psychology, University of Kiel, Olshausenstr. 62, 24118, Kiel, Germany.
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Christopher N L Clark
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Carther-Krone TA, Marotta JJ. The influence of magnocellular and parvocellular visual information on global processing in White and Asian populations. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270422. [PMID: 35834469 PMCID: PMC9282618 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans have the remarkable ability to efficiently group elements of a scene together to form a global whole. However, cross-cultural comparisons show that East Asian individuals process scenes more globally than White individuals. This experiment presents new insights into global processing, revealing the relative contributions of two types of visual cells in mediating global and local visual processing in these two groups. Participants completed the Navon hierarchical letters task under divided-attention conditions, indicating whether a target letter “H” was present in the stimuli. Stimuli were either ‘unbiased’, displayed as black letters on a grey screen, or biased to predominantly process low spatial frequency information using psychophysical thresholds that converted unbiased stimuli into achromatic magnocellular-biased stimuli and red-green isoluminant parvocellular-biased stimuli. White participants processed stimuli more globally than Asian participants when low spatial frequency information was conveyed via the parvocellular pathway, while Asian participants showed a global processing advantage when low spatial frequency information was conveyed via the magnocellular pathway, and to a lesser extent through the parvocellular pathway. These findings suggest that the means by which a global processing bias is achieved depends on the subcortical pathway through which visual information is transmitted, and provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between global/local processing, subcortical pathways and spatial frequencies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany A. Carther-Krone
- Perception and Action Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Jonathan J. Marotta
- Perception and Action Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
de Lissa P, Watanabe K, Gu L, Ishii T, Nakamura K, Kimura T, Sagasaki A, Caldara R. Race categorization in noise. Iperception 2022; 13:20416695221119530. [PMID: 36061242 PMCID: PMC9437912 DOI: 10.1177/20416695221119530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
People are typically faster to categorize the race of a face if it belongs to a race different from their own. This Other Race Categorization Advantage (ORCA) is thought to reflect an enhanced sensitivity to the visual race signals of other race faces, leading to faster response times. The current study investigated this sensitivity in a cross-cultural sample of Swiss and Japanese observers with a race categorization task using faces that had been parametrically degraded of visual structure, with normalized luminance and contrast. While Swiss observers exhibited an increasingly strong ORCA in both reaction time and accuracy as the face images were visually degraded up to 20% structural coherence, the Japanese observers manifested this pattern most distinctly when the faces were fully structurally-intact. Critically, for both observer groups, there was a clear accuracy effect at the 20% structural coherence level, indicating that the enhanced sensitivity to other race visual signals persists in significantly degraded stimuli. These results suggest that different cultural groups may rely on and extract distinct types of visual race signals during categorization, which may depend on the available visual information. Nevertheless, heavily degraded stimuli specifically favor the perception of other race faces, indicating that the visual system is tuned by experience and is sensitive to the detection of unfamiliar signals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Li Gu
- School of Innovation Design, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts,
Guangzhou, China
| | - Tatsunori Ishii
- Japan Womens' University, Tokyo, Japan; Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koyo Nakamura
- University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan; Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Nuthmann A, Canas-Bajo T. Visual search in naturalistic scenes from foveal to peripheral vision: A comparison between dynamic and static displays. J Vis 2022; 22:10. [PMID: 35044436 PMCID: PMC8802022 DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.1.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
How important foveal, parafoveal, and peripheral vision are depends on the task. For object search and letter search in static images of real-world scenes, peripheral vision is crucial for efficient search guidance, whereas foveal vision is relatively unimportant. Extending this research, we used gaze-contingent Blindspots and Spotlights to investigate visual search in complex dynamic and static naturalistic scenes. In Experiment 1, we used dynamic scenes only, whereas in Experiments 2 and 3, we directly compared dynamic and static scenes. Each scene contained a static, contextually irrelevant target (i.e., a gray annulus). Scene motion was not predictive of target location. For dynamic scenes, the search-time results from all three experiments converge on the novel finding that neither foveal nor central vision was necessary to attain normal search proficiency. Since motion is known to attract attention and gaze, we explored whether guidance to the target was equally efficient in dynamic as compared to static scenes. We found that the very first saccade was guided by motion in the scene. This was not the case for subsequent saccades made during the scanning epoch, representing the actual search process. Thus, effects of task-irrelevant motion were fast-acting and short-lived. Furthermore, when motion was potentially present (Spotlights) or absent (Blindspots) in foveal or central vision only, we observed differences in verification times for dynamic and static scenes (Experiment 2). When using scenes with greater visual complexity and more motion (Experiment 3), however, the differences between dynamic and static scenes were much reduced.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antje Nuthmann
- Institute of Psychology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3338-3434
| | - Teresa Canas-Bajo
- Vision Science Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
de Lissa P, Sokhn N, Lasrado S, Tanaka K, Watanabe K, Caldara R. Rapid saccadic categorization of other-race faces. J Vis 2021; 21:1. [PMID: 34724530 PMCID: PMC8572436 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.12.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The human visual system is very fast and efficient at extracting socially relevant information from faces. Visual studies employing foveated faces have consistently reported faster categorization by race response times for other-race compared with same-race faces. However, in everyday life we typically encounter faces outside the foveated visual field. In study 1, we explored whether and how race is categorized extrafoveally in same- and other-race faces normalized for low-level properties by tracking eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers in a saccadic response task. The results show that not only are people sensitive to race in faces presented outside of central vision, but the speed advantage in categorizing other-race faces occurs astonishingly quickly in as little as 200 ms. Critically, this visual categorization process was approximately 300 ms faster than the typical button press responses on centrally presented foveated faces. Study 2 investigated the genesis of the extrafoveal saccadic response speed advantage by comparing the influences of the response modality (button presses and saccadic responses), as well as the potential contribution of the impoverished low-spatial frequency spectrum characterizing extrafoveal visual information processing. Button press race categorization was not significantly faster with reconstructed retinal-filtered low spatial frequency faces, regardless of the visual field presentation. The speed of race categorization was significantly boosted only by extrafoveal saccades and not centrally foveated faces. Race is a potent, rapid, and effective visual signal transmitted by faces used for the categorization of ingroup/outgroup members. This fast universal visual categorization can occur outside central vision, igniting a cascade of social processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter de Lissa
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,
| | - Nayla Sokhn
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,
| | - Sasha Lasrado
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,
| | - Kanji Tanaka
- Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.,
| | - Katsumi Watanabe
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.,Faculty of Arts, Design, and Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.,
| | - Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Blais C, Linnell KJ, Caparos S, Estéphan A. Cultural Differences in Face Recognition and Potential Underlying Mechanisms. Front Psychol 2021; 12:627026. [PMID: 33927668 PMCID: PMC8076495 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.627026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to recognize a face is crucial for the success of social interactions. Understanding the visual processes underlying this ability has been the focus of a long tradition of research. Recent advances in the field have revealed that individuals having different cultural backgrounds differ in the type of visual information they use for face processing. However, the mechanisms that underpin these differences remain unknown. Here, we revisit recent findings highlighting group differences in face processing. Then, we integrate these results in a model of visual categorization developed in the field of psychophysics: the RAP framework. On the basis of this framework, we discuss potential mechanisms, whether face-specific or not, that may underlie cross-cultural differences in face perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Blais
- Groupe de Neurosciences Sociales, Département de Psychoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, Canada
| | - Karina J Linnell
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Serge Caparos
- Laboratoire DysCo, Université Paris 8, Saint-Denis, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Amanda Estéphan
- Groupe de Neurosciences Sociales, Département de Psychoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, Canada.,Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Nuthmann A, Clayden AC, Fisher RB. The effect of target salience and size in visual search within naturalistic scenes under degraded vision. J Vis 2021; 21:2. [PMID: 33792616 PMCID: PMC8024777 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.4.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We address two questions concerning eye guidance during visual search in naturalistic scenes. First, search has been described as a task in which visual salience is unimportant. Here, we revisit this question by using a letter-in-scene search task that minimizes any confounding effects that may arise from scene guidance. Second, we investigate how important the different regions of the visual field are for different subprocesses of search (target localization, verification). In Experiment 1, we manipulated both the salience (low vs. high) and the size (small vs. large) of the target letter (a "T"), and we implemented a foveal scotoma (radius: 1°) in half of the trials. In Experiment 2, observers searched for high- and low-salience targets either with full vision or with a central or peripheral scotoma (radius: 2.5°). In both experiments, we found main effects of salience with better performance for high-salience targets. In Experiment 1, search was faster for large than for small targets, and high-salience helped more for small targets. When searching with a foveal scotoma, performance was relatively unimpaired regardless of the target's salience and size. In Experiment 2, both visual-field manipulations led to search time costs, but the peripheral scotoma was much more detrimental than the central scotoma. Peripheral vision proved to be important for target localization, and central vision for target verification. Salience affected eye movement guidance to the target in both central and peripheral vision. Collectively, the results lend support for search models that incorporate salience for predicting eye-movement behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antje Nuthmann
- Institute of Psychology, University of Kiel, Germany.,Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK., http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3338-3434
| | - Adam C Clayden
- School of Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology, University of Suffolk, UK.,Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.,
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Clayden AC, Fisher RB, Nuthmann A. On the relative (un)importance of foveal vision during letter search in naturalistic scenes. Vision Res 2020; 177:41-55. [PMID: 32957035 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The importance of high-acuity foveal vision to visual search can be assessed by denying foveal vision using the gaze-contingent Moving Mask technique. Foveal vision was necessary to attain normal performance when searching for a target letter in alphanumeric displays, Perception & Psychophysics, 62 (2000) 576-585. In contrast, foveal vision was not necessary to correctly locate and identify medium-sized target objects in natural scenes, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40 (2014) 342-360. To explore these task differences, we used grayscale pictures of real-world scenes which included a target letter (Experiment 1: T, Experiment 2: T or L). To reduce between-scene variability with regard to target salience, we developed the Target Embedding Algorithm (T.E.A.) to place the letter in a location for which there was a median change in local contrast when inserting the letter into the scene. The presence or absence of foveal vision was crossed with four target sizes. In both experiments, search performance decreased for smaller targets, and was impaired when searching the scene without foveal vision. For correct trials, the process of target localization remained completely unimpaired by the foveal scotoma, but it took longer to accept the target. We reasoned that the size of the target may affect the importance of foveal vision to the task, but the present data remain ambiguous. In summary, the data highlight the importance of extrafoveal vision for target localization, and the importance of foveal vision for target verification during letter-in-scene search.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam C Clayden
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK; School of Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology, University of Suffolk, UK
| | | | - Antje Nuthmann
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK; Institute of Psychology, University of Kiel, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
On the roles of central and peripheral vision in the extraction of material and form from a scene. Atten Percept Psychophys 2019; 81:1209-1219. [PMID: 30989582 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01731-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Conventional wisdom tells us that the appreciation of local (detail) and global (form and spatial relations) information from a scene is preferentially processed by central and peripheral vision, respectively. Using an eye monitor with high spatial and temporal precision, we sought to provide direct evidence for this idea by controlling whether carefully designed hierarchical scenes were viewed only with central vision (the periphery was masked), only with peripheral vision (the central region was masked), or with full vision. The scenes consisted of a neutral form (a D shape) composed of target circles or squares, or a target circle or square composed of neutral material (Ds). The task was for the participant to determine as quickly as possible whether the scene contained circle(s) or square(s). Increasing the size of the masked region had deleterious effects on performance. This deleterious effect was greater for the extraction of form information when the periphery was masked, and greater for the extraction of material information when central vision was masked, thus providing direct evidence for conventional ideas about the processing predilections of central and peripheral vision.
Collapse
|
11
|
Lüthold P, Lao J, He L, Zhou X, Caldara R. Waldo reveals cultural differences in return fixations. VISUAL COGNITION 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2018.1561567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Lüthold
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Junpeng Lao
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Lingnan He
- School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xinyue Zhou
- School of Management, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Muñoz-Leiva F, Hernández-Méndez J, Gómez-Carmona D. Measuring advertising effectiveness in Travel 2.0 websites through eye-tracking technology. Physiol Behav 2018. [PMID: 29522796 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The advent of Web 2.0 is changing tourists' behaviors, prompting them to take on a more active role in preparing their travel plans. It is also leading tourism companies to have to adapt their marketing strategies to different online social media. The present study analyzes advertising effectiveness in social media in terms of customers' visual attention and self-reported memory (recall). Data were collected through a within-subjects and between-groups design based on eye-tracking technology, followed by a self-administered questionnaire. Participants were instructed to visit three Travel 2.0 websites (T2W), including a hotel's blog, social network profile (Facebook), and virtual community profile (Tripadvisor). Overall, the results revealed greater advertising effectiveness in the case of the hotel social network; and visual attention measures based on eye-tracking data differed from measures of self-reported recall. Visual attention to the ad banner was paid at a low level of awareness, which explains why the associations with the ad did not activate its subsequent recall. The paper offers a pioneering attempt in the application of eye-tracking technology, and examines the possible impact of visual marketing stimuli on user T2W-related behavior. The practical implications identified in this research, along with its limitations and future research opportunities, are of interest both for further theoretical development and practical application.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Muñoz-Leiva
- Department of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Granada, Campus Universitario La Cartuja, 18071, Granada, Spain.
| | - Janet Hernández-Méndez
- Escuela Universitaria de Turismo Iriarte, Universidad de Granada, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Area, Spain
| | - Diego Gómez-Carmona
- Department of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business and Economics, Campus universitario La Cartuja, s/n. 18071, Granada, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Caldara R. Culture Reveals a Flexible System for Face Processing. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0963721417710036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The human face transmits a wealth of signals that readily provide crucial information for social interactions, such as facial identity and emotional expression. Nonetheless, a fundamental question remains debated: Is face processing governed by universal perceptual processes? It has long been presumed that this is the case. However, over the past decade, our work at the Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory has called into question this widely held assumption. We have investigated the eye movements of Western and Eastern observers across various face-processing tasks to determine the effect of culture on perceptual processing. Commonalities aside, we found that Westerners distribute local fixations across the eye and mouth regions, whereas Easterners preferentially deploy central, global fixations during face recognition. Moreover, during the recognition of facial expressions of emotion, Westerners fixate the mouth relatively more to discriminate across expressions, whereas Easterners favor the eye region. Both observations demonstrate that the face system relies on different strategies to perform a range of socially relevant face-processing tasks with comparable levels of efficiency. Overall, these cultural perceptual biases challenge the view that the processes dedicated to face processing are universal, favoring instead the existence of distinct, flexible strategies. The way humans perceive the world and process faces is determined by experience and environmental factors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Miellet S, Lao J, Caldara R. An appropriate use of iMap produces correct statistical results: a reply to McManus (2013) "iMAP and iMAP2 produce erroneous statistical maps of eye-movement differences". Perception 2014; 43:451-7. [PMID: 25109011 DOI: 10.1068/p7682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
McManus (2013, Perception, 42, 1075-1084) contends the validity of the statistical approach adopted in previous versions of iMap (namely, iMap and iMap2; Caldara & Miellet, 2011, Behavior Research Methods, 43, 864-878), casts doubts on earlier results obtained with the toolbox, and offers an altered version of the code. Here we dispute these claims and argue that while some of the arguments put forward are valid, McManus's conclusions are misleading, since they are based on a partial use of the toolbox. Moreover, we compared iMap with the alternative code offered by McManus and objectively demonstrate that McManus's approach is underpowered and flawed. iMap offers an appropriate and effective alternative to the commonly used regions of interest approach for statistical analyses of eye-movement data.
Collapse
|
15
|
|
16
|
Miellet S, Vizioli L, He L, Zhou X, Caldara R. Mapping Face Recognition Information Use across Cultures. Front Psychol 2013; 4:34. [PMID: 23430143 PMCID: PMC3576804 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2012] [Accepted: 01/15/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Face recognition is not rooted in a universal eye movement information-gathering strategy. Western observers favor a local facial feature sampling strategy, whereas Eastern observers prefer sampling face information from a global, central fixation strategy. Yet, the precise qualitative (the diagnostic) and quantitative (the amount) information underlying these cultural perceptual biases in face recognition remains undetermined. To this end, we monitored the eye movements of Western and Eastern observers during a face recognition task, with a novel gaze-contingent technique: the Expanding Spotlight. We used 2° Gaussian apertures centered on the observers' fixations expanding dynamically at a rate of 1° every 25 ms at each fixation - the longer the fixation duration, the larger the aperture size. Identity-specific face information was only displayed within the Gaussian aperture; outside the aperture, an average face template was displayed to facilitate saccade planning. Thus, the Expanding Spotlight simultaneously maps out the facial information span at each fixation location. Data obtained with the Expanding Spotlight technique confirmed that Westerners extract more information from the eye region, whereas Easterners extract more information from the nose region. Interestingly, this quantitative difference was paired with a qualitative disparity. Retinal filters based on spatial-frequency decomposition built from the fixations maps revealed that Westerners used local high-spatial-frequency information sampling, covering all the features critical for effective face recognition (the eyes and the mouth). In contrast, Easterners achieved a similar result by using global low-spatial-frequency information from those facial features. Our data show that the face system flexibly engages into local or global eye movement strategies across cultures, by relying on distinct facial information span and culturally tuned spatially filtered information. Overall, our findings challenge the view of a unique putative process for face recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Miellet
- Department of Psychology and Fribourg Center for Cognition, University of Fribourg Fribourg, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Friston K, Adams RA, Perrinet L, Breakspear M. Perceptions as hypotheses: saccades as experiments. Front Psychol 2012; 3:151. [PMID: 22654776 PMCID: PMC3361132 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 174] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2012] [Accepted: 04/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
If perception corresponds to hypothesis testing (Gregory, 1980); then visual searches might be construed as experiments that generate sensory data. In this work, we explore the idea that saccadic eye movements are optimal experiments, in which data are gathered to test hypotheses or beliefs about how those data are caused. This provides a plausible model of visual search that can be motivated from the basic principles of self-organized behavior: namely, the imperative to minimize the entropy of hidden states of the world and their sensory consequences. This imperative is met if agents sample hidden states of the world efficiently. This efficient sampling of salient information can be derived in a fairly straightforward way, using approximate Bayesian inference and variational free-energy minimization. Simulations of the resulting active inference scheme reproduce sequential eye movements that are reminiscent of empirically observed saccades and provide some counterintuitive insights into the way that sensory evidence is accumulated or assimilated into beliefs about the world.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karl Friston
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College LondonLondon, UK
| | - Rick A. Adams
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College LondonLondon, UK
| | - Laurent Perrinet
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College LondonLondon, UK
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, CNRS - Aix-Marseille UniversityMarseille, France
| | - Michael Breakspear
- Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane HospitalBrisbane, QLD, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Geringswald F, Baumgartner F, Pollmann S. Simulated loss of foveal vision eliminates visual search advantage in repeated displays. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 6:134. [PMID: 22593741 PMCID: PMC3350129 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2012] [Accepted: 04/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In the contextual cueing paradigm, incidental visual learning of repeated distractor configurations leads to faster search times in repeated compared to new displays. This contextual cueing is closely linked to the visual exploration of the search arrays as indicated by fewer fixations and more efficient scan paths in repeated search arrays. Here, we examined contextual cueing under impaired visual exploration induced by a simulated central scotoma that causes the participant to rely on extrafoveal vision. We let normal-sighted participants search for the target either under unimpaired viewing conditions or with a gaze-contingent central scotoma masking the currently fixated area. Under unimpaired viewing conditions, participants revealed shorter search times and more efficient exploration of the display for repeated compared to novel search arrays and thus exhibited contextual cueing. When visual search was impaired by the central scotoma, search facilitation for repeated displays was eliminated. These results indicate that a loss of foveal sight, as it is commonly observed in maculopathies, e.g., may lead to deficits in high-level visual functions well beyond the immediate consequences of a scotoma.
Collapse
|
19
|
Rodger H, Kelly DJ, Blais C, Caldara R. Inverting faces does not abolish cultural diversity in eye movements. Perception 2011; 39:1491-503. [PMID: 21313946 DOI: 10.1068/p6750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Face processing is widely understood to be a basic, universal visual function effortlessly achieved by people from all cultures and races. The remarkable recognition performance for faces is markedly and specifically affected by picture-plane inversion: the so-called face-inversion effect (FIE), a finding often used as evidence for face-specific mechanisms. However, it has recently been shown that culture shapes the way people deploy eye movements to extract information from faces. Interestingly, the comparable lack of experience with inverted faces across cultures offers a unique opportunity to establish the extent to which such cultural perceptual biases in eye movements are robust, but also to assess whether face-specific mechanisms are universally tuned. Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian (WC) and East Asian (EA) observers while they learned and recognised WC and EA inverted faces. Both groups of observers showed a comparable impairment in recognising inverted faces of both races. WC observers deployed a scattered inverted triangular scanpath with a bias towards the mouth, whereas EA observers uniformly extended the focus of their fixations from the centre towards the eyes. Overall, our data show that cultural perceptual differences in eye movements persist during the FIE, questioning the universality of face-processing mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Helen Rodger
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (CCNi), Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, Scotland, UK
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|