1
|
Wiese H, Popova T, Schipper M, Zakriev D, Burton AM, Young AW. How neural representations of newly learnt faces change over time: Event-related brain potential evidence for overnight consolidation. Cortex 2024; 171:13-25. [PMID: 37977110 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Previous experiments have shown that a brief encounter with a previously unfamiliar person leads to the establishment of new facial representations, which can be activated by completely novel pictures of the newly learnt face. The present study examined how stable such novel neural representations are over time, and, specifically, how they become consolidated within the first 24 h after learning. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in a between-participants design, we demonstrate that clear face familiarity effects in the occipito-temporal N250 are evident immediately after learning. These effects then undergo change, with a nearly complete absence of familiarity-related ERP differences 4 h after the initial encounter. Critically, 24 h after learning, the original familiarity effect re-emerges. These findings suggest that the neural correlates of novel face representations are not stable over time but change during the first day after learning. The resulting pattern of change is consistent with a process of consolidation.
Collapse
|
2
|
Wiese H, Schipper M, Popova T, Burton AM, Young AW. Personal familiarity of faces, animals, objects, and scenes: Distinct perceptual and overlapping conceptual representations. Cognition 2023; 241:105625. [PMID: 37769520 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
While face, object, and scene recognition are often studied at a basic categorization level (e.g. "a face", "a car", "a kitchen"), we frequently recognise individual items of these categories as unique entities (e.g. "my mother", "my car", "my kitchen"). This recognition of individual identity is essential to appropriate behaviour in our world. However, relatively little is known about how we recognise individually familiar visual stimuli. Using event-related brain potentials, the present study examined whether and to what extent the underlying neural representations of personally familiar items are similar or different across different categories. In three experiments, we examined the recognition of personally highly familiar faces, animals, indoor scenes, and objects. We observed relatively distinct familiarity effects in an early time window (200-400 ms), with a clearly right-lateralized occipito-temporal scalp distribution for human faces and more bilateral and posterior distributions for other stimulus categories, presumably reflecting access to at least partly discrete visual long-term representations. In contrast, we found clearly overlapping familiarity effects in a later time window (starting 400 to 500 ms after stimulus onset), again with a mainly right occipito-temporal scalp distribution, for all stimulus categories. These later effects appear to reflect the sustained activation of conceptual properties relevant to any potential interaction. We conclude that familiarity for items from the various visual stimulus categories tested here is represented differently at the perceptual level, while relatively overlapping conceptual mechanisms allow for the preparation of impending potential interaction with the environment.
Collapse
|
3
|
Popova T, Wiese H. Developing familiarity during the first eight months of knowing a person: A longitudinal EEG study on face and identity learning. Cortex 2023; 165:26-37. [PMID: 37245406 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
It is well-established that familiar and unfamiliar faces are processed differently, but surprisingly little is known about how familiarity builds up over time and how novel faces gradually become represented in the brain. Here, we used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in a pre-registered, longitudinal study to examine the neural processes accompanying face and identity learning during the first eight months of knowing a person. Specifically, we examined how increasing real-life familiarity affects visual recognition (N250 Familiarity Effect) and the integration of person-related knowledge (Sustained Familiarity Effect, SFE). Sixteen first-year undergraduates were tested in three sessions, approximately one, five, and eight months after the start of the academic year, with highly variable "ambient" images of a new friend they had met at university and of an unfamiliar person. We observed clear ERP familiarity effects for the new friend after one month of familiarity. While there was an increase in the N250 effect over the course of the study, no change in the SFE was observed. These results suggest that visual face representations develop faster relative to the integration of identity-specific knowledge.
Collapse
|
4
|
Quinn BPA, Wiese H. The role of the eye region for familiar face recognition: Evidence from spatial low-pass filtering and contrast negation. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:338-349. [PMID: 35195031 PMCID: PMC9896263 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221085990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
What information is used for familiar face recognition? While previous research suggests a particular importance of the eye region, information from the rest of the face also needs to be integrated. What type of information is used in conjunction with the eyes is largely unclear. In three experiments, participants were asked to recognise so-called face chimeras, in which the eye region was not manipulated, while the rest of the face was either presented in negative contrast (contrast chimeras) or low-pass filtered (blur chimeras). We show (1) that both chimeras are recognised substantially better than fully blurred faces, (2) that the recognition advantage for blur chimeras is specific to the eye region but cannot be explained by cues available in this part of the face alone, and (3) that a combination of negative contrast and blurring outside of the eye region eliminates the chimera advantage. We conclude that full-frequency but distorted surface reflectance cues (in contrast chimeras) or coarse shape information (in blur chimeras) can be used in combination with the eye region for effective face recognition. Our findings further suggest that the face recognition system can flexibly use both types of information, depending on availability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Holger Wiese
- Holger Wiese, Department of Psychology, Durham University, Science Site, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Wiese H, Quinn B, Popova T. Familiar face representations allow for effective and efficient recognition of identity: Neurophysiological evidence from repetition priming. J Vis 2022. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.14.3479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
|
6
|
Tüttenberg SC, Wiese H. Event-related brain potential correlates of the other-race effect: A review. Br J Psychol 2022; 114 Suppl 1:24-44. [PMID: 36018312 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
People are better at remembering own-race relative to other-race faces. Here, we review event-related brain potential (ERP) correlates of this so-called other-'race' effect (ORE) by discussing three critical aspects that characterize the neural signature of this phenomenon. First, difficulties with other-race faces initially emerge during perceptual processing, which is indexed by an increased N170. Second, as evidenced by 'difference due to subsequent memory' effects, more effortful processing of other-race faces is needed for successful encoding into long-term memory. Third, ERP old/new effects reveal that a stronger engagement of processing resources is also required for successful retrieval of other-race faces from memory. The ERP evidence available to date thus suggests widespread ethnicity-related modulations during both perceptual and mnemonic processing stages. We further discuss how findings from the ORE compared with potentially related memory biases (e.g. other-gender or other-age effects) and how ERP findings inform the ongoing debate regarding the mechanisms underlying the ORE. Finally, we outline open questions and potential future directions with an emphasis on using multiple, ecologically more valid 'ambient' images for each face to assess the ORE in paradigms that capture identity rather than image recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone C Tüttenberg
- Experimental Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Popova T, Wiese H. The time it takes to truly know someone: Neurophysiological correlates of face and identity learning during the first two years. Biol Psychol 2022; 170:108312. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
|
8
|
Wiese H, Hobden G, Siilbek E, Martignac V, Flack TR, Ritchie KL, Young AW, Burton AM. Familiarity is familiarity is familiarity: Event-related brain potentials reveal qualitatively similar representations of personally familiar and famous faces. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2021; 48:1144-1164. [PMID: 34672660 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Humans excel in familiar face recognition, but often find it hard to make identity judgements of unfamiliar faces. Understanding of the factors underlying the substantial benefits of familiarity is at present limited, but the effect is sometimes qualified by the way in which a face is known-for example, personal acquaintance sometimes gives rise to stronger familiarity effects than exposure through the media. Given the different quality of personal versus media knowledge, for example in one's emotional response or level of interaction, some have suggested qualitative differences between representations of people known personally or from media exposure. Alternatively, observed differences could reflect quantitative differences in the level of familiarity. We present 4 experiments investigating potential contributory influences to face familiarity effects in which observers view pictures showing their friends, favorite celebrities, celebrities they dislike, celebrities about whom they have expressed no opinion, and their own face. Using event-related potential indices with high temporal resolution and multiple highly varied everyday ambient images as a strong test of face recognition, we focus on the N250 and the later Sustained Familiarity Effect (SFE). All known faces show qualitatively similar responses relative to unfamiliar faces. Regardless of personal- or media-based familiarity, N250 reflects robust visual representations, successively refined over increasing exposure, while SFE appears to reflect the amount of identity-specific semantic information known about a person. These modulations of visual and semantic representations are consistent with face recognition models which emphasize the degree of familiarity but do not distinguish between different types of familiarity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
9
|
Wiese H, Anderson D, Beierholm U, Tüttenberg SC, Young AW, Burton AM. Detecting a viewer's familiarity with a face: Evidence from event-related brain potentials and classifier analyses. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13950. [PMID: 34587297 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Human observers recognize the faces of people they know efficiently and without apparent effort. Consequently, recognizing a familiar face is often assumed to be an automatic process beyond voluntary control. However, there are circumstances in which a person might seek to hide their recognition of a particular face. The present study therefore used event-related potentials (ERPs) and a classifier based on logistic regression to determine if it is possible to detect whether a viewer is familiar with a particular face, regardless of whether the participant is willing to acknowledge it or not. In three experiments, participants were presented with highly variable "ambient" images of personally familiar and unfamiliar faces, while performing an incidental butterfly detection task (Experiment 1), an explicit familiarity judgment task (Experiment 2), and a concealed familiarity task in which they were asked to deny familiarity with one truly known facial identity while acknowledging familiarity with a second known identity (Experiment 3). In all three experiments, we observed substantially more negative ERP amplitudes at occipito-temporal electrodes for familiar relative to unfamiliar faces starting approximately 200 ms after stimulus onset. Both the earlier N250 familiarity effect, reflecting visual recognition of a known face, and the later sustained familiarity effect, reflecting the integration of visual with additional identity-specific information, were similar across experiments and thus independent of task demands. These results were further supported by the classifier analysis. We conclude that ERP correlates of familiar face recognition are largely independent of voluntary control and discuss potential applications in forensic settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | | | | | | | - A Mike Burton
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Quinn B, Talfourd-Cook R, Wiese H. The role of the eye region for familiar face recognition: Event-related brain potentials reveal repetition priming for blur chimeras but not fully filtered faces. J Vis 2021. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.9.1902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
11
|
Popova T, Wiese H. Event-related brain potentials reveal robust face identity learning after a brief real-life encounter. J Vis 2021. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.9.1899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
12
|
Tüttenberg SC, Wiese H. Recognising other-race faces is more effortful: The effect of individuation instructions on encoding-related ERP Dm effects. Biol Psychol 2020; 158:107992. [PMID: 33246044 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Humans are better at recognising faces from their own vs. another ethnic background. Socio-cognitive theories of this own-race bias (ORB) propose that reduced recognition of other-race faces results from less motivation to attend to individuating information during encoding. Accordingly, individuation instructions that explain the phenomenon and instruct participants to attend to other-race faces during learning attenuate or eliminate the ORB. However, it is still unclear how exactly such instructions affect other-race face processing. We addressed this question by investigating encoding-related event-related brain potentials, contrasting neural activity of subsequently remembered and forgotten items (Dm effects). In line with socio-cognitive accounts, individuation instructions reduced the ORB. Critically, instructions increased Dm effects for other-race faces, suggesting that more processing resources were allocated to these faces during encoding. Thus, compensating for reduced experience with other-race faces is possible to some extent, but additional resources are needed to decrease difficulties resulting from a lack of perceptual expertise.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone C Tüttenberg
- Experimental Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Germany; Department of Psychology, Durham University, United Kingdom.
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Wiese H, Hobden G, Burton AM, Young AW. Properties of familiar face representations: No evidence for qualitative differences between personal and media-based familiarity. J Vis 2020. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.11.493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
14
|
Wiese H. Facing dyads and single faces in the social visual world. Cortex 2020; 135:358-360. [PMID: 33268084 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Ritter V, Kaufmann JM, Krahmer F, Wiese H, Stangier U, Schweinberger SR. Neural Correlates of Own- and Other-Face Perception in Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:302. [PMID: 32395110 PMCID: PMC7196670 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by an excessive preoccupation with one or more perceived flaws in one's own appearance. Previous studies provided evidence for deficits in configural and holistic processing in BDD. Preliminary evidence suggests abnormalities at an early stage of visual processing. The present study is the first examining early neurocognitive perception of the own face in BDD by using electroencephalography (EEG). We investigated the face inversion effect, in which inverted (upside-down) faces are disproportionately poorly processed compared to upright faces. This effect reflects a disruption of configural and holistic processing, and in consequence a preponderance of featural face processing. METHODS We recorded face-sensitive event-related potentials (ERPs) in 16 BDD patients and 16 healthy controls, all unmedicated. Participants viewed upright and inverted (upside-down) images of their own face and an unfamiliar other face, each in two facial emotional expressions (neutral vs. smiling). We calculated the early ERP components P100, N170, P200, N250, and the late positive component (LPC), and compared amplitudes among both groups. RESULTS In the early P100, no face inversion effects were found in both groups. In the N170, both groups exhibited the common face inversion effects, with significantly larger N170 amplitudes for inverted than upright faces. In the P200, both groups exhibited larger inversion effects to other (relative to own) faces, with larger P200 amplitudes for other upright than inverted faces. In the N250, no significant group differences were found in face processing. In the LPC, both groups exhibited larger inversion effects to other (relative to own) faces, with larger LPC amplitudes for other inverted than upright faces. These overall patterns appeared to be comparable for both groups. Smaller inversion effects to own (relative to other) faces were observed in none of these components in BDD, relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest no evidence for abnormalities at all levels of early face processing in our observed sample of BDD patients. Further research should investigate the neural substrates underlying BDD symptomatology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Viktoria Ritter
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jürgen M Kaufmann
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Franziska Krahmer
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Stangier
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Wiese H, Ingram BT, Elley ML, Tüttenberg SC, Burton AM, Young AW. Later but not early stages of familiar face recognition depend strongly on attentional resources: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Cortex 2019; 120:147-158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
|
17
|
Tüttenberg SC, Wiese H. Learning own- and other-race facial identities: Testing implicit recognition with event-related brain potentials. Neuropsychologia 2019; 134:107218. [PMID: 31580879 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to varying images of the same person can encourage the formation of a representation that is sufficiently robust to allow recognition of previously unseen images of this person. While behavioural work suggests that face identity learning is harder for other-race faces, the present experiment investigated the neural correlates underlying own- and other-race face learning. Participants sorted own- and other-race identities into separate identity clusters and were further familiarised with these identities in a matching task. Subsequently, we compared event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in an implicit recognition (butterfly detection) task for learnt and previously unseen identities. We observed better sorting and matching for own- than other-race identities, and behavioural learning effects were restricted to own-race identities. Similarly, the N170 ERP component showed clear learning effects for own-race faces only. The N250, a component more closely associated with face learning was more negative for learnt than novel identities. ERP findings thus suggests a processing advantage for own-race identities at an early perceptual level whereas later correlates of identity learning were unaffected by ethnicity. These results suggest learning advantages for own-race identities, which underscores the importance of perceptual expertise in the own-race bias.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone C Tüttenberg
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, United Kingdom.
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Tüttenberg SC, Wiese H. Learning own- and other-race facial identities through exposure to natural variability: Evidence from behavioural and ERP measures. J Vis 2019. [DOI: 10.1167/19.10.154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Wiese H, Tüttenberg SC, Burton M, Young AW. The Sustained Familiarity Effect: A robust neural correlate of familiar face recognition. J Vis 2019. [DOI: 10.1167/19.10.93] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mike Burton
- Department of Psychology, University of York
| | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Wiese H, Chan CYX, Tüttenberg SC. Properties of familiar face representations: Only contrast positive faces contain all information necessary for efficient recognition. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 45:1583-1598. [DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
21
|
Abstract
Exposure to multiple varying face images of the same person encourages the formation of identity representations which are sufficiently robust to allow subsequent recognition from new, never-before seen images. While recent studies suggest that identity information is initially harder to perceive in images of other- relative to own-race identities, it remains unclear whether these difficulties propagate to face learning, that is, to the formation of robust face representations. We report two experiments in which Caucasian and East Asian participants sorted multiple images of own- and other-race persons according to identity in an implicit learning task and subsequently either matched novel images of learnt and previously unseen faces for identity (Experiment 1) or made old/new decisions for new images of learnt and unfamiliar identities (Experiment 2). Caucasian participants demonstrated own-race advantages during sorting, matching, and old/new recognition, while corresponding effects were absent in East Asian participants with substantial other-race expertise. Surprisingly, East Asian participants showed enhanced learning for other-race identities during matching in Experiment 1, which may reflect their increased motivation to individuate other-race faces. Thus, our results highlight the importance of perceptual expertise for own- and other-race processing, but may also lend support to recent suggestions on how expertise and socio-cognitive factors can interact.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Tüttenberg SC, Wiese H. Intentionally remembering or forgetting own- and other-race faces: Evidence from directed forgetting. Br J Psychol 2019; 111:570-597. [PMID: 31264716 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
People are better at remembering faces of their own relative to another ethnic group. This so-called own-race bias (ORB) has been explained in terms of differential perceptual expertise for own- and other-race faces or, alternatively, as resulting from socio-cognitive factors. To test predictions derived from the latter account, we examined item-method directed forgetting (DF), a paradigm sensitive to an intentional modulation of memory, for faces belonging to different ethnic and social groups. In a series of five experiments, participants during learning received cues following each face to either remember or forget the item, but at test were required to recognize all items irrespective of instruction. In Experiments 1 and 5, Caucasian participants showed DF for own-race faces only while, in Experiment 2, East Asian participants with considerable expertise for Caucasian faces demonstrated DF for own- and other-race faces. Experiments 3 and 4 found clear DF for social in- and outgroup faces. These results suggest that a modulation of face memory by motivational processes is limited to faces with which we have acquired perceptual expertise. Thus, motivation alone is not sufficient to modulate memory for other-race faces and cannot fully explain the ORB.
Collapse
|
23
|
Abstract
Humans are remarkably accurate at recognizing familiar faces, whereas their ability to recognize, or even match, unfamiliar faces is much poorer. However, previous research has failed to identify neural correlates of this striking behavioral difference. Here, we found a clear difference in brain potentials elicited by highly familiar faces versus unfamiliar faces. This effect starts 200 ms after stimulus onset and reaches its maximum at 400 to 600 ms. This sustained-familiarity effect was substantially larger than previous candidates for a neural familiarity marker and was detected in almost all participants, representing a reliable index of high familiarity. Whereas its scalp distribution was consistent with a generator in the ventral visual pathway, its modulation by repetition and degree of familiarity suggests an integration of affective and visual information.
Collapse
|
24
|
Limbach K, Kaufmann JM, Wiese H, Witte OW, Schweinberger SR. Enhancement of face-sensitive ERPs in older adults induced by face recognition training. Neuropsychologia 2018; 119:197-213. [PMID: 30114386 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2018] [Revised: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 08/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
A common cognitive problem reported by older people is compromised face recognition, which is often paralleled by age-related changes in face-sensitive and memory-related components in event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We developed a new training using photorealistic caricatures based on evidence that caricatures are beneficial for people with compromised face processing. Twenty-four older participants (62-75 yrs, 13 female) completed 12 training sessions (3 per week, 60 min each) and 24 older participants (61-76 yrs, 12 female) acted as controls. Before and after training (or waiting), participants took part in a diagnostic test battery for face processing abilities, and in ERP experiments on face learning and recognition. Although performance improvements during the training provided little evidence for generalization to other face processing tasks, ERPs showed substantial training-related enhancements of face-sensitive ERPs. Specifically, we observed marked increases of the N170, P200 and N250 components, which may indicate training-induced enhancement of face detection and activation of identity-specific representations. Thus, neuronal correlates of face processing are plastic in older age, and can be modulated by caricature training.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Limbach
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
| | - Jürgen M Kaufmann
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Jena, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Jena, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Wiese H, Schweinberger SR. Inequality between biases in face memory: Event-related potentials reveal dissociable neural correlates of own-race and own-gender biases. Cortex 2018; 101:119-135. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
26
|
English E, Bell S, Kamdar N, Swenson C, Wiese H, Rothman E, Morgan D. 07: Estimated blood loss as a predictor of morbidity following benign hysterectomy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2017.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
27
|
Hansen K, Steffens MC, Rakic T, Wiese H. When appearance does not match accent: neural correlates of ethnicity-related expectancy violations. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:507-515. [PMID: 27798251 PMCID: PMC5390722 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 10/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Most research on ethnicity in neuroscience and social psychology has focused on visual cues. However, accents are central social markers of ethnicity and strongly influence evaluations of others. Here, we examine how varying auditory (vocal accent) and visual (facial appearance) information about others affects neural correlates of ethnicity-related expectancy violations. Participants listened to standard German and Turkish-accented speakers and were subsequently presented with faces whose ethnic appearance was either congruent or incongruent to these voices. We expected that incongruent targets (e.g. German accent/Turkish face) would be paralleled by a more negative N2 event-related brain potential (ERP) component. Results confirmed this, suggesting that incongruence was related to more effortful processing of both Turkish and German target faces. These targets were also subjectively judged as surprising. Additionally, varying lateralization of ERP responses for Turkish and German faces suggests that the underlying neural generators differ, potentially reflecting different emotional reactions to these targets. Behavioral responses showed an effect of violated expectations: German-accented Turkish-looking targets were evaluated as most competent of all targets. We suggest that bringing together neural and behavioral measures of expectancy violations, and using both visual and auditory information, yields a more complete picture of the processes underlying impression formation.
Collapse
|
28
|
Andrews S, Burton AM, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Event-related potentials reveal the development of stable face representations from natural variability. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2017; 70:1620-1632. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1195851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Natural variability between instances of unfamiliar faces can make it difficult to reconcile two images as the same person. Yet for familiar faces, effortless recognition occurs even with considerable variability between images. To explore how stable face representations develop, we employed incidental learning in the form of a face sorting task. In each trial, multiple images of two facial identities were sorted into two corresponding piles. Following the sort, participants showed evidence of having learnt the faces performing more accurately on a matching task with seen than with unseen identities. Furthermore, ventral temporal event-related potentials were more negative in the N250 time range for previously seen than for previously unseen identities. These effects appear to demonstrate some degree of abstraction, rather than simple picture learning, as the neurophysiological and behavioural effects were observed with novel images of the previously seen identities. The results provide evidence of the development of facial representations, allowing a window onto natural mechanisms of face learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sally Andrews
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
- Division of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - A. Mike Burton
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
- School of Psychology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Stefan R. Schweinberger
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Wiese H, Komes J, Tüttenberg S, Leidinger J, Schweinberger SR. Age-related differences in face recognition: Neural correlates of repetition and semantic priming in young and older adults. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2017; 43:1254-1273. [PMID: 28240937 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Difficulties in person recognition are among the common complaints associated with cognitive ageing. The present series of experiments therefore investigated face and person recognition in young and older adults. The authors examined how within-domain and cross-domain repetition as well as semantic priming affect familiar face recognition and analyzed both behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) measures to identify specific processing stages of age-related deficits. During repetition priming (Experiments 1 and 2), the authors observed evidence of an age-related deficit in behavioral priming and clear reductions of both the N250r and the N400 ERP priming effects in older participants. At the same time, both semantic priming (Experiment 3) and the associated N400 ERP effect of semantic priming were largely intact in older adults. The authors suggest that ageing selectively affects the access to domain-general representations of familiar people via bottom-up perceptual processing units. At the same time, accessing domain-general representations via top-down semantic units seems to be relatively preserved in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jana Leidinger
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
| | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- Department of General Psychology and Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Nebel K, Stude P, Lüdecke C, Wiese H, Diener HC, Keidel M. Prospective PC-interactive Pressure Algesimetry of Post-Traumatic Neck pain after Whiplash Injury. Cephalalgia 2016; 25:205-13. [PMID: 15689196 DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2004.00842.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cervical pain is a prominent symptom in both acute whiplash injury and late whiplash syndrome. However, no systematic analysis of post-traumatic pain development covering several weeks has yet been performed in whiplash patients. It was the aim of the present study to analyse the duration and course of post-traumatic muscle pain due to whiplash injury in a prospective follow-up examination with short investigation intervals. A recovery of initially increased muscle pain after whiplash injury within 1 month was hypothesized. Pressure pain of the splenius and trapezius muscles was recorded using PC-interactive pressure algesimetry. Whiplash patients were investigated during the acute injury stage and after 3, 4, and 6 weeks and compared with matched controls. We found significantly increased pressure pain of the splenius and trapezius muscles in the acute stage of whiplash injury. After 4 weeks patients' scores of pain parameters were comparable to those of healthy control subjects. Within the patient group the first changes of pressure pain were observed within 3 (splenius) and 4 weeks (trapezius). For most patients the recovery dynamics lasted 4-6 weeks. A minority of patients did not show any improvement after 6 weeks. The present study shows that the dynamics of pressure pain due to whiplash injury can be quantified by means of PC-interactive pressure algesimetry. Our results confirm the clinical experience that the acute post-traumatic cervical syndrome normally subsides within weeks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K Nebel
- Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
31
|
Stude P, Nebel K, Lüdecke C, Wiese H, Diener HC, Keidel M. Quantification of Acute Neck Pain Following Whiplash Injury by Computer-Aided Pressure Algesimetry. Cephalalgia 2016; 24:1067-75. [PMID: 15566421 DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2004.00787.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Until now the clinical investigation of cervical pain due to whiplash injury is mainly based on finger palpation. The present study introduces a PC-interactive pressure algesimetry to standardize cervical pain measurement. Pressure pain scores of the splenius and trapezius muscles of 23 patients with an acute cervical syndrome after whiplash injury were compared to those of 24 healthy subjects. The pressure painfulness of neck and shoulder muscles was significantly increased in whiplash patients. The splenii muscles showed an equally increased muscle pain whereas the trapezii muscles showed a left-sided preponderance of painfulness, possibly due to the seat belt position in this group of motor vehicle drivers. The computer-interactive pressure algesimetry enables a standardized and rater-independent quantification of the cervical syndrome with neck and shoulder pain caused by whiplash injury.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- P Stude
- Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
32
|
Wiese H, Schweinberger SR. Getting connected: Both associative and semantic links structure semantic memory for newly learned persons. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2015; 68:2131-48. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1008526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The present study examined whether semantic memory for newly learned people is structured by visual co-occurrence, shared semantics, or both. Participants were trained with pairs of simultaneously presented (i.e., co-occurring) preexperimentally unfamiliar faces, which either did or did not share additionally provided semantic information (occupation, place of living, etc.). Semantic information could also be shared between faces that did not co-occur. A subsequent priming experiment revealed faster responses for both co-occurrence/no shared semantics and no co-occurrence/shared semantics conditions, than for an unrelated condition. Strikingly, priming was strongest in the co-occurrence/shared semantics condition, suggesting additive effects of these factors. Additional analysis of event-related brain potentials yielded priming in the N400 component only for combined effects of visual co-occurrence and shared semantics, with more positive amplitudes in this than in the unrelated condition. Overall, these findings suggest that both semantic relatedness and visual co-occurrence are important when novel information is integrated into person-related semantic memory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wiese
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Stockton-on-Tees, UK
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Stefan R. Schweinberger
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Komes J, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Neural correlates of cognitive aging during the perception of facial age: the role of relatively distant and local texture information. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1420. [PMID: 26441790 PMCID: PMC4585215 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous event-related potential (ERP) research revealed that older relative to younger adults show reduced inversion effects in the N170 (with more negative amplitudes for inverted than upright faces), suggestive of impairments in face perception. However, as these studies used young to middle-aged faces only, this finding may reflect preferential processing of own- relative to other-age faces rather than age-related decline. We conducted an ERP study in which young and older participants categorized young and old upright or inverted faces by age. Stimuli were presented either unfiltered or low-pass filtered at 30, 20, or 10 cycles per image (CPI). Response times revealed larger inversion effects, with slower responses for inverted faces, for young faces in young participants. Older participants did not show a corresponding effect. ERPs yielded a trend toward reduced N170 inversion effects in older relative to younger adults independent of face age. Moreover, larger inversion effects for young relative to old faces were detected, and filtering resulted in smaller N170 amplitudes. The reduced N170 inversion effect in older adults may reflect age-related changes in neural correlates of face perception. A smaller N170 inversion effect for old faces may indicate that facial changes with age hamper early face perception stages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Komes
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Durham University Durham, UK
| | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Durham University Durham, UK
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Altmann C, Schweinberger S, Wiese H. Recognition memory for faces is modulated by attractiveness beyond distinctiveness and emotional valence – an ERP study. J Vis 2015. [DOI: 10.1167/15.12.685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
35
|
Kloth N, Damm M, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Aging affects sex categorization of male and female faces in opposite ways. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2015; 158:78-86. [PMID: 25974392 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2014] [Revised: 04/23/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Faces are rich in social information; they easily give away a person's sex, approximate age, feelings, or focus of attention. Past research has mostly focused on investigating the distinct facial signals and perceptual mechanisms that allow us to categorize faces on these individual dimensions. It is less well understood how the different kinds of facial information interact. Here we investigated how the age of a face affects the ease with which young and older adults categorize its sex. Disconfirming everyday intuition, we showed that sex categorization is not generally hampered for older faces. Although categorization of female faces took progressively more time with increasing age, the opposite was found for male faces (Experiment 1). Differential effects of stimulus blurring and inversion for male and female faces of different ages (Experiment 2) strongly suggest one feature as a crucial mediator of the interdependence of age and sex perception - skin texture.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Kloth
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
| | - Madeleine Damm
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Am Steiger 3/1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
| | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany; Department of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Am Steiger 3/1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
| | - Holger Wiese
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany; Department of Psychology, Durham University, Queen's Campus, E007 Wolfson Building, Stockton on Tees TS17 6BH, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Menzel C, Hayn-Leichsenring GU, Langner O, Wiese H, Redies C. Fourier power spectrum characteristics of face photographs: attractiveness perception depends on low-level image properties. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0122801. [PMID: 25835539 PMCID: PMC4383417 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2014] [Accepted: 02/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated whether low-level processed image properties that are shared by natural scenes and artworks – but not veridical face photographs – affect the perception of facial attractiveness and age. Specifically, we considered the slope of the radially averaged Fourier power spectrum in a log-log plot. This slope is a measure of the distribution of special frequency power in an image. Images of natural scenes and artworks possess – compared to face images – a relatively shallow slope (i.e., increased high spatial frequency power). Since aesthetic perception might be based on the efficient processing of images with natural scene statistics, we assumed that the perception of facial attractiveness might also be affected by these properties. We calculated Fourier slope and other beauty-associated measurements in face images and correlated them with ratings of attractiveness and age of the depicted persons (Study 1). We found that Fourier slope – in contrast to the other tested image properties – did not predict attractiveness ratings when we controlled for age. In Study 2A, we overlaid face images with random-phase patterns with different statistics. Patterns with a slope similar to those in natural scenes and artworks resulted in lower attractiveness and higher age ratings. In Studies 2B and 2C, we directly manipulated the Fourier slope of face images and found that images with shallower slopes were rated as more attractive. Additionally, attractiveness of unaltered faces was affected by the Fourier slope of a random-phase background (Study 3). Faces in front of backgrounds with statistics similar to natural scenes and faces were rated as more attractive. We conclude that facial attractiveness ratings are affected by specific image properties. An explanation might be the efficient coding hypothesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Menzel
- Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Gregor U. Hayn-Leichsenring
- Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Oliver Langner
- Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Christoph Redies
- Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Komes J, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Fluency affects source memory for familiar names in younger and older adults: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Neuroimage 2014; 92:90-105. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2013] [Revised: 01/27/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
|
38
|
Komes J, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Preserved fine-tuning of face perception and memory: evidence from the own-race bias in high- and low-performing older adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:60. [PMID: 24772080 PMCID: PMC3983485 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research suggests specific deficits in face perception and memory in older adults, which could reflect a dedifferentiation in the context of a general broadening of cognitive architecture with advanced age. Such dedifferentiation could manifest in a less specialized face processing system. A promising tool to investigate the fine-tuning of face processing in older age is the own-race bias (ORB), a phenomenon reflecting more accurate memory for own-relative to other-race faces, which is related to an expertise-based specialization of early perceptual stages. To investigate whether poor face memory in older age is accompanied by reduced expertise-based specialization of face processing, we assessed event-related brain potential correlates of the ORB in high- vs. low-performing older adults (mean age = 69 years; N = 24 per group). Intriguingly, both older groups demonstrated an equivalent pattern of a behavioral ORB, and a parallel increase in N170 for other-race faces, reflecting less efficient early perceptual processing for this face category. Group differences only emerged independent of face ethnicity: whereas low-performers exhibited a right-lateralized N170, high-performers showed a more bilateral response. This finding may suggest a compensatory mechanism counteracting age-related decline in face perception enabling more efficient encoding into memory in high performers. Overall, our results demonstrate that even a less efficient face processing system in older adults can exhibit preserved expertise-related specialization toward own-race faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Komes
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception and Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany
| | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception and Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany
| | - Holger Wiese
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception and Department of General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Wiese H. Do neural correlates of face expertise vary with task demands? Event-related potential correlates of own- and other-race face inversion. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:898. [PMID: 24399955 PMCID: PMC3870922 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2013] [Accepted: 12/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We are typically more accurate at remembering own- than other-race faces. This “own-race bias” has been suggested to result from enhanced expertise with and more efficient perceptual processing of own-race than other-race faces. In line with this idea, the N170, an event-related potential correlate of face perception, has been repeatedly found to be larger for other-race faces. Other studies, however, found no difference in N170 amplitude for faces from diverse ethnic groups. The present study tested whether these seemingly incongruent findings can be explained by varying task demands. European participants were presented with upright and inverted European and Asian faces (as well as European and Asian houses), and asked to either indicate the ethnicity or the orientation of the stimuli. Larger N170s for other-race faces were observed in the ethnicity but not in the orientation task, suggesting that the necessity to process facial category information is a minimum prerequisite for the occurrence of the effect. In addition, N170 inversion effects, with larger amplitudes for inverted relative to upright stimuli, were more pronounced for own- relative to other-race faces in both tasks. Overall, the present findings suggest that the occurrence of ethnicity effects in N170 for upright faces depends on the amount of facial detail required for the task at hand. At the same time, the larger inversion effects for own- than other-race faces occur independent of task and may reflect the fine-tuning of perceptual processing to faces of maximum expertise.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wiese
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
|
41
|
Wiese H, Kachel U, Schweinberger SR. Holistic face processing of own- and other-age faces in young and older adults: ERP evidence from the composite face task. Neuroimage 2013; 74:306-17. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2012] [Revised: 02/19/2013] [Accepted: 02/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
|
42
|
Wolff N, Kemter K, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. What drives social in-group biases in face recognition memory? ERP evidence from the own-gender bias. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2013; 9:580-90. [PMID: 23474824 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well established that memory is more accurate for own-relative to other-race faces (own-race bias), which has been suggested to result from larger perceptual expertise for own-race faces. Previous studies also demonstrated better memory for own-relative to other-gender faces, which is less likely to result from differences in perceptual expertise, and rather may be related to social in-group vs out-group categorization. We examined neural correlates of the own-gender bias using event-related potentials (ERP). In a recognition memory experiment, both female and male participants remembered faces of their respective own gender more accurately compared with other-gender faces. ERPs during learning yielded significant differences between the subsequent memory effects (subsequently remembered - subsequently forgotten) for own-gender compared with other-gender faces in the occipito-temporal P2 and the central N200, whereas neither later subsequent memory effects nor ERP old/new effects at test reflected a neural correlate of the own-gender bias. We conclude that the own-gender bias is mainly related to study phase processes, which is in line with sociocognitive accounts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Wolff
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Leutragraben 1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
Wiese H, Kaufmann JM, Schweinberger SR. The Neural Signature of the Own-Race Bias: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials. Cereb Cortex 2012; 24:826-35. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
|
44
|
Komes J, Schweinberger SR, Wiese H. Contact affects the own-age bias and neural correlates of face memory in elderly participants. J Vis 2012. [DOI: 10.1167/12.9.25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
45
|
Wiese H, Kaufmann JM, Schweinberger SR. Neural correlates of the own-race bias in face recognition memory: Evidence from event-related potentials. J Vis 2012. [DOI: 10.1167/12.9.786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
|
46
|
Wiese H, Kloth N, Güllmar D, Reichenbach JR, Schweinberger SR. Perceiving age and gender in unfamiliar faces: An fMRI study on face categorization. Brain Cogn 2012; 78:163-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2010] [Revised: 10/24/2011] [Accepted: 10/28/2011] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
|
47
|
Wiese H. The role of age and ethnic group in face recognition memory: ERP evidence from a combined own-age and own-race bias study. Biol Psychol 2012; 89:137-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2011] [Revised: 09/06/2011] [Accepted: 10/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|
48
|
Wolff N, Wiese H, Schweinberger SR. Face recognition memory across the adult life span: Event-related potential evidence from the own-age bias. Psychol Aging 2012; 27:1066-81. [DOI: 10.1037/a0029112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
49
|
|
50
|
Abstract
Abstract
Recent theories of semantic memory suggest a subdivision into several separate domains of knowledge. The present study examined the structure of semantic person knowledge by analyzing both behavioral and ERP correlates of associative priming (via co-occurrence and/or shared semantic information) versus purely categorical priming (via shared occupational information). Participants performed familiarity decisions for target faces, which were preceded by sandwich-masked prime names at either short (33 msec) or long (1033 msec) SOAs. Although masking effectively prevented explicit prime recognition, faster RTs were generally observed for both associative and categorical priming (relative to an unrelated prime-target condition). At the short SOA, both associatively and categorically primed targets similarly elicited more positive going ERPs compared with unrelated targets in the N400 time range (N400 priming effect), suggesting a common initial mechanism mediating both forms of priming. By contrast, at the long SOA, a typical N400 priming effect was observed for associative priming only, whereas the corresponding effect for categorical priming was small and restricted to a left parietal site. This hitherto unreported interaction of relatedness, and SOA in the N400 suggests an initial fast spreading of activation to a wide range of related targets, which subsequently focuses to more closely related people at longer SOAs. This ability of ERPs to trace the neural dynamics of activation for different forms of prime/target relatedness can be exploited for testing different models of semantic priming.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Wiese
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany.
| | | |
Collapse
|