scholarly journals Facial expressions modulate visual features utilization in unfamiliar face identification

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Daniel Fiset ◽  
Josiane Leclerc ◽  
Jessica Royer ◽  
Valérie Plouffe ◽  
Caroline Blais
1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Campbell ◽  
Barbara Brooks ◽  
Edward de Haan ◽  
Tony Roberts

The separability of different subcomponents of face processing has been regularly affirmed, but not always so clearly demonstrated. In particular, the ability to extract speech from faces (lip-reading) has been shown to dissociate doubly from face identification in neurological but not in other populations. In this series of experiments with undergraduates, the classification of speech sounds (lip-reading) from personally familiar and unfamiliar face photographs was explored using speeded manual responses. The independence of lip-reading from identity-based processing was confirmed. Furthermore, the established pattern of independence of expression-matching from, and dependence of identity-matching on, face familiarity was extended to personally familiar faces and “difficult”-emotion decisions. The implications of these findings are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sjoerd Stuit ◽  
Timo Kootstra ◽  
David Terburg ◽  
Carlijn van den Boomen ◽  
Maarten van der Smagt ◽  
...  

Abstract Emotional facial expressions are important visual communication signals that indicate a sender’s intent and emotional state to an observer. As such, it is not surprising that reactions to different expressions are thought to be automatic and independent of awareness. What is surprising, is that studies show inconsistent results concerning such automatic reactions, particularly when using different face stimuli. We argue that automatic reactions to facial expressions can be better explained, and better understood, in terms of quantitative descriptions of their visual features rather than in terms of the semantic labels (e.g. angry) of the expressions. Here, we focused on overall spatial frequency (SF) and localized Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) features. We used machine learning classification to reveal the SF and HOG features that are sufficient for classification of the first selected face out of two simultaneously presented faces. In other words, we show which visual features predict selection between two faces. Interestingly, the identified features serve as better predictors than the semantic label of the expressions. We therefore propose that our modelling approach can further specify which visual features drive the behavioural effects related to emotional expressions, which can help solve the inconsistencies found in this line of research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eilidh Noyes ◽  
Josh P. Davis ◽  
Nikolay Petrov ◽  
Katie L. H. Gray ◽  
Kay L. Ritchie

Face masks present a new challenge to face identification (here matching) and emotion recognition in Western cultures. Here, we present the results of three experiments that test the effect of masks, and also the effect of sunglasses (an occlusion that individuals tend to have more experienced with) on (i) familiar face matching, (ii) unfamiliar face matching and (iii) emotion categorization. Occlusion reduced accuracy in all three tasks, with most errors in the mask condition; however, there was little difference in performance for faces in masks compared with faces in sunglasses. Super-recognizers, people who are highly skilled at matching unconcealed faces, were impaired by occlusion, but at the group level, performed with higher accuracy than controls on all tasks. Results inform psychology theory with implications for everyday interactions, security and policing in a mask-wearing society.


Author(s):  
Marc Swerts

AbstractThis article focuses on how growing children use prosody for communicative purposes. Prosody refers to the set of expressive features that do not so much determine what speakers say, but rather how they say it. It includes both auditory features, such as intonation and tempo, and visual features, such as facial expressions. Our central hypothesis is that children, as they grow older, become more socially aware — a process which is reflected in the way they express themselves in prosody. To this end, we present the results of three studies that focus on how children use such features (1) to mark their level of uncertainty, (2) to signal a positive or negative emotion, and (3) to show whether they are being truthful or not. All the studies use a game-based experimental paradigm that is especially suited for analyses of child behaviour. The approach combines controlled elicitations of spontaneous interactions with perception tests that explore how children's expressions are being interpreted. Results of such studies are relevant for pedagogical and diagnostic purposes, and will lead to improvements in child-directed communication systems.


1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Bruce

A theme running through M.D. Vernon's discussions of visual perception was the key question of how we perceive a stable world despite continuous variation. The central problem in face identification is how we build stable representations from exemplars that vary, both rigidly and non-rigidly, from instant to instant and from encounter to encounter. Experiments reveal that people are rather poor at generalizing from one exemplar of a face to another (e.g. from one photograph to another showing a different view or expression) yet highly accurate at encoding precise details of faces within the range shown by several slightly different exemplars. Moreover, provided instructions do not encourage subjects explicitly to attend to the way that different exemplars vary, faces are retained in a way that enhances familiarity of the prototype of the set, even if this was not presented for study. It is suggested that our usual encounters with continuous variations of facial expressions, angles, and lightings provide the conditions necessary to establish stable representations of individuals within an overall category (the face) where all members share the same overall structure. These observations about face recognition would probably not have come as any great surprise to Maggie Vernon, many of whose more general observations about visual perception anticipated such conclusions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashok Jansari ◽  
E. Green ◽  
Francesco Innocenti ◽  
Diego Nardi ◽  
Elena Belanova ◽  
...  

Unfamiliar face identification ability varies widely in the population. Those at the extreme top and bottom ends of the continuum have been labelled super-recognisers and prosopagnosics, respectively. Here we describe the development of two new tests - the Goldsmiths Unfamiliar Face Memory Test (GUFMT) and the Before They Were Adult Test (BTWA), that have been designed to measure different aspects of face identity ability across the spectrum. The GUFMT is a test of face memory, the BTWA a test of simultaneous adult-to-child face matching. Their designs draw on theories suggesting face identification is achieved by the recognition of facial features, the consistency across time of configurations between those features, and holistic processing of faces as a Gestalt. In four phases, participants (n = 16737), recruited using different methods, allowed evaluations to drive GUFMT development, the creation of likely population norms, as well as correlations with established face recognition tests. Recommendations for criteria for classification of super-recognition ability are also made.


1991 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew W. Young ◽  
Brenda M. Flude ◽  
Andrew W. Ellis

We report a delusional misidentification incident lasting some hours in which a man who had suffered a right hemisphere stroke, HW, mistook a student for his daughter. Investigation of HW's face processing abilities showed unimpaired ability to recognize familiar faces and match facial expressions, but severe impairments of unfamiliar face matching both on the Benton test and a task requiring the matching of disguised and undisguised faces. The incident shows some similarity to the Frégoli delusion, which has also been noted following brain injury affecting the right cerebral hemisphere.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document