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Lecture notes Cognitive Psychology
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Lecture notes for 1st year cognitive psychology module in BSc Psychology degree
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L9- Face perceptionFaces + objects
Faces are a category of objects
Object recognition involves retrieving category information (“This is a car”)
Face recognition involves much more than basic categorisation (“This is a face”)
‘Traits’ we communicate through our face
Visual
- Identity
- Gender
- Age
- Emotional expression
- Gaze direction
- Attractiveness
- Ethnicity
Psychological
- Personality
- Mood
- Intentions
- Likeability
- Trustworthiness
‘Looks matter’
Good looking people are more likely to be perceived positively on many dimensions
- ALSO- they may be perceived to have an ‘easier ride in life’ in many situations
A person with a severe facial disfigurement can face significant challenges in leading a
normal life
- The public’s admirations for what a person such as a war veteran/burn victim
achieved despite their accident is testimony to the severity of the consequences that
people with facial disfigurement may face
Face perception as a within-category process
Recognising a face as a face is NOT sufficient
We make within-category judgements
- Explicitly
- Implicitly
These judgements control our communication to + behaviour towards our peers
What complicates the matter is that all faces look alike in some respects
, Object perception is a between-category process
Recognising an object category can be often sufficient- though not always
- Finding MY car, MY coffee mug etc
- Finding A sandwich, A drink etc
Within-category object recognition is equivalent to having perceptual expertise
Face perception as expertise
Face perception is a form of perceptual expertise
Within a large pool of members (faces)- we can discriminate faces on the basis of very
subtle differences in appearance + on many different visual + non-visual dimensions
For non-face objects- this level of perception requires training + experience
- E.g. car, dog or bird experts
Face constancy
Faces are subject to the object constancy problem- just as objects
- Recognising the same face under different viewing conditions e.g. lighting, distance +
orientation
ALSO- faces are dynamic rather than static
- Rapid subtle + not-so-subtle changes in expression e.g. speaking + emotional
expressions
What characterises the structure of the face?
Recall Biederman’s recognition-by-components
- Objects consist of parts (‘geons’) whose spatial layout forms the object
- Parts are defined by simpler features
Faces also contain parts BUT these are highly similar between faces
The overall structure is also very similar
Globally- the structure of faces is similar
- HOWEVER- locally it is NOT
Our face expertise makes us highly sensitive to subtle changes in face configuration
- This defines our discrimination of identity, expression etc
What is the face configuration?
Local spatial relations between critical face parts
Global spatial relations between face parts + context
Configural changes are:
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