Facial identity and facial expression matching in 5–12‐year‐old children and adults

Facial identity and facial expression matching tasks were completed by 5–12‐year‐old children and adults using stimuli extracted from the same set of normalized faces. Configural and feature processing were examined using speed and accuracy of responding and facial feature selection, respectively. Facial identity matching was slower than face expression matching for all age groups. Large age effects were found on both speed and accuracy of responding and feature use in both identity and expression matching tasks. Eye region preference was found on the facial identity task and mouth region preference on the facial expression task. Use of mouth region information for facial expression matching increased with age, whereas use of eye region information for facial identity matching peaked early. The feature use information suggests that the specific use of primary facial features to arrive at identity and emotion matching judgments matures across middle childhood. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Checking ID‐cards for the sale of restricted goods: Age decisions bias face decisions

Matching unfamiliar faces is highly error‐prone, and most studies highlight the implications for real‐world ID‐checking. Here we study a particular instance of ID‐checking: proof of age for buying restricted goods such as alcohol. In this case, checkers must establish that an identity document is carried by its legitimate owner (i.e., that the ID photo matches the face of the bearer) and that the ID proves the bearer to be old enough to make the purchase. Across three experiments, using two common forms of photo‐ID (i.e., driving licenses, PASS+ cards) we show that observers produce very high error rates when age requirements are met, but faces mismatch. This bias away from detecting a face mismatch remained evident in experienced cashiers—though to a somewhat attenuated level. We discuss interactions between face matching and other tasks, and the practical consequences of a bias which favours those using photo‐ID with fraudulent intent.     

The own‐age face recognition bias is task dependent

The own‐age bias (OAB) in face recognition (more accurate recognition of own‐age than other‐age faces) is robust among young adults but not older adults. We investigated the OAB under two different task conditions. In Experiment 1 young and older adults (who reported more recent experience with own than other‐age faces) completed a match‐to‐sample task with young and older adult faces; only young adults showed an OAB. In Experiment 2 young and older adults completed an identity detection task in which we manipulated the identity strength of target and distracter identities by morphing each face with an average face in 20% steps. Accuracy increased with identity strength and facial age influenced older adults' (but not younger adults') strategy, but there was no evidence of an OAB. Collectively, these results suggest that the OAB depends on task demands and may be absent when searching for one identity.     

Super-Recognisers show an advantage for other race face identification

The accurate identification of an unfamiliar individual from a face photo is a critical factor in several applied situations (e.g., border control). Despite this, matching faces to photographic ID is highly prone to error. In lieu of effective training measures, which could reduce face matching errors, the selection of “super-recognisers” (SRs) provides the most promising route to combat misidentification or fraud. However, to date, super-recognition has been defined and tested using almost exclusively “own-race” face memory and matching tests. Here, across three studies, we test Caucasian participants' performance on own- and other-race face identification tasks (GFMT, MFMT, CFMT+, EFMT, CFMT-Chinese). Our findings show that compared to controls, high-performing typical recognisers (Studies 1 and 2) and SRs (Study 3) show superior performance on both the own- and other-race tests. These findings suggest that recruiting SRs in ethnically diverse applied settings could be advantageous.     

Love and Identity： Unconditional Concern and Particularity

Love for a person involves an idea of the other＇s particularity, or ＂irreplaceability＂： an idea that is linked with a fine grained attention to, and affection for, very specific features of the other. This attention is largely a consequence of--or manifestation of--my love, rather than its ground. What I see in the other is partly conditioned by an ＂unconditional＂ concern for her as an individual. A consideration of the importance of the face and of personal names in my interactions with another may bring into focus crucial aspects of the particularity and unconditionality that are characteristic of love.     

人脸加工中身份语义信息提取的加工方式

人脸加工过程中,从人脸知觉到身份信息提取是一个系列的过程还是平行加工的过程,是人脸研究的热点问题之一。通过比较脸—脸(FF)、名字—名字(NN)、脸—名字(FN)和名字—脸(NF)等四种刺激类型条件下被试对其作夫妇判断和性别配对判断时的反应时分析,发现判断任务与刺激类型之间存在显著交互作用。在性别判断任务中,FF反应最快,NF其次,FN和NN最慢;而在夫妇判断任务中,四种刺激类型间无显著差异。反应错误率分析也显示相似的结果。实验结果支持人脸识别到身份信息提取过程为系列加工的观点。     

The effects of the presence of a face and direct eye gaze on voice identity learning

We rarely become familiar with the voice of another person in isolation but usually also have access to visual identity information, thus learning to recognize their voice and face in parallel. There are conflicting findings as to whether learning to recognize voices in audiovisual vs audio-only settings is advantageous or detrimental to learning. One prominent finding shows that the presence of a face overshadows the voice, hindering voice identity learning by capturing listeners' attention (Face Overshadowing Effect; FOE). In the current study, we tested the proposal that the effect of audiovisual training on voice identity learning is driven by attentional processes. Participants learned to recognize voices through either audio-only training (Audio-Only) or through three versions of audiovisual training, where a face was presented alongside the voices. During audiovisual training, the faces were either looking at the camera (Direct Gaze), were looking to the side (Averted Gaze) or had closed eyes (No Gaze). We found a graded effect of gaze on voice identity learning: Voice identity recognition was most accurate after audio-only training and least accurate after audiovisual training including direct gaze, constituting a FOE. While effect sizes were overall small, the magnitude of FOE was halved for the Averted and No Gaze conditions. With direct gaze being associated with increased attention capture compared to averted or no gaze, the current findings suggest that incidental attention capture at least partially underpins the FOE. We discuss these findings in light of visual dominance effects and the relative informativeness of faces vs voices for identity perception.     

Unfamiliar face matching: Pairs out‐perform individuals and provide a route to training

Matching unfamiliar faces is known to be difficult. Here, we ask whether performance can be improved by asking viewers to work in pairs, a manipulation known to increase accuracy for low‐level visual discrimination tasks. Across four experiments we consistently find that face matching accuracy is higher for pairs of viewers than for individuals. This ‘pairs advantage’ is generally driven by adopting the response of the higher scoring partner. However, when the task becomes difficult, both partners' performance is improved by working in a pair. In two experiments, we find evidence that working in a pair can lead to subsequent improvements in individual performance, specifically for viewers whose accuracy is initially low. The pairs' technique therefore offers the opportunity for substantial improvements in face matching performance, along with an added training benefit.     

Finding an unfamiliar face in a line-up: Viewing multiple images of the target is beneficial on target-present trials but costly on target-absent trials

When viewing unfamiliar faces, photographs of the same person often are perceived as belonging to different people and photographs of different people as belonging to the same person. Identity matching of unfamiliar faces is especially challenging when the photographs are of a person whose ethnicity differs from that of the observer. In contrast, matching is trivial when viewing familiar faces, regardless of race. Viewing multiple images of an own-race target identity improves accuracy on a line-up task when the target is known to be present (Dowsett et al., 2016, Q J Exp Psychol, 69, 1), suggesting that exposure to within-person variability in appearance is key to face learning. Across three experiments, we show that viewing multiple images of a target identity also improves accuracy for other-race faces on target-present trials. However, viewing multiple images decreases accuracy (i.e., increases false alarms) on target-absent trials for both own- and other-race faces. We discuss the implications of our findings for models of face recognition and for forensic settings.     

Consolidation,wider reflection,and policy: Response to ‘Super‐recognisers: From the lab to the world and back again’

Here, David Robertson and Markus Bindemann respond to a recent BJP Target Article on ‘super‐recognisers’ (SRs). They outline the need to consider human factors that could influence SR performance after selection and the need for a co‐ordinated effort to ensure best practice in the implementation of SRs in applied contexts.     

身份识别的脑功能成像研究

身份识别在日常生活中具有重要作用。身份识别可以单独通过面孔或语音来完成,也可以通过面孔和语音共同完成。文章首先从面孔和语音两个方面分别对身份识别的脑功能成像研究进行介绍,包括对身份整体性的识别和对种族、年龄、性别、熟悉性等身份亚成分的识别,然后对面孔和语音在身份识别中的关系进行介绍,最后进行了总结和展望     

Identity specific adaptation with composite faces

A composite face, made from the top half of a celebrity face and the bottom half of an unfamiliar face, appears to be a single, “new” face (e.g., Young, Hellawell, & Hay, 1987). Composite faces were used within the face identity aftereffect (FIAE) paradigm, in which prolonged exposure to a face reduces sensitivity to it (adaptation). Adaptation occurred both with an intact face and with composites containing its upper half, but only when composites were explicitly recognized during the adaptation phase. Unrecognized composites produced no adaptation. These findings imply that the FIAE is a relatively high-level perceptual effect, given that identical stimuli either did or did not produce adaptation depending on whether or not they were recognized. They also suggest a perceptual locus for the “composite face effect”.     

面部表情识别与面孔身份识别的独立加工与交互作用机制

面孔识别功能模型认为,面部表情识别与面孔身份识别是两条独立的并行路径。以往诸多研究者都认可并遵循二者分离的原则。但近期研究表明,面部表情识别与面孔身份识别存在交互作用。首先总结和分析已有的面部表情识别的研究成果,评述神经心理学与认知神经科学研究中的论争,然后介绍人脸知觉的分布式神经机制以及相关的实验证据,最后提出面部表情识别与面孔身份识别的多级整合模型,并展望研究前景。     

人类嗓音加工的神经机制——来自正常视力者和盲人的脑神经证据

人类嗓音作为听觉环境的重要组成部分, 包含了大量副语言信息以帮助识别个体身份, 尤其对于盲人而言, 视觉面孔经验的缺乏使得嗓音信息成为其感知对方个体特征的主要来源。通过结合正常视力者和盲人在嗓音选择性加工和嗓音身份加工方面的研究, 尝试揭示普遍的人类嗓音加工模式以及盲人特异的嗓音加工机制。此外, 与视觉面孔加工相关的梭状回脑区也参与并卷入了两类人群的嗓音加工任务, 以此为基础梳理的视听整合模型和基于去掩蔽效应的跨模态重组假说, 为这两类人群嗓音加工神经基础的差异性提供了相应的解释机制, 未来研究希望可以进一步探究盲人的嗓音加工策略, 以及考察左侧颞上沟/回脑区在嗓音加工中的作用。     

Discrimination and categorization of emotional facial expressions and faces in Parkinson's disease

Our objective was to compare the ability to discriminate and categorize emotional facial expressions (EFEs) and facial identity characteristics (age and/or gender) in a group of 53 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and another group of 53 healthy subjects. On the one hand, by means of discrimination and identification tasks, we compared two stages in the visual recognition process that could be selectively affected in individuals with PD. On the other hand, facial expression versus gender and age comparison permits us to contrast whether the emotional or non‐emotional content influences the configural perception of faces. In Experiment I, we did not find differences between groups, either with facial expression or age, in discrimination tasks. Conversely, in Experiment II, we found differences between the groups, but only in the EFE identification task. Taken together, our results indicate that configural perception of faces does not seem to be globally impaired in PD. However, this ability is selectively altered when the categorization of emotional faces is required. A deeper assessment of the PD group indicated that decline in facial expression categorization is more evident in a subgroup of patients with higher global impairment (motor and cognitive). Taken together, these results suggest that the problems found in facial expression recognition may be associated with the progressive neuronal loss in frontostriatal and mesolimbic circuits, which characterizes PD.     

Social and attention‐to‐detail subclusters of autistic traits differentially predict looking at eyes and face identity recognition ability

This study distinguished between different subclusters of autistic traits in the general population and examined the relationships between these subclusters, looking at the eyes of faces, and the ability to recognize facial identity. Using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) measure in a university‐recruited sample, we separate the social aspects of autistic traits (i.e., those related to communication and social interaction; AQ‐Social) from the non‐social aspects, particularly attention‐to‐detail (AQ‐Attention). We provide the first evidence that these social and non‐social aspects are associated differentially with looking at eyes: While AQ‐Social showed the commonly assumed tendency towards reduced looking at eyes, AQ‐Attention was associated with increased looking at eyes. We also report that higher attention‐to‐detail (AQ‐Attention) was then indirectly related to improved face recognition, mediated by increased number of fixations to the eyes during face learning. Higher levels of socially relevant autistic traits (AQ‐Social) trended in the opposite direction towards being related to poorer face recognition (significantly so in females on the Cambridge Face Memory Test). There was no evidence of any mediated relationship between AQ‐Social and face recognition via reduced looking at the eyes. These different effects of AQ‐Attention and AQ‐Social suggest face‐processing studies in Autism Spectrum Disorder might similarly benefit from considering symptom subclusters. Additionally, concerning mechanisms of face recognition, our results support the view that more looking at eyes predicts better face memory.     

Recognition of facial expression and identity in part reflects a common ability,independent of general intelligence and visual short-term memory

Recognising identity and emotion conveyed by the face is important for successful social interactions and has thus been the focus of considerable research. Debate has surrounded the extent to which the mechanisms underpinning face emotion and face identity recognition are distinct or share common processes. Here we use an individual differences approach to address this issue. In a well-powered (N?=?605) and age-diverse sample we used structural equation modelling to assess the association between face emotion recognition and face identity recognition ability. We also sought to assess whether this association (if present) reflected visual short-term memory and/or general intelligence (g). We observed a strong positive correlation (r?=?.52) between face emotion recognition ability and face identity recognition ability. This association was reduced in magnitude but still moderate in size (r?=?.28) and highly significant when controlling for measures of g and visual short-term memory. These results indicate that face emotion and face identity recognition abilities in part share a common processing mechanism. We suggest that face processing ability involves multiple functional components and that modelling the sources of individual differences can offer an important perspective on the relationship between these components.     

Face averages and multiple images in a live matching task

We know from previous research that unfamiliar face matching (determining whether two simultaneously presented images show the same person or not) is very error-prone. A small number of studies in laboratory settings have shown that the use of multiple images or a face average, rather than a single image, can improve face matching performance. Here, we tested 1,999 participants using four-image arrays and face averages in two separate live matching tasks. Matching a single image to a live person resulted in numerous errors (79.9% accuracy across both experiments), and neither multiple images (82.4% accuracy) nor face averages (76.9% accuracy) improved performance. These results are important when considering possible alterations which could be made to photo-ID. Although multiple images and face averages have produced measurable improvements in performance in recent laboratory studies, they do not produce benefits in a real-world live face matching context.