Naming very familiar people: When retrieving names is faster than retrieving semantic biographical information

One of the most reliable findings in the literature on person indentification is that semantic categorization of a face occurs more quickly than naming a face. Here we present two experiments in which participants are shown the faces of their colleagues, i.e., personally familiar people, encountered with high frequency. In each experiment, naming was faster than making a semantic classification, despite the fact that the semantic classifications were highly salient to the participants (Experiment 1: highest degree obtained; Experiment 2: nationality). The finding is consistent with models that allow or parallel access from faces to semantic information and to names, and demonstrates the need for the frequency of exposure to names to be taken into account in models of proper name processing e.g. Burke, Mackay, Worthley and Wade (1991) .     

Examining the hemispheric distribution of semantic information using lateralised priming of familiar faces

The way in which the semantic information associated with people is organised in the brain is still unclear. Most evidence suggests either bilateral or left hemisphere lateralisation. In this paper we use a lateralised semantic priming paradigm to further examine this neuropsychological organisation. A clear semantic priming effect was found with greater priming occurring when semantically related prime faces were presented to the left visual field than when presented to the right visual field. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed in terms of the bilateral distribution of different classes of semantic information, a possible role of associative processes within semantic priming and interhemispheric transfer.     

Adaptation effects of highly familiar faces: Immediate and long lasting

A central problem of face identification is forming stable representations from entities that vary--both in a rigid and nonrigid manner--over time, under different viewing conditions, and with altering appearances. Three experiments investigated the underlying mechanism that is more flexible than has often been supposed. The experiments used highly familiar faces that were first inspected as configurally manipulated versions. When participants had to select the veridical version (known from TV/media/movies) out of a series of gradually altered versions, their selections were biased toward the previously inspected manipulated versions. This adaptation effect (face identity aftereffect, Leopold, Rhodes, Müller, & Jeffery, 2005) was demonstrated even for a delay of 24 h between inspection and test phase. Moreover, the inspection of a specific image version of a famous person not only changed the veridicality decision of the same image, but also transferred to other images of this person as well. Thus, this adaptation effect is apparently not based on simple pictorial grounds, but appears to have a rather structural basis. Importantly, as indicated by Experiment 3, the adaptation effect was not based on a simple averaging mechanism or an episodic memory effect, but on identity-specific information.     

Face processing and name retrieval in an anomic aphasic: names are stored separately from semantic information about familiar people

Recent models of face recognition have proposed that the names of familiar people are accessed from a lexical memory store that is distinct from the semantic memory store that holds information about such things as a familiar person's occupation and personality. Names are nevertheless retrieved via the semantic system. If such models are correct, then it should be possible for a patient to have full access to semantic information about familiar people while being unable to name many of them. We report this pattern in an anomic aphasic patient, EST, whose inability to recall the names of familiar people occurred in the context of a general word-finding problem. EST showed a preserved ability to access semantic information from familiar faces, voices, and spoken and written names and to process facial expressions, but he was unable to name many familiar faces. These findings are compatible with current models of face processing and challenge models which propose that names are stored alongside semantic information in a general-purpose long-term memory store.     

Age invariance in semantic and episodic metamemory: Both younger and older adults provide accurate feeling-of-knowing for names of faces

Age differences in feeling-of-knowing (FOK) accuracy were examined for both episodic memory and semantic memory. Younger and older adults either viewed pictures of famous faces (semantic memory) or associated non-famous faces and names (episodic memory) and were tested on their memory for the name of the presented face. Participants viewed the faces again and made a FOK prediction about future recognition of the name associated with the presented face. Finally, four-alternative forced-choice recognition memory for the name, cued by the face, was tested and confidence judgments (CJs) were collected for each recognition response. Age differences were not obtained in semantic memory or the resolution of semantic FOKs, defined by within-person correlations of FOKs with recognition memory performance. Although age differences were obtained in level of episodic memory, there were no age differences in the resolution of episodic FOKs. FOKs for correctly recognized items correlated reliably with CJs for both types of materials, and did not differ by age group. The results indicate age invariance in monitoring of retrieval processes for name–face associations.     

How visual and semantic information influence learning in familiar contexts

Previous research using the contextual cuing paradigm has revealed both quantitative and qualitative differences in learning depending on whether repeated contexts are defined by letter arrays or real-world scenes. To clarify the relative contributions of visual features and semantic information likely to account for such differences, the typical contextual cuing procedure was adapted to use meaningless but nevertheless visually complex images. The data in reaction time and in eye movements show that, like scenes, such repeated contexts can trigger large, stable, and explicit cuing effects, and that those effects result from facilitated attentional guidance. Like simpler stimulus arrays, however, those effects were impaired by a sudden change of a repeating image's color scheme at the end of the learning phase (Experiment 1), or when the repeated images were presented in a different and unique color scheme across each presentation (Experiment 2). In both cases, search was driven by explicit memory. Collectively, these results suggest that semantic information is not required for conscious awareness of context-target covariation, but it plays a primary role in overcoming variability in specific features within familiar displays. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Recalling semantic information about newly learned faces and voices

Several findings showed that semantic information is more likely to be retrieved from recognised faces than from recognised voices. Earlier experiments, which investigated the recall of biographical information following person recognition, used stimuli that were pre-experimentally familiar to the participants, such as famous people's voices and faces. We propose an alternative method to compare the participants’ ability to associate semantic information with faces and voices. The present experiments allowed a very strict control of frequency of exposure to pre-experimentally unfamiliar faces and voices and ensured the absence of identity clues in the spoken extracts. In Experiment 1 semantic information was retrieved from the presentation of a name. In Experiment 2 semantic and lexical information was retrieved from faces and/or voices. A memory advantage for faces over voices was again observed.     

Recalling semantic information about newly learned faces and voices

Several findings showed that semantic information is more likely to be retrieved from recognised faces than from recognised voices. Earlier experiments, which investigated the recall of biographical information following person recognition, used stimuli that were pre-experimentally familiar to the participants, such as famous people's voices and faces. We propose an alternative method to compare the participants' ability to associate semantic information with faces and voices. The present experiments allowed a very strict control of frequency of exposure to pre-experimentally unfamiliar faces and voices and ensured the absence of identity clues in the spoken extracts. In Experiment 1 semantic information was retrieved from the presentation of a name. In Experiment 2 semantic and lexical information was retrieved from faces and/or voices. A memory advantage for faces over voices was again observed.     

Recalling semantic information about personally known faces and voices

Previous research that investigated whether biographical information about familiar people is harder to retrieve from voices than from faces produced contrasting results. However, studies that used a strict control of the content of spoken extracts reported that semantic information about familiar people is easier to retrieve when recognising a face than when recognising a voice. In all previous studies faces and voices of famous people were used as stimuli. In the present study, personally familiar people's voices and faces (standard faces and blurred faces) were used. Presenting such people (i.e., participants’ teachers) allowed controlling still more strictly the content of the spoken extracts since it was possible to ask all the target persons to speak the same words. In addition, it was previously stressed that we encounter famous people's faces in the media more frequently than we hear their voice. This methodological difficulty was presumably reduced when teachers’ faces were presented. Present results showed a significant decrease in retrieval of biographical information from familiar voices relative to blurred faces even though the level of overall recognition was similar for blurred faces and voices. The role of the relative distinctiveness of voices and faces is discussed and further investigation is proposed.     

Recalling episodic and semantic information about famous faces and voices

In this study, we used the distinction between remember and know (R/K) recognition responses to investigate the retrieval of episodic information during familiar face and voice recognition. The results showed that familiar faces presented in standard format were recognized with R responses on approximately 50% of the trials. The corresponding figure for voices was less than 20%. Even when overall levels of recognition were matched between faces and voices by blurring the faces, significantly more R responses were observed for faces than for voices. Voices were significantly more likely to be recognized with K responses than were blurred faces. These findings indicate that episodic information was recalled more often from familiar faces than from familiar voices. The results also showed that episodic information about a familiar person was never recalled unless some semantic information, such as the person's occupation, was also retrieved.     

Long-term adaptation effects of highly familiar faces are modulated by adaptation duration

Adaptation to manipulated versions of face images can induce strong adaptation effects in face perception and the adjustment of memory representations has been suggested to underlie this effect. In previous studies such effects have been observed after short as well as long delays between adaptation and test (5 min and 24 h) and they were evident in face images identical to the adapting stimuli as well as in new images of the same individual and in faces that were not shown during adaptation (factor transferability). By using regression analysis, here we show that adaptation duration modulates the size of the adaptation effect, which was evident after both short and long time delays and across all levels of transferability tested.     

The effects of different types of retrieval cues on the recall of names of famous faces

The present study investigated the effects of cues on subjects’ abilities to retrieve the names of famous faces that they had previously been unable to recall. In Experiment 1 subjects were presented with a second photograph of the celebrity, or biographical information about the celebrity, or the celebrity’s initials. Each type of cue produced a quite different pattern of recall. Biographical information was least likely to elicit the name when the subject already knew the celebrity’s occupation, and most likely when subjects found the face familiar only. Conversely, initials were more likely to elicit the name when the occupation was already known than when the face was at first found unfamiliar or familiar only. Rather surprisingly, no significant differences were observed when a new photograph was used as a cue. In Experiment 2, the effects of a new photograph were compared with a condition in which the same photograph was presented twice. A new photograph was beneficial when subjects had previously found the face unfamiliar and when they found the face familiar only, but not when they knew the occupation. It is argued that these, as well as other aspects of the results, generally support the view that successive, but distinct stages are involved in face recognition, consistent with the model put forward by Bruce and Young (1986).     

Perceptual asymmetries are preserved in memory for highly familiar faces of self and friend

We investigated the effect of familiarity on people's perception of facial likeness by asking participants to choose which of two mirror-symmetric chimeric images (made from the left or right half of a photograph of a face) looked more like an original image. In separate trials the participants made this judgment for their own face and for the face of a close friend; half of them matched to a true image of the original and half matched to a mirror image of the original. In the case of matching to a friend's face presented in the familiar orientation, over 80% of participants chose the left-left composite to be a better likeness to the original, whereas only 62% showed the same left-side bias when matching to a mirror image. The difference is significant, and the result contrasts markedly with a second experiment where participants who were unfamiliar with the faces showed comparable left-side biases when matching to true or mirror reversed images. The result suggests that perceptual asymmetries are retained in our long-term memory for highly familiar faces. While matching to images of self also showed an effect of familiarity, the data in this condition show less evidence of perceptual asymmetry and are discussed in relation to recent research on the representation of one's own face.     

A dissociation between the sense of familiarity and access to semantic information concerning familiar people

In the current study we examined the relationship between working memory capacity, inhibition/susceptibility to interference and fluid intelligence, measured by the Raven's Progressive Matrices (PM38), comparing groups of young (aged 18–35), young-old (aged 65–74), and old-old (aged 75–86) participants. Groups were administered two working memory tasks tapping into different mechanisms involved in working memory. The ability to control for irrelevant information was measured both considering memory errors (intrusion errors) in a working memory task and an index of susceptibility to interference obtained with a variant of the Brown-Peterson task. Regression analyses showed that the classical working memory measure was the most potent predictors of the Raven's score. Susceptibility to interference and intrusions errors contributed, but to a lower extent, to the Raven explained variance. These results confirm that working memory shares cognitive aspects with the fluid intelligence measure considered, whereas the role of inhibition to Raven scores is still in need of better evidence.     

Expression influences the recognition of familiar faces

Face recognition has been assumed to be independent of facial expression. We used familiar and unfamiliar faces that were morphed from a happy to an angry expression within a given identity. Participants performed speeded two-choice decisions according to whether or not a face was familiar. Consistent with earlier findings, reaction times for classifications of unfamiliar faces were independent of facial expressions. In contrast, expression clearly influenced the recognition of familiar faces. with fastest recognition for moderately happy expressions. This suggests that representations of familiar faces for recognition preserve some information about typical emotional expressions.     

The influence of learning style and cognitive ability on recall of names and faces in an older population

The present study examined whether, for older adults, a verbal or imagery cognitive style is associated with recall of names and faces learned in an experimental condition. Cognitive abilities that are represented in current models of face recognition and name recall were also examined. Those abilities included picture naming, verbal fluency (i.e., naming items within a given category), vocabulary comprehension, visual memory, and the learning of unassociated word pairs. Fifty older adults attempted to learn first and last names of 20 student actors and actresses pictured on videotapes (40 names total). On average, participants learned the most first names, followed by last names, and the fewest full names. The greater the number of responses on a questionnaire associated with an imagery cognitive style, the more the names of faces were correctly identified by participants. There was no significant relationship between a verbal cognitive style and the number of names and faces recalled. As for cognitive abilities, all of the abilities measured--with the exception of vocabulary comprehension--were significantly associated with the number of names and faces learned. A regression analysis indicated that the best predictor of successful name-face learning was the participants' ability to learn and recall 5 unrelated word pairs. When that cognitive measure was deleted from the regression analysis, delayed visual memory and verbal fluency were the next best predictors of the older adults' ability to learn names and faces.     

Children and adults represent proper names as referring to unique individuals

Adults represent proper names (e.g. ‘Katharine Hepburn’) as referring to unique individuals (i.e. Katharine Hepburn), and studies of children’s proper name learning have been taken to show that children represent proper names in like manner. However, almost all of these studies leave open the possibility that children represent proper names as referring to restricted kinds of highly similar animals. We provide direct evidence against this possibility: both adults and 3‐year‐old children presented with a novel word for a toy animal (e.g. ‘daxy’) assumed that the animal continued to be referred to with the word, despite a change in the animal’s appearance and location, and despite the introduction at the old location of an animal identical in appearance to the original animal at the time the word was introduced. Participants presented with a simple artifact (e.g. a bottle) did not interpret the word as a proper name, consistent with previous work.     

Context effects in the processing of familiar faces

Summary In this paper we report five experiments that investigate the influence of prime faces upon the speed with which familiar faces are recognized and named. Previously, priming had been reported when the prime and target faces were closely associated, e.g., Prince Charles and Princess Diana (Bruce & Valentine, 1986). In Experiment 1 we show that there is a reliable effect of relatedness on a double-familiarity decision, even when the faces are only categorially related, e. g., Kirk Douglas and Clint Eastwood. Then it was shown that such an effect emerges only on a double decision task (Experiments 2 and 3). Experiment 4 showed that on a primed naming task, faces preceded by a categorially related prime were responded to more quickly than those preceded by an unrelated prime, and the effect was due to inhibition. Experiment 5 replicated this effect and also showed that when associatively related primes were used, a facilitatory, and not an inhibitory, effect is found. It is argued that the facilitation of associative priming arises at an earlier locus than the inhibition of categorial priming.     

Type of semantic elaboration and recall

Two experiments examined the effects of various semantic-orienting tasks on immediate and delayed recall. In Experiment 1, words modified by their core or cross-situational properties (necessary adjectives) were recalled better than words modified by more peripheral properties (arbitrary adjectives). In addition, the beneficial effects of necessary adjectives seemed to be independent of the amount of cognitive analysis required for processing these adjectives. In Experiment 2, words modified by necessary adjectives were recalled better regardless of whether the adjectives were general or specific. Overall, the results are consistent with the “core meaning” notion and indicate that the quality of semantic elaboration is an important determinant of recall.