Mapping physical characteristics in face images to social judgements

Sutherland and Young (Br. J. Psychol., 113, 2022, 1056) provide a comprehensive and timely overview of recent developments in research on social judgements of faces, emphasizing the utility of data-driven approaches. Here, we expand on this theme, focusing on how data-driven approaches can provide new insights into the physical characteristics in face images that best predict social judgements.     

Response latency,confidence, and ROCs in auditory signal detection

Response latencies were obtained from 10 Ss in auditory signal-detection experiments. The response latencies were inversely related to certainty that a signal was (or was not) presented. The S’s decision criterion was found to have an influence on response latency, which was consistent with the hypothesis that stimuli close to the current criterion elicit longer response latencies than stimuli more distant from the criterion. Comparisons among receiver operating characteristics derived from binary decisions, from the latencies of binary decisions, and from confidence ratings show that response latencies and binary decisions together yield more information about the stimulus than does the binary decision alone. However, the increment in information gained from the measurement of response latencies is in general (though not for every S) smaller than that gained by shifting from yes-no responses to a confidence-rating procedure.     

Search processes for detecting repeated items In a visual display

Evidence for successive serial exhaustive searches was found in a task requiring detection of repeated letters in visually presented lists of varying length. The time per comparison was 25 msec. Important differences in processing appeared between instances of adjacent repeated letters and instances of nonadjacent repeated letters.     

On the importance of considering the signal’s frequency spectrum: Some comments on Macmillans “Detection and recognition of increments and decrements in auditory intensity” experiment

In a recent experiment on tonal masking, Macmillan (1971) reported that recognition of increments and decrements improves relative to detection performance as signal duration is increased. It is suggested that this result is largely artifactual, inasmuch as Macmillan’s Os undoubtedly detected brief-duration signals by virtue of energy splatter produced by gating the signal on and off rectangularly. Since energy splatter produced by an increment is identical to that produced by a decrement, Os listening off frequency could not have possibly distinguished a brief increment from a decrement.     

The effect of memory load on reaction time in character classification

In order to investigate the effect of memory load on reaction time (RT), choice RT trials were embedded in a binary character classification task using the varied set procedure. Twelve Ss performed in experimental blocks, as well as in control blocks consisting of character classification trials only. In experimental blocks, every trial began as a classification trial with the presentation of a new positive set. On a random half of these trials, however, a choice RT stimulus was presented instead of a probe letter and S simply made the indicated response. Results indicated that memory load had no effect on the choice RT trials. Embedding choice RT trials in the classification task affected the intercept (but not the slope) of the function relating classification RT to memory load. This result implies that the increase in latency usually obtained in classification experiments is entirely due to an increase in the duration of the memory searching stage of processing.     

Extraretinal feedback and visual localization

The effect of saccades on visual localization was tested before, during, and after the eye movements. After saccades, localization errors were much less than the distance that the eyes had moved. It is argued that these results demonstrate that extraretinal feedback affects visual localization. The results also suggest that the feedback is related to acceleration rather than to position. Implications for inflow and outflow theories are discussed.     

Visual angle and apparent size of objects in peripheral vision

Measurements of apparent size were obtained by distance adjustment of a peripherally viewed stimulus to produce a match to a foveally viewed standard. As eccentricity increased, the peripheral stimulus was adjusted at distances of progressively greater visual angle, indicating that a continuous diminution in apparent size occurs with increased eccentricity. This effect was found to be stable for several conditions of illumination and for changes in the light adaptive state of S. Apparent size diminution and apparent distance increase were also found for familiar objects viewed in an open field.