Fitting the mind to the world: face adaptation and attractiveness aftereffects

Average faces are attractive, but what is average depends on experience. We examined the effect of brief exposure to consistent facial distortions on what looks normal (average) and what looks attractive. Adaptation to a consistent distortion shifted what looked most normal, and what looked most attractive, toward that distortion. These normality and attractiveness aftereffects occurred when the adapting and test faces differed in orientation by 90° (+45° vs. −45°), suggesting adaptation of high-level neurons whose coding is not strictly retino- topic. Our results suggest that perceptual adaptation can rapidly recalibrate people's preferences to fit the faces they see. The results also suggest that average faces are attractive because of their central location in a distribution of faces (i.e., prototypicality), rather than because of any intrinsic appeal of particular physical characteristics. Recalibration of preferences may have important consequences, given the powerful effects of perceived attractiveness on person perception, mate choice, social interactions, and social outcomes for individuals.     

Laterality effects in identification of caricatures and photographs of famous faces

Recent evidence suggests that memory representations of familiar faces may exaggerate distinctive information as do caricatures (G. Rhodes, S. Brennan, & S. Carey, Cognitive Psychology, 1987). Therefore caricatures should be effective representations of faces and should yield a right hemisphere processing advantage, as do photographs of faces. Photographs and caricatures of famous faces were presented to the left visual (LVF), the right visual field (RVF), and centrally (CVF), in a name-face verification task. There was a LVF (right hemisphere) advantage for both caricatures and photographs on name-face mismatches but no VF difference for matches. These results were true for both accuracy and reaction time. Processing strategy differences that may account for the difference between matches and mismatches are discussed. Performance was generally better for photographs than for caricatures, irrespective of visual field condition.     

Identification and ratings of caricatures: Implications for mental representations of faces

S. Brennan (1985, Leonardo, 18, 170–178) has developed a computer-implemented caricature generator based on a holistic theory of caricature. A face is represented by 37 lines, based on a fixed set of 169 points. Caricatures are produced by exaggerating all metric differences between a face and a norm. Anticaricatures can be created by reducing all the differences between a face and a norm. Caricatures of familiar faces were identified more quickly than veridical line drawings, which were identified more quickly than anticaricatures. There was no difference in identification accuracy for the three types of representation. The best likeness was considered to be a caricature. We discuss the implications of these results for how faces are mentally represented. The results are consistent with a holistic theory of encoding in which distinctive aspects of a face are represented by comparison with a norm. We suggest that this theory may be appropriate for classes of visual stimuli, other than faces, whose members share a configuration definable by a fixed set of points.     

Perceptual asymmetries in face recognition

Four experiments were carried out to investigate perceptual asymmetries in face recognition. Perceptual asymmetries favoring the half-face on the observer's left were found under free viewing conditions for both unfamiliar faces (Experiment 1) and famous faces (Experiment 3). For unfamiliar faces, this asymmetry was not obtained when fixation was controlled by presenting faces tachistoscopically (Experiment 2). For famous faces, the perceptual asymmetry favoring the half-face normally seen on the left did not appear to be retained in memory (Experiments 3 and 4). Asymmetries in face perception have been explained in terms of a direct access model of laterally effects. However, these results raise the possibility that asymmetric scanning or attentional factors may be important.     

A longitudinal study of job loss in relation to the grief process

This study extended a previous assessment of the applicability of the grief process to job-loss, using a longitudinal sample. A sample of 38 unemployed men were interviewed shortly after job loss (t₁), and at four times over the following year (t₂–t₅), using a structured interview, a personal scaling technique [PQRST: Mulhall (1978), Manual for Personal Questionnaire Scaling Technique. NFER], and standard questionnaires of attachment to the former job, anxiety and depression. Of the sample, 24% fulfilled a criterion for a grief-like response at t₁. Factor analysis of the PQRST showed evidence for a general grief factor. A composite grief score from the interview was associated with two measures of job attachment (at t₁), and with questionnaire measures of depression and anxiety at t₁–t₁. There was a gradual decline over time in the grief reaction.     

Sex bias in psychological research. Progress or complacency?

A total of 4,952 articles published in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1990 in the areas of developmental, clinical, physiological, and social psychology were reviewed for the purpose of assessing various indicators of sexism in human psychological research. Significant changes in sex of first author, sex of participants, sexist language, and inappropriate generalization indicated that sexism has clearly diminished in the past two decades. Despite these improvements, however, the data revealed continued evidence of discriminatory practices, suggesting that efforts to eliminate sexism must be strengthened if psychology is to be a nonsexist discipline.     

Selected linguistic and perceptual abilities of empirically derived subgroups of learning disabled readers

A battery of eight linguistic and perceptual tests chosen because of their use in previous research and in the public schools was administered to 100 school-verified verified learning disabled readers (LDR) and 50 normal readers (NR) matched for age and IQ. Standard scores, derived from a comparison of each LDR child's score with the NR group's performance on each diagnostic measure, were cluster analyzed to identify subgroups within the LDR group. Six LDR subgroups were found. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis indicated that all LDR subgroups were significantly different from one another as well as significantly different from the NR group's performance on the diagnostic battery. In addition, significant differences were found among the six LDR subgroups on measures of oral reading, reading comprehension, and spelling skills. However, the six groups did not differ with respect to family history variables and the attainment of developmental milestones. These results were compared with those of previous studies and were examined for their implications for a more precise match between LDR learner characteristics and type of teaching method and/or materials.     

Effects of religious denomination on sex differences in occupational expectations

The degree of difference between men and women in occupational expectations and attitude toward careers for married women are related to the degree of discrimination against women in religious denominations. Occupational expectations are scored along the dimension of masculinity. Discrimination against women is indicated by extent and timing of the ordination of women within the denominations for which subjects indicated a preference. Data are a subselection of 12,018 cases from a national sample of 189,733 first-time full-time entering college freshmen. The difference between women and men in masculinity of occupational choice and agreement with the attitude “Activities of married women are best confined to the home and family” are positively related to denominational discrimination against women.     

Visibility distances with halogen and conventional headlights

Abstract.— Using visibility distance as a criterion, halogen and conventional continental European high and low-beam headlights were compared in a series of field experiments. On high-beam without opposing light the halogen headlights offered about 25% longer visibility distances than the conventional headlights. With both opposing cars using low-beam there was a slight advantage (<5 m) in favour of halogen headlights. The optimal dipping distance was a function of high-beam system (intensity) rather than low-beam system. Small differences in aiming, atmosphere etc. caused larger differences in visibility distance than did the headlight system.