Distinctiveness helps when matching static faces and voices

Three experiments are reported which examined the capacity to match a voice with a static image of a face. When using a simultaneous same/different matching task, performance was significantly better than chance (Experiments 1 and 2). However, it did not appear to depend either on sex of speaker, sex of listener, stimulus distinctiveness, or self-reported strategies (Experiment 2). Concerns over floor effects as well as a significant response bias prompted a change of task, and when performance was examined through matching a voice to a face lineup, a more interesting pattern emerged. Again, performance was significantly better than chance, but in addition, it was demonstrably affected by the distinctiveness of the speaker’s voice. These results are considered in the context of theoretical discussions regarding face–voice integration, and in the context of more applied considerations regarding multimodal benefits in witness scenarios.     

面孔相似性判断中各部件的权重分配

采用多级估量法,通过分析不同隶属度的部件样例组合成的面孔样例对原型的隶属度,考察耳朵、脸型、眼睛和嘴巴等部件在面孔相似性判断中的作用。结果发现,面孔相似性判断中,人们对不同面孔部件赋予的权重并不相同,对脸型和嘴巴赋予的权重较大,而对耳朵和眼睛赋予的权重较小。表明,面孔各部件在面孔相似性判断中的作用不同,相对于耳朵和眼睛,脸型和嘴巴的作用更大;面孔内部特征和外部特征的划分方法并不一定适合于面孔相似性判断。     

自我信息加工优势中的熟悉性问题

熟悉性对于自我信息加工优势的影响往往与自我相关性的作用交织在一起,从而使其成为该领域的一个研究重点和难点。文章分别介绍了自我参照效应、自我面孔和人名识别研究中对该问题进行考察的主要思路与发现。现有证据显示,熟悉性与自我特异性在自我信息的加工优势中是可分离的,从而表明自我信息所固有的高熟悉性可能并不是造成其具有加工优势的决定性因素。文章在展望部分将熟悉性进一步细分为材料的熟悉性与任务的熟悉性,并提出未来的研究应该特别注意考察任务熟悉性可能存在的影响作用。     

Impact of retailer image on private brand attitude: Halo effect and summary construct

The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of retailer image on consumers' attitude towards private brand. More specifically, we evaluate two alternative perspectives of retailer image—the halo effect and the summary construct—and include a moderator variable, consumer familiarity with a retailer's private label products, to discern which of the two models has better explanatory power. The findings indicate that there are moderating effects of consumer familiarity with a retailer's private brands and product categories in determining the efficacy of each model. In private brand foods, high familiarity is related to the summary construct model, and low familiarity is associated with the halo effect model. In private brand clothing, however, low familiarity is related to the halo effect model, but high familiarity is associated with both the halo effect and the summary construct model. Managerial and future research implications are also provided.     

The Role of Recollection and Familiarity in Nondemented Parkinson's Patients

The aim of the current study was to examine if recollection and familiarity decline in nondemented Parkinson's patients. To do so we compared a sample of older people with Parkinson's disease (n = 32) to a control sample of healthy older people (n = 32) on an associative recognition task in which we manipulated the repetition of the pairs during the study phase (half of the pairs were presented once and half twice) to obtain corrected estimates of recollection, familiarity, and false recognition based on the logic of the process-dissociation procedure. The results clearly show that recollection is impaired but familiarity is preserved in nondemented Parkinson's patients. The results show that memory for pairs in Parkinson's patients relies largely on the familiarity of each item and not on a precise recollection of associative information, supporting the idea that recollection-based monitoring processes are impaired in these patients.     

Differential emotion attribution to neutral faces of own and other races

Past research has demonstrated differential recognition of emotion on faces of different races. This paper reports the first study to explore differential emotion attribution to neutral faces of different races. Chinese and Caucasian adults viewed a series of Chinese and Caucasian neutral faces and judged their outward facial expression: neutral, positive, or negative. The results showed that both Chinese and Caucasian viewers perceived more Chinese faces than Caucasian faces as neutral. Nevertheless, Chinese viewers attributed positive emotion to Caucasian faces more than to Chinese faces, whereas Caucasian viewers attributed negative emotion to Caucasian faces more than to Chinese faces. Moreover, Chinese viewers attributed negative and neutral emotion to the faces of both races without significant difference in frequency, whereas Caucasian viewers mostly attributed neutral emotion to the faces. These differences between Chinese and Caucasian viewers may be due to differential visual experience, culture, racial stereotype, or expectation of the experiment. We also used eye tracking among the Chinese participants to explore the relationship between face-processing strategy and emotion attribution to neutral faces. The results showed that the interaction between emotion attribution and face race was significant on face-processing strategy, such as fixation proportion on eyes and saccade amplitude. Additionally, pupil size during processing Caucasian faces was larger than during processing Chinese faces.     

基于熟悉性的项目间语义关系再认

在项目间语义关系的熟悉性研究中, 一个关键问题是熟悉性效应依赖于哪种信息的加工, 关系概念还是抽象结构?研究通过两个实验, 借助无线索回忆再认范式(the recognition without cued recall paradigm, 简称RWCR范式)和四词类比材料, 采用混合设计, 直接分离与比较关系概念和抽象结构的加工对RWCR效应的影响。结果发现, 关系概念作为测验线索能够引发显著RWCR效应, 但仅仅学习关系概念却不能;只有学习关系概念的结构化材料时, 才能引发显著RWCR效应。该结果表明, 项目间语义关系的熟悉性过程与结构信息有关。     

Self-specific priming effect

Priority of the “self” is thought to be evolutionarily advantageous. However, evidence for this priority has been sparse. In this study, subjects performed a gender categorization task on self- and non-self target faces preceded by either congruent (same gender as target) or incongruent (different gender) periliminal (33 ms) or subliminal (17 ms) primes. We found that subliminal primes induced a priming effect only on self target faces. This discovery of a self-specific priming effect suggests that functional specificity for faces may include timing as well as spatial adaptations.     

面孔方位对返回抑制的影响

采用辨别任务探讨了正立与倒立的中性面孔线索对返回抑制的影响。实验一采用同时线索化范式考察了正立与倒立面孔线索对靶刺激反应的影响,结果发现,两种面孔线索对随后靶刺激的反应没有影响。实验二采用单线索范式考察正立与倒立面孔对返回抑制的影响,结果发现,两种线索条件下均产生了返回抑制,而且返回抑制量没有显著差异。实验三,正立与倒立面孔作为靶刺激呈现,得到与实验二相同的结果。这些结果表明当采用中性面孔为线索时,返回抑制的产生并不受线索与靶刺激显著性的影响,而且返回抑制这种盲目机制不受任务难度的影响。     

Consequences of brain tumour resection on emotion recognition

Emotion processing impairments are common in patients undergoing brain surgery for fronto-temporal tumour resection, with potential consequences on social interactions. However, evidence is controversial concerning side and site of lesions causing such deficits. This study investigates visual and auditory emotion recognition in brain tumour patients with the aim of clarifying which lesion sites are related to impairments in emotion processing from different modalities. Thirty-four patients were evaluated, before and after surgery, on facial expression and emotional prosody recognition; voxel-based lesion–symptom mapping (VLSM) analyses were performed on patients’ post-surgery MRI images. Results showed that patients’ performance decreased after surgery in both visual and auditory modalities, but, in general, recovered 3 months after surgery. In facial expression recognition, left brain-damaged patients showed greater post-surgery deterioration than right brain-damaged ones, whose performance specifically decreased for sadness and fear. VLSM analysis revealed two segregated areas in the left hemisphere accounting for post-surgery scores for happy (fronto-temporo-insular region) and surprised (middle frontal gyrus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus) facial expressions. Our findings demonstrate that surgical removal of tumours in the fronto-temporal region produces impairment in facial emotion recognition with an overall recovery at 3 months, suggesting a partially different representation of positive and negative emotions in the left and right hemispheres for visually – but not auditory – presented emotions; moreover, we show that deficits in specific expression recognition are associated with discrete lesion locations.