Composite faces are not processed holistically: evidence from the Garner and redundant target paradigms

Abstract

Composite faces fuse the top half of one face with the bottom half of another. These stimuli inflict a strong illusion of a novel face on their viewers, and are often considered to be processed holistically. The current study challenges this holistic view. Here I present provocative evidence from various classic attention paradigms such as the Garner (1974) and the redundant target (Miller, Cognitive Psychology, 14, 247-279, 1982; Townsend & Nozawa, Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 39, 321-359, 1995) tasks showing that face parts are perceived and processed in an analytic rather than holistic fashion. In Experiment 1, composite faces failed to exhibit Garner interference, indicating perfect selective attention to the constituent parts. In Experiments 2 and 3, composite faces failed to exhibit super-capacity with same-identity composites, demonstrating limited or unlimited capacity. This pattern is consistent with analytic perception. Taken together, the results cast serious doubts on the validity of the holistic processing approach. In many respects, the study proposes disillusionment from the composite face illusion. In addition, the study highlights the importance of converging operations, model testability, and individual differences in the study of faces.

Linking the Ex-Gaussian Parameters to Cognitive Stages: Insights from the Linear Ballistic Accumulator (LBA) Model

“…However, the current and previous studies can contribute to the understanding of these models, and the relations between their parameters. Fourth, a theoretical approach that is based on converging operations (Garner, Hake, & Eriksen, 1956; see also Algom & Fitousi, 2016;Fitousi, 2015;Fitousi & Wenger, 2013;Von Der Heide, Wenger, Bittner, & Fitousi, 2018) can be used to remedy the problem. According to Garner et al (1956), converging operations are: "any set of two or more experimental operations which allow the selection or elimination of alternative hypotheses or concepts which could explain an experimental result.…”

Simon and Garner effects with color and location: Evidence for two independent routes by which irrelevant location influences performance

“…This has been accomplished through the application of a classic selective attention tool-the Garner speeded classification task (Garner, 1974) -to the dimensions of location and color. The Garner paradigm (for a review see Algom, & Fitousi, 2016) affords the assessment of the level of independence (or its lack thereof) in the processing of two dimensions or attributes that do not necessarily convey semantic or response conflict (Algom & Fitousi, 2016;Fitousi, 2015;Fitousi, Shaki & Algom, 2009;Garner, 1974;Garner & Felfoldy, 1970). This property makes the Garner speeded classification task, of all available selective attention paradigms (i.e., Stroop, flanker), a device of the broadest applicability; it is especially instrumental in the case of color and spatial location, dimensions that do not bear any a priori inherent response or semantic conflict.…”

Can we perceive two colors at the same time? A direct test of Huang and Pashler’s (2007) Boolean map theory of visual attention

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