Face shape and motion are perceptually separable: Support for a revised model of face processing

Abstract

A recent model of face processing proposes that face shape and motion are processed in parallel brain pathways. Although tested in neuroimaging, the assumptions of this theory remain relatively untested through controlled psychophysical studies until now. Recruiting undergraduate students over the age of 18, we test this hypothesis using tight control of stimulus factors, through computerized three-dimensional face models and calibration of dimensional discriminability, and of decisional factors, through a model-based analysis using general recognition theory (GRT). Theoretical links between neural and perceptual forms of independence within GRT allowed us to derive the a priori hypotheses that perceptual separability of shape and motion should hold, while other forms of independence defined within GRT might fail. We found evidence to support both of those predictions.

Multidimensional signal detection modeling reveals Gestalt-like perceptual integration of face emotion and identity.

“…To the best of our knowledge, our results provide the strongest evidence for holistic/Gestalt processing found among face perception studies that have used formal definitions of holism (e.g., Cornes et al, 2011;Richler et al, 2008; for a review, see Townsend & Wenger, 2014). The pattern of violations of perceptual independence consistently found across all experiments was specific to the dimensions of identity and expression; it was not found in our benchmark study (see the online supplemental materials) or in other studies involving different facial dimensions (Martin et al, 2024).…”