How distinct is the coding of face identity and expression? Evidence for some common dimensions in face space

Rhodes, Gillian; Pond, Stephen; Burton, Jason; Kloth, Nadine; Jeffery, Linda; Bell, Jason; Ewing, Louise; Calder, Andrew J.; Palermo, Romina

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2015.05.012

Cited by 45 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…Both imaging and lesion studies suggest that stable features are processed in the fusiform gyrus, while changeable aspects are processed in STS303132. Although not all agree with this dissociation3334, if permanent and changeable aspects of face perception were subserved by separate neural circuitry, it is plausible that the different circuits would integrate information in a different way: stable traits profit from integration, whereas contrast-mechanisms optimize the detection of change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes

Taubert

Alais

Burr³

2016

Sci Rep

124

144

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Perceptual systems face competing requirements: improving signal-to-noise ratios of noisy images, by integration; and maximising sensitivity to change, by differentiation. Both processes occur in human vision, under different circumstances: they have been termed priming, or serial dependencies, leading to positive sequential effects; and adaptation or habituation, which leads to negative sequential effects. We reasoned that for stable attributes, such as the identity and gender of faces, the system should integrate: while for changeable attributes like facial expression, it should also engage contrast mechanisms to maximise sensitivity to change. Subjects viewed a sequence of images varying simultaneously in gender and expression, and scored each as male or female, and happy or sad. We found strong and consistent positive serial dependencies for gender, and negative dependency for expression, showing that both processes can operate at the same time, on the same stimuli, depending on the attribute being judged. The results point to highly sophisticated mechanisms for optimizing use of past information, either by integration or differentiation, depending on the permanence of that attribute.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes

Taubert

Alais

Burr³

2016

Sci Rep

124

144

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“…Theoretically, at the core of our work lies the concept of face space 15 , a multidimensional construct comprising a population of faces with the property that the distance between any pair of faces reflects their psychological similarity 16–19 . Critical for our purposes, perceptual face space and its memory-based counterpart may be closely related 20 allowing, in theory, the use of the former to inform the latter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory and Perception-based Facial Image Reconstruction

Chang

Nemrodov

Lee

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Visual memory for faces has been extensively researched, especially regarding the main factors that influence face memorability. However, what we remember exactly about a face, namely, the pictorial content of visual memory, remains largely unclear. The current work aims to elucidate this issue by reconstructing face images from both perceptual and memory-based behavioural data. Specifically, our work builds upon and further validates the hypothesis that visual memory and perception share a common representational basis underlying facial identity recognition. To this end, we derived facial features directly from perceptual data and then used such features for image reconstruction separately from perception and memory data. Successful levels of reconstruction were achieved in both cases for newly-learned faces as well as for familiar faces retrieved from long-term memory. Theoretically, this work provides insights into the content of memory-based representations while, practically, it may open the path to novel applications, such as computer-based ‘sketch artists’.

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“…In the typical group there was a small‐to‐moderate, non‐significant, correlation between expression aftereffects (averaged across adaptor levels) and expression recognition (averaged across expression), r = .217, p = .387, N = 18. The size of the correlation is consistent with the modest (but significant) association found in much larger adult samples, which suggests a functional role for adaptation (Palermo et al ., , ; Rhodes et al ., ). Interestingly, there was no positive association in the ASD group, r = −.111, p = .652, N = 19.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Typical adults who adapt more to facial expressions, as indexed by larger expression aftereffects, show better expression recognition (Palermo et al ., ; Rhodes et al ., ). Similarly, typical adults who adapt more to face identity show better identity recognition (Dennett, McKone, Edwards, & Susilo, ; Rhodes, Jeffery, Taylor, Hayward, & Ewing, ; Rhodes et al ., ). Moreover, at an individual level, those autistic children and adolescents who adapt less to face identity show poorer identity recognition (Rhodes, Ewing, Jeffery, Avard, & Taylor, ) and those autistic individuals who adapt less to gaze direction show poorer gaze categorization (Pellicano, Rhodes, & Calder, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Facial expression coding in children and adolescents with autism: Reduced adaptability but intact norm‐based coding

Rhodes

Burton

Jeffery

et al. 2017

British J of Psychology

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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can have difficulty recognizing emotional expressions. Here, we asked whether the underlying perceptual coding of expression is disrupted. Typical individuals code expression relative to a perceptual (average) norm that is continuously updated by experience. This adaptability of face-coding mechanisms has been linked to performance on various face tasks. We used an adaptation aftereffect paradigm to characterize expression coding in children and adolescents with autism. We asked whether face expression coding is less adaptable in autism and whether there is any fundamental disruption of norm-based coding. If expression coding is norm-based, then the face aftereffects should increase with adaptor expression strength (distance from the average expression). We observed this pattern in both autistic and typically developing participants, suggesting that norm-based coding is fundamentally intact in autism. Critically, however, expression aftereffects were reduced in the autism group, indicating that expression-coding mechanisms are less readily tuned by experience. Reduced adaptability has also been reported for coding of face identity and gaze direction. Thus, there appears to be a pervasive lack of adaptability in face-coding mechanisms in autism, which could contribute to face processing and broader social difficulties in the disorder.

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How distinct is the coding of face identity and expression? Evidence for some common dimensions in face space

Cited by 45 publications

References 60 publications

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes

Different coding strategies for the perception of stable and changeable facial attributes

Memory and Perception-based Facial Image Reconstruction

Facial expression coding in children and adolescents with autism: Reduced adaptability but intact norm‐based coding

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