Category contingent aftereffects for faces of different races, ages and species

Little, Anthony C.; DeBruine, Lisa M.; Jones, Benedict C.; Waitt, Corri

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.06.008

Cited by 108 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Faces of different ethnicities appear, however, to be processed in a categorical fashion (Jaquet et al 2008;Little et al 2008). For example, it is possible to manipulate the perceived normality of African and European faces to European observers independently, suggesting some level of discrete mental representation (Little et al 2008). If European and African faces are processed somewhat independently, then comparison to an average is unlikely to account for preferences for plus-European/African transforms in European faces here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While our results might reflect choosing faces closest to an overall population average of both face types as most attractive, such an interpretation requires that all faces encountered are used in building a single prototypic representation. Faces of different ethnicities appear, however, to be processed in a categorical fashion (Jaquet et al 2008;Little et al 2008). For example, it is possible to manipulate the perceived normality of African and European faces to European observers independently, suggesting some level of discrete mental representation (Little et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mixed-Ethnicity Face Shape and Attractiveness in Humans

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Many studies show agreement within and between populations and cultures for general judgments of facial attractiveness. Studies that have examined the attractiveness of specific traits have also highlighted cross-cultural differences for factors such as symmetry, averageness, and masculinity. One trait that should be preferred across cultures is heterozygosity. Indeed, several studies suggest that mixed ethnicity, in terms of appearing to possess a mixture of traits from different human population groups, may be found attractive, which could reflect preferences for heterozygosity. We examined preferences for manipulated face shape associated with different populations in both Europeans (Britain) and Africans (Guinea-Bissau). We found that mixed-ethnicity face shapes were more attractive than enhanced single-ethnicity face shape across both populations. These results are consistent with evolutionary theories suggesting individuals should prefer heterozygosity in partners because facial cues to mixed-ethnicity are likely to indicate diverse genes compared to cues that indicate a face belongs to a single particular culture or population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed-Ethnicity Face Shape and Attractiveness in Humans

et al. 2012

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“…That aftereffects can be simultaneously induced in opposite directions for faces from different social categories also implicates adaptation of mechanisms that are sensitive to high-level aspects of faces (see, e.g., Bestelmeyer et al, 2008;Jaquet, Rhodes, & Hayward, 2007;Little et al, 2005, Little, DeBruine, Jones, & Waitt, 2008.…”

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confidence: 99%

Adaptation to different mouth shapes influences visual perception of ambiguous lip speech

Jones

Feinberg

Bestelmeyer

et al. 2010

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

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522Many studies have used visual adaptation to investigate whether recent visual experience influences face perception (e.g., Calder, Jenkins, Cassel, & Clifford, 2008;DeBruine, Jones, Unger, Little, & Feinberg, 2007;Little, DeBruine, & Jones, 2005;Rhodes, Jeffery, Watson, Clifford, & Nakayama, 2003;Webster, Kaping, Mizokami, & Duhamel, 2004;Webster & MacLin, 1999). For example, adaptation to faces with expanded feature spacing causes the feature spacing of unmanipulated faces to appear contracted, whereas adaptation to faces with contracted feature spacing causes the feature spacing of unmanipulated faces to appear expanded (Webster & MacLin, 1999). Other studies have shown that adaptation to faces with either expanded or contracted feature spacing causes the adapted feature spacing to appear more normal and more attractive (Rhodes et al., 2003). This effect of adaptation on attractiveness judgments is thought to reflect the correlation between perceived normality and attractiveness (DeBruine et al., 2007;Rhodes et al., 2003).The effects of visual adaptation on face perception occur when the same individuals (see, e.g., Yamashita, Hardy, De Valois, & Webster, 2005) and when different individuals (see, e.g., Rhodes et al., 2003;Yamashita et al., 2005) are shown at adaptation and test. Furthermore, aftereffects for normality and attractiveness judgments of faces occur when the faces shown during the adaptation and test phases differ in size (e.g., Bestelmeyer et al., 2008;Little et al., 2005) or in orientation (e.g., Jeffery, Rhodes, & Busey, 2006;Rhodes et al., 2003), suggesting that face aftereffects reflect adaptation of neurons that code high-level aspects of faces, rather than low-level (e.g. University of Stirling, Stirling, ScotlandWe investigated the effects of adaptation to mouth shapes associated with different spoken sounds (sustained / / or / /) on visual perception of lip speech. Participants were significantly more likely to label ambiguous faces on an / /-to-/ / continuum as saying / / following adaptation to / / mouth shapes than they were in a preadaptation test. By contrast, participants were significantly less likely to label the ambiguous faces as saying / / following adaptation to / / mouth shapes than they were in a preadaptation test. The magnitude of these aftereffects was equivalent when the same individual was shown in the adaptation and test phases of the experiment and when different individuals were presented in the adaptation and test phases. These findings present novel evidence that adaptation to natural variations in facial appearance influences face perception, and they extend previous research on face aftereffects to visual perception of lip speech.

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“…Previous work has shown that women demonstrate marginally greater adaptation effects than men, at least in relation to adult and infant faces, although this latter is possibly due to greater attention to infant faces by women (Little, DeBruine, Jones, & Waitt, 2008; see also Jones et al, 2008 for further evidence that attentional factors can modulate face aftereffects). Finally, at single-sex schools, boys may have had more exposure than girls to opposite sex faces, due to a greater prevalence of female staff in the school environment, the tendency for greater contact with the female than the male parent at home, and on a short-term basis, the presence of the female researcher running the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%