Comparing the face inversion effect in crows and humans

Brecht, Katharina F.; Wagener, Lysann; Ostojić, Ljerka; Clayton, Nicola S.; Nieder, Andreas

doi:10.1007/s00359-017-1211-7

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…A higher motivation of the horses toward social pictures rather than pictures of artificial shapes and colors could explain such conclusions. This supports the idea that, due to its social valence, the recognition of two-dimensional stimuli (faces) follows specific mind processes, which differ from the recognition of non-social stimuli [ 17 , 22 ]. Our horses however, did not appear to be able to categorize among faces of conspecifics and among faces from different animal species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…In fact, it seems that the temporal cortex of mammals (humans, non-human primates and sheep) is equipped with specific neural circuits for facial recognition [ 19 ]. In addition, while most objects are slightly more difficult to recognize when they are shown upside down than when they are presented in the correct orientation [ 20 ], this inversion makes faces difficult to recognize, which reinforces the idea that faces are a "special" category [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

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Interspecific two-dimensional visual discrimination of faces in horses (Equus caballus)

et al. 2021

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In social animals, recognizing conspecifics and distinguishing them from other animal species is certainly important. We hypothesize, as demonstrated in other species of ungulates, that horses are able to discriminate between the faces of conspecifics and the faces of other domestic species (cattle, sheep, donkeys and pigs). Our hypothesis was tested by studying inter-and intra-specific visual discrimination abilities in horses through a two-way instrumental conditioning task (discrimination and reversal learning), using two-dimensional images of faces as discriminative stimuli and food as a positive reward. Our results indicate that 8 out of 10 horses were able to distinguish between two-dimensional images of the faces of horses and images showing the faces of other species. A similar performance was obtained in the reversal task. The horses’ ability to learn by discrimination is therefore comparable to other ungulates. Horses also showed the ability to learn a reversal task. However, these results were obtained regardless of the images the tested horses were exposed to. We therefore conclude that horses can discriminate between two dimensional images of conspecifics and two dimensional images of different species, however in our study, they were not able to make further subcategories within each of the two categories. Despite the fact that two dimensional images of animals could be treated differently from two dimensional images of non-social stimuli, our results beg the question as to whether a two-dimensional image can replace the real animal in cognitive tests.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Interspecific two-dimensional visual discrimination of faces in horses (Equus caballus)

et al. 2021

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“…The crows were trained and tested in a darkened operant conditioning chamber [61]. The chamber was coated with sound-attenuating foam mats.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volitional control of vocalizations in corvid songbirds

et al. 2019

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Songbirds are renowned for their acoustically elaborate songs. However, it is unclear whether songbirds can cognitively control their vocal output. Here, we show that crows, songbirds of the corvid family, can be trained to exert control over their vocalizations. In a detection task, three male carrion crows rapidly learned to emit vocalizations in response to a visual cue with no inherent meaning (go trials) and to withhold vocalizations in response to another cue (catch trials). Two of these crows were then trained on a go/nogo task, with the cue colors reversed, in addition to being rewarded for withholding vocalizations to yet another cue (nogo trials). Vocalizations in response to the detection of the go cue were temporally precise and highly reliable in all three crows. Crows also quickly learned to withhold vocal output in nogo trials, showing that vocalizations were not produced by an anticipation of a food reward in correct trials. The results demonstrate that corvids can volitionally control the release and onset of their vocalizations, suggesting that songbird vocalizations are under cognitive control and can be decoupled from affective states.

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“…These measures were selected because they have been used in a large number of studies and have become standard manifestations of holistic face processing. All of these measures have been widely used in studies on development across the lifespan (e.g., Boutet & Faubert, 2006;Tanaka & Simonyi, 2016), in clinical populations (e.g., Lavallée et al, 2016;Watson, 2013), in individuals with prosopagnosia (e.g., Robotham & Starrfelt, 2018), and in comparative psychology (e.g., Brecht et al, 2017;Racca et al, 2010;Tomonaga, 2018;M.-Y. Wang & Takeuchi, 2017).…”

Section: Measures and Mechanisms Of Holistic Face Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different measures of holistic face processing tap into distinct but partially overlapping mechanisms

Boutet

Nelson

Watier

et al. 2021

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Holistic processing, which includes the integration of facial features and analysis of their relations to one another, is a hallmark of what makes faces 'special'. Various experimental paradigms purport to measure holistic processing but these have often produced inconsistent results. This has led researchers to question the nature and structure of the mechanism(s) underlying holistic processing. Using an individual differences approach, researchers have examined relations between various measures of holistic processing in an attempt to resolve these questions. In keeping with this, we examined relationships between four commonly used measures of holistic face processing in a large group of participants (N = 223): (1) The Face Inversion Effect, (2) the Part Whole Effect (PWE), (3) the Composite Face Effect, and (4) the Configural Featural Detection Task (CFDT). Several novel methodological and analytical elements were introduced, including the use of factor analysis and the inclusion of control conditions to confirm the face specificity of all of the effects measured. The four indexes of holistic processing derived from each measure loaded onto two factors, one encompassing the PWE and the CFDT, and one encompassing the CE. The 16 conditions tested across the four tasks loaded onto four factors, each factor corresponding to a different measure. These results, together with those of other studies, suggest that holistic processing is a multifaceted construct and that different measures tap into distinct but partially overlapping elements of it.

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Comparing the face inversion effect in crows and humans

Cited by 18 publications

References 77 publications

Interspecific two-dimensional visual discrimination of faces in horses (Equus caballus)

Interspecific two-dimensional visual discrimination of faces in horses (Equus caballus)

Volitional control of vocalizations in corvid songbirds

Different measures of holistic face processing tap into distinct but partially overlapping mechanisms

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