Effects of varying levels of expertise on the basic level of categorization.

Johnson, Kathy; Mervis, Carolyn Β.

doi:10.1037/0096-3445.126.3.248

Cited by 234 publications

(236 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…We suggest that this difference is a consequence of the higher expertise that humans have with distinguishing among human faces, which entails different level of categorization; the default level of categorization (entry level) is basic for non-face categories but subordinate or single-exemplar level for faces (Rosch et al, 1976;Johnson and Mervis, 1997;Tanaka, 2001; for a detailed discussion of the relationship between perceptual expertise and level of categorization see Bukach et al, 2006). This distinction has implications regarding both the structural characteristics of the mental representations and, at the functional level, the processes applied during perception.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Human face preference in gamma-frequency EEG activity

et al. 2008

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Previous studies demonstrated that induced EEG activity in the gamma band (iGBA) plays an important role in object recognition and is modulated by stimulus familiarity and its compatibility with pre-existent representations. In the present study we investigated the modulation of iGBA by the degree of familiarity and perceptual expertise that observers have with stimuli from different categories. Specifically, we compared iGBA in response to human faces versus stimuli which subjects are not expert with (ape faces, human hands, buildings and watches). iGBA elicited by human faces was higher and peaked earlier than that elicited by all other categories, which did not differ significantly from each other. These findings can be accounted for by two characteristics of perceptual expertise. One is the activation of a richer, stronger and, therefore, more easily accessible mental representation of human faces. The second is the more detailed perceptual processing necessary for within-category distinctions, which is the hallmark of perceptual expertise. In addition, the sensitivity of iGBA to human but not ape faces was contrasted with the face-sensitive N170-effect, which was similar for human and ape faces. In concert with previous studies, this dissociation suggests a multi-level neuronal model of face recognition, manifested by these two electrophysiological measures, discussed in this paper.Cognitive neuroscience research has been enriched during the last decade by studies associating high-frequency EEG activity with the generation of unified perceptual representations in both vision and audition, and the activation of pre-stored memory representations (Busch, et al., 2006;Kaiser and Lutzenberger, 2003). Changing the conception that physiologically pertinent EEG frequencies are lower than 20 Hz, studies in animals (Singer and Gray, 1995) and in humans (e.g. Tallon-Baudry et al., 1996, 2003Gruber et al. 2004Gruber et al. , 2005Rodriguez et al. 1999) explored activity in a range of frequencies higher than 20 Hz, which were addressed as "gamma-band". Specifically, many studies have associated between high-level perceptual mechanisms and the so-called "induced" gamma-band activity (iGBA; for review see Bertrand and Tallon-Baudry, 2000).iGBA is a measure for local neural synchronization appearing as bursts of high-frequency EEG activity which is event-related but is not necessarily phase locked to the stimulus onset (and thus may be cancelled out in traditional ERP analysis). The amplitude of these bursts is modulated by physical stimulus attributes such as size, contrast and spatial-frequency spectrum

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Human face preference in gamma-frequency EEG activity

et al. 2008

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“…Object expertise induces a shift from the basic level to a more subordinate level, e.g. "German shepherd dog", for real-world objects [17] , and similarly for artificial objects [14] , although in both cases the original basic level seems to retain a special status.…”

Section: Face Identification Is Fastest On the Individual Level ("Billmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuation of large numbers of exemplars from early on in development is surely one of the characteristics of face processing that can hardly be mimicked experimentally with other categories. Expertise in individuating exemplars of other catego-ries induces a shift from access to primarily basic level representations to more subordinate representations, but, in contrast to faces, the basic level seems to keep a privileged status for objects of expertise [14,17] . However, access to semantic knowledge about individual objects seems to favor individual-level processing for familiar objects [9] .…”

Section: Under What Conditions Does Face-like Processing Of Exemplarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The early development of face processing — What makes faces special?

Hoehl

Peykarjou

2012

Neurosci. Bull.

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Abstract:In the present article we review behavioral and neurophysiological studies on face processing in adults and in early development. From the existing empirical and theoretical literature we derive three aspects that distinguish face processing from the processing of other visual object categories. Each of these aspects is discussed from a developmental perspective. First, faces are recognized and represented at the individual level rather than at the basic level. Second, humans typically acquire extensive expertise in individuating faces from early on in development. And third, more than other objects, faces are processed holistically. There is a quantitative difference in the amount of visual experience for faces and other object categories in that the amount of expertise typically acquired for faces is greater than that for other object categories. In addition, we discuss possible qualitative differences in experience for faces and objects. For instance, there is evidence for a sensitive period in infancy for building up a holistic face representation and for perceptual narrowing for faces of one's own species and race. We conclude our literature review with questions for future research, for instance, regarding the exact relationship between behavioral and neuronal markers of face processing across development.

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“…Even 4-month-olds vary in the amount of contact they have with cats and dogs. Greater experience with a category may help to determine the relative importance of a body part (e.g., Johnson & Mervis, 1997). Because categorization can be multiply influenced, it seems likely that categorization is context-dependent (Jones & Smith, 1993) even for 4-month-old infants, and that whatever body attribute or region is considered most diagnostic of an animal category depends on the circumstances in which categorization occurs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%