Priming and habituation for faces: Individual differences and inversion effects.

Abstract

Immediate repetition priming for faces was examined across a range of prime durations in a threshold identification task. Similar to word repetition priming results, short duration face primes produced positive priming whereas long duration face primes eliminated or reversed this effect. A habituation model of such priming effects predicted that the speed of identification should relate to the prime duration needed to achieve negative priming. We used face priming to test this prediction in two ways. First, we examined the relationship between priming effects and individual differences in the target duration needed for threshold performance. Second, we compared priming of upright and inverted faces. As predicted, the transition from positive to negative priming as a function of prime duration occurred more slowly for inverted faces and for individuals with longer threshold target durations. Additional experiments ruled out alternative explanations.

Longer is not better: nonconscious overstimulation reverses priming influences under interocular suppression

“…Perceptual awareness of the prime might lead to stronger and sustained activation that overcomes the inhibition processes and continues to facilitate subsequent perception for longer periods than with invisible primes. A recent study that investigated conscious repetition face priming while manipulating prime duration closely parallels our results (Rieth & Huber, 2010). In this study, brief prime durations produced positive priming, whereas long prime durations led to negative influences.…”

The Rise and Fall of the Recent Past

“…In the neural ROUSE model of reading, expertise is implemented through connection strength in a perceptual hierarchy and through attractor dynamics via feedback connections. To test the generality of this model, Rieth and Huber (2010) examined whether the same model could be applied to threshold face identification and the immediate repetitions of faces. Of particular interest, we contrasted upright and inverted faces considering that face inversion effects are one way that faces differ from other visual objects (Yin, 1969).…”

“…The paradigm used by Rieth and Huber (2010) was identical to experiment 1 of Huber (2008b), except for the stimuli-the sequence of displays was as seen in Fig. 5.4 except that faces were shown instead of words.…”

“…Furthermore, the only situation that produced negative priming (i.e., target-primed < foil-primed) was the fast group with upright faces. (Rieth & Huber, 2010), using the same paradigm as the word priming experiment 1 of Huber (2008b). On each trial, all of the face images were upright or inverted throughout the display sequence.…”

A habituation account of change detection in same/different judgments

“…Our results strongly support the habituation model, because it is the only account consistent with the behavioral and MEG data presented here. This habituation account has been used to explain negative repetition priming in a face identification task (Rieth & Huber, 2010) and in a word identification task, as evidenced behaviorally (e.g., Huber, 2008b) and by means of ERP/MEG . The present work extended this account to repetition priming of same/ different judgments with words.…”