Prolonged Visual Experience in Adulthood Modulates Holistic Face Perception

Abstract

BackgroundUsing the well-known composite illusion as a marker of the holistic perception of faces, we tested how prolonged visual experience with a specific population of faces (4- to 6-year-old children) modulates the face perception system in adulthood.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe report a face composite effect that is larger for adult than children faces in a group of adults without experience with children faces (“children-face novices”), while it is of equal magnitude for adults and children faces in a population of preschool teachers (“children-face experts”). When considering preschool teachers only, we observed a significant correlation between the number of years of experience with children faces and the differential face composite effect between children and adults faces. Participants with at least 10 years of qualitative experience with children faces had a larger composite face effect for children than adult faces.Conclusions/SignificanceOverall, these observations indicate that even in adulthood face processes can be reshaped qualitatively, presumably to facilitate efficient processing of the differential morphological features of the frequently encountered population of faces.

The composite face illusion

“…However, preschool teachers (i.e. observers with extensive contact with child faces) failed to show an own-age effect when tested using the original matching task; they showed similar composite effects for arrangements constructed from own-age faces and the faces of children (de Heering & Rossion, 2008). Where observed, these biases may therefore be products of experience.…”

Recognition of monkey faces by monkey experts

“…Overall, results from studies in which recognition of other versus same ethnic group has been compared suggest that late exposure to the other ethnic group is not enough to match the skills observed for one's own group (Rhodes et al 1989;Sangrigoli and de Schonen 2004). However, expertise via intensive training with faces of another ethnic group or another age group alters the way faces are processed into matching more closely effects or performances otherwise observed for more familiar faces (Goldstein and Chance 1985;de Heering and Rossion 2008;Kuefner et al 2008). In our modern societies, it remains challenging to control for the kind of exposure, or expertise, one might have with other ethnic groups or groups from another age and to what extent one might have actively learned to recognise faces from an unfamiliar group.…”

No own-age bias in 3-year-old children: More evidence for the role of early experience in building face-processing biases

“…A wealth of data indicates that adults' face perception abilities exhibit strong biases, such that discrimination and recognition are superior for specific categories of faces than for others, with relevant categories including species (see review in Dufour, Pascalis, & Petit, 2006), race (see review by Meissner & Brigham, 2001), gender (e.g., Lewin & Herlitz, 2002), and age (see review by Rhodes & Anastasi, 2007;Lamont, Stewart-Williams, & Podd, 2005;Perfect & Harris, 2003) and infant faces (Kuefner et al, 2008;Macchi Cassia, Kuefner, Picozzi, & Vescovo, 2009a;Macchi Cassia et al, 2009b) or child faces (Anastasi & Rhodes, 2005;de Heering & Rossion, 2008;Harrison & Hole, 2009;Kuefner et al, 2008; but see Lindholm, 2005;Mondloch, Maurer, & Ahola, 2006). Moreover, in adults with limited or null experience with infants or children, manipulations that hinder configural and/or holistic encoding selectively or disproportionately disrupt discrimination of adult faces compared with infant faces (Kuefner et al, 2008;Macchi Cassia et al, 2009a, 2009b or child faces (de Heering & Rossion, 2008;Kuefner et al, 2008Kuefner et al, , 2010.…”