Abstract
Can attention alter the impression of a face? Previous studies showed that attention modulates the appearance of lower-level visual features. For instance, attention can make a simple stimulus appear to have higher contrast than it actually does. We tested whether attention can also alter the perception of a higher-order property—namely, facial attractiveness. We asked participants to judge the relative attractiveness of two faces after summoning their attention to one of the faces using a briefly presented visual cue. Across trials, participants judged the attended face to be more attractive than the same face when it was unattended. This effect was not due to decision or response biases, but rather was due to changes in perceptual processing of the faces. These results show that attention alters perceived facial attractiveness, and broadly demonstrate that attention can influence higher-level perception and may affect people’s initial impressions of one another.
Highlights
Can attention alter the impression of a face? Previous studies showed that attention modulates the appearance of lower-level visual features
Studies showed that attention alters the appearance of simple stimuli (e.g., Carrasco et al, 2004), it was unclear whether attention alters the appearance of real-world objects
We have shown that attention increases the perceived attractiveness of a face, demonstrating that attention can alter high-level aspects of perception
Summary
Can attention alter the impression of a face? Previous studies showed that attention modulates the appearance of lower-level visual features. In a series of psychophysical experiments, Carrasco and her colleagues found that attention increased perceived stimulus contrast (Carrasco, Fuller, & Ling, 2008; Carrasco, Ling, & Read, 2004; Liu, Abrams, & Carrasco, 2009; see Störmer, McDonald, & Hillyard, 2009), perceived spatial frequency (Gobell & Carrasco, 2005), perceived color saturation (Fuller & Carrasco, 2006), perceived motion coherence (Liu, Fuller, & Carrasco, 2006), perceived speed (Anton-Erxleben, Herrmann & Carrasco, 2013), and perceived flicker rate (Montagna & Carrasco, 2006) All of these studies used simple visual stimuli, such as sinusoidal gratings (i.e., Gabor patches), line shapes (i.e., Landoldt rings), or dots. Impressions of faces are formed quickly, and they have powerful consequences for subsequent interactions
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