Face Aftereffects Predict Individual Differences in Face Recognition Ability

Abstract

Face aftereffects are widely studied on the assumption that they provide a useful tool for investigating face-space coding of identity. However, a long-standing issue concerns the extent to which face aftereffects originate in face-level processes as opposed to earlier stages of visual processing. For example, some recent studies failed to find atypical face aftereffects in individuals with clinically poor face recognition. We show that in individuals within the normal range of face recognition abilities, there is an association between face memory ability and a figural face aftereffect that is argued to reflect the steepness of broadband-opponent neural response functions in underlying face-space. We further show that this correlation arises from face-level processing, by reporting results of tests of nonface memory and nonface aftereffects. We conclude that face aftereffects can tap high-level face-space, and that face-space coding differs in quality between individuals and contributes to face recognition ability.