Face Cognition Research Articles

Strengthening human‐centered face recognition in law enforcement: Combining the Zurich face cognition test with the holistic cognitive interview

AbstractIn the area of security, human cognition remains essential for face recognition despite advancements in technology. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are interested in harnessing these abilities, as recognizing people is a fundamental aspect of their work. We conducted two studies to support integrating human face recognition skills into police work. In study 1, we developed the Zurich Face Cognition Test (ZFCT), a self‐assessment tool that reliably measures the face cognition abilities of police officers with authentic police material. Our approach is complementary to the identification of super‐recognizers. In study 2, we evaluated the Holistic Cognitive Interview (HCI), a method successfully applied in the UK to recognize facial composites better. Our results indicate that the HCI provides an effective strategy for police officers to memorize images of unfamiliar faces more effectively, for example, for better recognition of wanted or missing persons.

Multiracial Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (MRMET): An inclusive version of an influential measure

Can an inclusive test of face cognition meet or exceed the psychometric properties of a prominent less inclusive test? Here, we norm and validate an updated version of the influential Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a clinically significant neuropsychiatric paradigm that has long been used to assess theory of mind and social cognition. Unlike the RMET, our Multiracial Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (MRMET) incorporates racially inclusive stimuli, nongendered answer choices, ground-truth referenced answers, and more accessible vocabulary. We show, via a series of large datasets, that the MRMET meets or exceeds RMET across major psychometric indices. Moreover, the reliable signal captured by the two tests is statistically indistinguishable, evidence for full interchangeability. We thus present the MRMET as a high-quality, inclusive, normed and validated alternative to the RMET, and as a case in point that inclusivity in psychometric tests of face cognition is an achievable aim. The MRMET test and our normative and validation data sets are openly available under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license at osf.io/ahq6n.

The Role of the Eyes: Investigating Face Cognition Mechanisms Using Machine Learning and Partial Face Stimuli

The Role of the Eyes: Investigating Face Cognition Mechanisms Using Machine Learning and Partial Face Stimuli

Face (Re)Cognition in Police Officers: Who Fits the Bill?

Face (Re)Cognition in Police Officers: Who Fits the Bill?

The combination of metacognition and face cognition: Cut-in points and methods

The combination of metacognition and face cognition: Cut-in points and methods

Accurate but inefficient: Standard face identity matching tests fail to identify prosopagnosia

In recent years, the number of face identity matching tests in circulation has grown considerably and these are being increasingly utilized to study individual differences in face cognition. Although many of these tests were designed for testing typical observers, recent studies have begun to utilize general-purpose tests for studying specific, atypical populations (e.g., super-recognizers and individuals with prosopagnosia). In this study, we examined the capacity of four tests requiring binary face-matching decisions to study individual differences between healthy observers. Uniquely, we used performance of the patient PS (Rossion, 2018), a well-documented case of acquired prosopagnosia (AP), as a benchmark. Two main findings emerged: (i) PS could exhibit typical rates of accuracy in all tests; (ii) compared to age-matched controls and when considering both accuracy and speed to account for potential trade-offs, only the KFMT — but not the EFCT, PICT or GFMT — was able to detect PS's severe impairment. These findings reflect the importance of considering both accuracy and response times to measure individual differences in face matching, and the need for comparing tests in terms of their sensitivity, when used as a measure of human cognition and brain functioning.

Reflections and New Perspectives on Face Cognition as a Specific Socio-Cognitive Ability.

The study of socio-cognitive abilities emerged from intelligence research, and their specificity remains controversial until today. In recent years, the psychometric structure of face cognition (FC)—a basic facet of socio-cognitive abilities—was extensively studied. In this review, we summarize and discuss the divergent psychometric structures of FC in easy and difficult tasks. While accuracy in difficult tasks was consistently shown to be face-specific, the evidence for easy tasks was inconsistent. The structure of response speed in easy tasks was mostly—but not always—unitary across object categories, including faces. Here, we compare studies to identify characteristics leading to face specificity in easy tasks. The following pattern emerges: in easy tasks, face specificity is found when modeling speed in a single task; however, when modeling speed across multiple, different easy tasks, only a unitary factor structure is reported. In difficult tasks, however, face specificity occurs in both single task approaches and task batteries. This suggests different cognitive mechanisms behind face specificity in easy and difficult tasks. In easy tasks, face specificity relies on isolated cognitive sub-processes such as face identity recognition. In difficult tasks, face-specific and task-independent cognitive processes are employed. We propose a descriptive model and argue for FC to be integrated into common taxonomies of intelligence.

Harnessing fast periodic visual stimulation to study face cognition: Sub-processes, brain-behavior relationships, and objectivity.

Rossion et al. (2020) review over a decade of work investigating the neural basis of unfamiliar face individuation (FI) - the brain's ability to distinguish unfamiliar face identity - using fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS). Though FPVS measures rapid, automatic processing, its value for studying vision and face cognition could be increased by addressing three important aspects.

Методологические аспекты исследования восприятия знакомых и незнакомых лиц

Face perception, one of most important social abilities, can be defined as the ability to perceive the face as a gestalt, along with all its parts and the relations between them. This face specific strategy has been called “configural processing”. One of actual trends in face cognition research — using of unfamiliar faces without nonspecific features — leads to controversy, whether this kind of stimulus material demonstrate ecological validity. In present, we propose a verification option using the experimental paradigm “part-whole recogni- tion” (successful detection of face details when presented in the context of a whole face). This classic effect was demonstrated using unfamiliar faces, with nonspecific details, and after the learning phase. After some modifications of this paradigm — using of unfamiliar faces without nonspecific features and without a series of familiarization — the effect disappears. The question is, whether the familiarization phase, or nonspecific features predict configural processing. We have shown that the main parameter is the absence of nonspecific features. The results may be helpful for planning future research.

Mechanisms of face specificity – Differentiating speed and accuracy in face cognition by event-related potentials of central processing

Given the crucial role of face recognition in social life, it is hardly surprising that cognitive processes specific for faces have been identified. In previous individual differences studies, the speed (measured in easy tasks) and accuracy (difficult tasks) of face cognition (FC, involving perception and recognition of faces) have been shown to form distinct abilities, going along with divergent factorial structures. This result has been replicated, but remained unexplained. To fill this gap, we first parameterized the sub-processes underlying speed vs. accuracy in easy and difficult memory tasks for faces and houses in a large sample. Then, we analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) extracted from the EEG by using residue iteration decomposition (RIDE), yielding a central (C) component that is comparable to a purified P300. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to estimate face specificity of C component latencies and amplitudes. If performance in easy tasks relies on purely general processes that are insensitive to stimulus content, there should be no specificity of individual differences in the latency recorded in easy tasks. However, in difficult tasks specificity was expected. Results indicated that, contrary to our predictions, specificity occurred in the C component latency of both speed-based and accuracy-based measures, but was stronger in accuracy. Further analyses suggested specific relationships between the face-related C latency and FC ability. Finally, we detected specificity in RTs of easy tasks when single tasks were modeled, but not when multiple tasks were jointly modeled. This suggests that the mechanisms leading to face specificity in performance speed are distinct across tasks.

Differences between and within individuals, and subprocesses of face cognition: implications for theory, research and personnel selection.

Recent investigations of individual differences have demonstrated striking variability in performance both within the same subprocess in face cognition (e.g. face perception), but also between two different subprocesses (i.e. face perception versus face recognition) that are assessed using different tasks (face matching versus face memory). Such differences between and within individuals between and within laboratory tests raise practical challenges. This applies in particular to the development of screening tests for the selection of personnel in real-world settings where faces are routinely processed, such as at passport control. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the performance profiles of individuals within and across two different subprocesses of face cognition: face perception and face recognition. To this end, 146 individuals completed four different tests of face matching—one novel tool for assessing proficiency in face perception, as well as three established measures—and two benchmark tests of face memory probing face recognition. In addition to correlational analyses, we further scrutinized individual performance profiles of the highest and lowest performing observers identified per test, as well as across all tests. Overall, a number of correlations emerged between tests. However, there was limited evidence at the individual level to suggest that high proficiency in one test generalized to other tests measuring the same subprocess, as well as those that measured a different subprocess. Beyond emphasizing the need to honour inter-individual differences through careful multivariate assessment in the laboratory, our findings have real-world implications: combinations of tests that most accurately map the task(s) and processes of interest are required for personnel selection.

Do time-on-task effects reveal face specificity in object cognition?

ABSTRACT Multiple experimental, neuropsychological, and individual differences studies indicated that faces are processed (e.g. perceived and memorized) differently from non-face objects. It was suggested that face specificity is a result of configural processing which is different from a rather part-based processing of other objects. In this research, we investigated the specificity of face cognition in terms of processing style. To this aim, we estimated Time-on-Task Effects (ToTEs) that allow inferring the level of automaticity of face and house processing. We collected data from 219 participants by applying four perception and recognition tasks. Generalized linear mixed-effects modelling was used to estimate fixed and random effects. Random slopes were interpreted as individual differences in ToTEs. Findings suggested that in the majority of tasks, face processing was dissociable from the processing of non-face objects. Thereby, these results offer a new perspective on the nature of differences in face and object processing.

Эффект предпочтения лиц из своей возрастной когорты (own-age bias) в образовательном контексте

Modern educational researchers and practicing specialists alike focus their attention on studying the social-emotional sphere of a student’s personality. The importance of a harmonious development in this area for successful socialization and high academic achievement has been repeatedly demonstrated by experimental studies. In scientific literature, the relationship between the emotions schoolchildren experience during the educational process and their educational motivation and academic success has become a prominent point of discussion. One of the tasks for the modern teachers is to recognize the emotional states of their students accurately, in order to, firstly, react in time and correctly in various situations, and, secondly, teach children to recognize their own emotions and those of others. At the same time, the findings of modern face cognition science suggest that representatives of all age groups find it easier to perceive, remember, and recognize the faces of their peers and to interpret socially significant information (i. e. emotional states) from their peers’ facial expressions — a phenomenon identified as own-age bias. These findings substantiate the need to study the process of mutual social perception between the main participants in the educational process — students and teachers, and to determine how wide the variance is and what it is associated with. In this article, we present the results of a series of our experiments aimed at studying the effects of own-age bias in children and adults. In the future, we plan to continue experimental work involving teachers as the main participants. The results of the study can be applied when developing recommendations on the features of the non-verbal side of communication with children both for teachers, and for educational authorities that train this group of professionals.

Patterns of individual differences in fiber tract integrity of the face processing brain network support neurofunctional models

Face cognition, the ability to perceive faces and interpret facial information, is a crucial skill in human social interactions. At the neurobiological level, several functionally specialized brain regions constitute a network of face processing. However, the evidence whether functional specialization within the face network is also reflected in the white matter structural connectivity patterns is yet limited. Based on imaging data from 1051 young healthy adult women and men, we investigated individual differences in the integrity of fibre tracts connecting face-processing regions relative to brain-general tract integrity. We analyzed individual tract-averaged fractional anisotropy (FA) values with structural equation modeling (SEM). Our results show that beyond the variance explained by a general factor indicating the quality of global tracts, the specificity of white matter integrity within the face network can be accounted for by additional factors. These factors correspond to the core and extended networks suggested in classic neuro-functional models of face processing. The right-hemisphere dominance, as commonly found in face cognition studies, is also reflected in this factorial structure. Overall, our results extend the structural brain substrate of the classic functional face processing system to the network of fibre tracts connecting these brain areas, and shed light on a structure-function correspondence from the perspective of individual differences.

Are global and specific interindividual differences in cortical thickness associated with facets of cognitive abilities, including face cognition?

Face cognition (FC) is a specific ability that cannot be fully explained by general cognitive functions. Cortical thickness (CT) is a neural correlate of performance and learning. In this registered report, we used data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to investigate the relationship between CT in the core brain network of FC and performance on a psychometric task battery, including tasks with facial content. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), we tested the existence of face-specific interindividual differences at behavioural and neural levels. The measurement models include general and face-specific factors of performance and CT. There was no face-specificity in CT in functionally localized areas. In post hoc analyses, we compared the preregistered, small regions of interest (ROIs) to larger, non-individualized ROIs and identified a face-specific CT factor when large ROIs were considered. We show that this was probably due to low reliability of CT in the functional localization (intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) between 0.72 and 0.85). Furthermore, general cognitive ability, but not face-specific performance, could be predicted by latent factors of CT with a small effect size. In conclusion, for the core brain network of FC, we provide exploratory evidence (in need of cross-validation) that areas of the cortex sharing a functional purpose did also share morphological properties as measured by CT.

Perceiving faces: Too much, too fast?—face specificity in response caution.

Faces are a major source of information in social interaction. The ability to perceive and interpret faces thus carries paramount importance in people's social lives. However, this crucial ability is not yet fully understood. Individual differences studies show that the speed and accuracy of face cognition (including perception and memory/recognition), the two facets targeted when measuring cognitive performance, are relatively independent traits. Unlike accuracy data, individual differences in reaction times (RTs) measured in perceptual decision tasks with or without memory load using faces and objects, do not show face-specific variance. Here, we applied the diffusion model to RT and accuracy data captured by simple perceptual decision tasks to improve understanding of the lack of face specificity. If performance speed in face cognition tasks is truly a global, nonspecific individual ability, no parameter of the diffusion model should hold face specificity. In a study on adults (N = 217), we administered two tasks of face and object perception. We used individually estimated diffusion model parameters as manifest variables to study face specificity in drift rate (ν), boundary separation (a), and nondecision time (Ter) using structural equation modeling. Furthermore, to study differential relationships between diffusion model parameters and measures of cognitive abilities, we regressed factors of face and object cognition accuracy on factors of diffusion model parameters. The results revealed face specificity only in boundary separation. This suggests face-specific adjustment in the cautiousness of information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

情绪面孔认知研究方法综述

情绪面孔认知研究方法综述

Individual Differences in Face Cognition: A Commentary on Logie

Individual Differences in Face Cognition: A Commentary on Logie

All categories are equal, but some categories are more equal than others: The psychometric structure of object and face cognition.

Recent research on individual differences in object cognition (OC) focused on determining how objects group together, and what type of processing lies behind the clusters-a single domain-general or multiple domain-specific processes. The expertise hypothesis suggests that all object categories are processed by the same mechanism that is responsible for differentiating visually similar objects. This ability is expected to be more specifically expressed in processing objects for which people have higher expertise. The domain-specificity hypothesis postulates that different object categories, for example, living versus nonliving objects, are processed employing different mechanisms. In the present study we aimed to study (a) how multiple objects group together in terms of individual differences; (b) the expertise hypothesis based on up-to-date statistical methods of modeling individual differences; (c) whether task difficulty influences the structure of individual differences in OC. We applied a memory task to N = 186 participants, by using multiple, theoretically chosen object categories divided into five groups-living/mobile (fish, butterflies), living/immobile (flowers, leaves), nonliving/mobile (cars, motorbikes), nonliving/immobile (houses, chairs) and faces-and report three main findings. (a) In terms of individual differences, the factor space of OC can be accounted by three factors-general OC factor along with a specific Vehicle and Face factor; (b) there is no clear evidence for the expertise hypothesis; and (c) task difficulty does not influence the OC structure. We conclude that domain-specific mechanisms in object processing cannot be dismissed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Supplemental Material for All Categories Are Equal, but Some Categories Are More Equal Than Others: The Psychometric Structure of Object and Face Cognition

Supplemental Material for All Categories Are Equal, but Some Categories Are More Equal Than Others: The Psychometric Structure of Object and Face Cognition