Department of Neuroscience, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, USA.
Department of Psychology, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, USA.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2018 Oct 25;13(10):1019-1027. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsy079.
It is widely accepted that holistic processing is critical for early face recognition, but recent work has suggested a larger role for feature-based processing. The earliest step in familiar face recognition is thought to be matching a perceptual representation of a familiar face to a stored representation of that face, which is thought to be indexed by the N250r event-related potential (ERP). In the current face-priming studies, we investigated whether this perceptual representation can be effectively activated by feature-based processing. In the first experiment, prime images were familiar whole faces, isolated eyes or isolated mouths. Whole faces and isolated eyes, but not isolated mouths, effectively modulated the N250r. In the second experiment, prime images were familiar whole faces presented either upright or inverted. Inverted face primes were no less effective than upright face primes in modulating the N250r. Together, the results of these studies indicate that activation of the earliest face recognition processes is not dependent on holistic processing of a typically configured face. Rather, feature-based processing can effectively activate the perceptual memory of a familiar face. However, not all features are effective primes as we found eyes, but not mouths, were effective in activating early face recognition.
人们普遍认为整体加工对于早期面孔识别至关重要，但最近的研究表明特征加工起着更大的作用。熟悉面孔识别的最早步骤被认为是将熟悉面孔的知觉表征与该面孔的存储表征进行匹配，而这种存储表征被认为是由 N250r 事件相关电位（ERP）索引的。在当前的面孔启动研究中，我们研究了特征加工是否可以有效地激活这种知觉表征。在第一个实验中，启动图像是熟悉的完整面孔、分离的眼睛或分离的嘴巴。完整的面孔和分离的眼睛可以有效地调制 N250r，但分离的嘴巴不行。在第二个实验中，启动图像是呈现正立或倒立的熟悉的完整面孔。与正立面孔启动相比，倒立面孔启动在调制 N250r 方面同样有效。这些研究的结果表明，最早的面孔识别过程的激活并不依赖于典型配置面孔的整体加工。相反，特征加工可以有效地激活熟悉面孔的知觉记忆。然而，并非所有特征都是有效的启动因素，因为我们发现眼睛而不是嘴巴可以有效地激活早期的面孔识别。
