Sunday Mackenzie A, Patel Parth A, Dodd Michael D, Gauthier Isabel
Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology, USA.
Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology, USA.
Vision Res. 2019 Oct;163:14-23. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2019.08.006. Epub 2019 Aug 28.
Several studies have found that individuals from small hometowns show diminished face recognition ability as compared with individuals from larger hometowns. We further this line of research by relating six measures of face recognition ability to hometown density. We predicted that the three face recognition ability measures which included a learning component would relate to hometown density whereas the three measures which did not include such a learning component would not. Instead, we found that none of the six measures related to hometown density. Interestingly, we found interactions between gender and hometown population density on many of these measures and on a general index of face recognition, with females from small hometowns outperforming males from small hometowns but no such differences in the large hometown group. In a follow-up re-analysis of a previous study, we found a similar interaction in one of two face recognition ability measures. Together, these results reveal a pattern of gender differences modulated by hometown population density. If indeed experience with faces in one's hometown influences face recognition ability, understanding these effects may require more than a quantification of the environment. Men and women growing up in the same environment likely have different experiences, which likely modulates effects on visual abilities.
多项研究发现，与来自较大家乡的人相比，来自小家乡的人面部识别能力有所下降。我们通过将六项面部识别能力指标与家乡人口密度联系起来，进一步推进了这一研究方向。我们预测，三项包含学习成分的面部识别能力指标将与家乡人口密度相关，而另外三项不包含此类学习成分的指标则不会。然而，我们发现这六项指标均与家乡人口密度无关。有趣的是，我们发现在许多此类指标以及面部识别综合指数上，性别与家乡人口密度之间存在相互作用，来自小家乡的女性表现优于来自小家乡的男性，但在来自大家乡的人群中不存在此类差异。在对先前一项研究的后续重新分析中，我们在两项面部识别能力指标中的一项上发现了类似的相互作用。综合来看，这些结果揭示了一种受家乡人口密度调节的性别差异模式。如果家乡中与面孔的实际接触确实会影响面部识别能力，那么理解这些影响可能需要的不仅仅是对环境的量化。在相同环境中成长的男性和女性可能有不同的经历，这可能会调节对视觉能力的影响。
