Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035, Barcelona, Spain.
Center for Brain and Cognition, CBC, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 6;11(1):9715. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89007-8.
Does language categorization influence face identification? The present study addressed this question by means of two experiments. First, to establish language categorization of faces, the memory confusion paradigm was used to create two language categories of faces, Spanish and English. Subsequently, participants underwent an oddball paradigm, in which faces that had been previously paired with one of the two languages (Spanish or English), were presented. We measured EEG perceptual differences (vMMN) between standard and two types of deviant faces: within-language category (faces sharing language with standards) or between-language category (faces paired with the other language). Participants were more likely to confuse faces within the language category than between categories, an index that faces were categorized by language. At the neural level, early vMMN were obtained for between-language category faces, but not for within-language category faces. At a later stage, however, larger vMMNs were obtained for those faces from the same language category. Our results showed that language is a relevant social cue that individuals used to categorize others and this categorization subsequently affects face perception.
语言分类是否会影响面孔识别？本研究通过两个实验来探讨这个问题。首先，为了建立面孔的语言分类，我们使用记忆混淆范式创建了两种语言类别的面孔，西班牙语和英语。随后，参与者接受了一种Oddball 范式，在该范式中，呈现了之前与两种语言之一（西班牙语或英语）配对的面孔。我们测量了 EEG 感知差异（vMMN），比较了标准面孔和两种偏差面孔之间的差异：同语言类别内（与标准面孔共享语言的面孔）或不同语言类别之间（与另一种语言配对的面孔）。参与者更有可能混淆同语言类别的面孔，而不是不同类别的面孔，这表明面孔是按照语言进行分类的。在神经水平上，对于不同语言类别的面孔，会产生早期 vMMN，但对于同语言类别的面孔则不会。然而，在稍后的阶段，对于来自同一语言类别的面孔，会产生更大的 vMMN。我们的结果表明，语言是一种相关的社会线索，个体用它来对他人进行分类，这种分类随后会影响面孔识别。
