School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, UK.
School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, UK.
Cortex. 2023 Oct;167:318-334. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.015. Epub 2023 Jul 22.
People with aphantasia have a markedly impaired ability to form visual images in the mind's eye. Here, by testing people with and without aphantasia, we examine the relationship between visual imagery and face processing. We show that aphantasics have weaker face recognition than people with visual imagery, using both self-report (Prosopagnosia Index) and behavioural measures (Cambridge Face Memory Test). However, aphantasics nonetheless have a fully intact ability to construct facial composites from memory (i.e., composites produced using EFIT6 by aphantasics and imagers were rated as equally accurate in terms of their resemblance to a target face). Additionally, we show that aphantasics were less able than imagers to see the resemblance between composites and a target face, suggestive of potential issues with face matching (perception). Finally, we show that holistic and featural methods of composite construction using EFIT6 produce equally accurate composites. Our results suggest that face recognition, but not face composite construction, is facilitated by the ability to represent visual properties as 'pictures in the mind'. Our findings have implications for the study of aphantasia, and also for forensic settings, where face composite systems are commonly used to aid criminal investigations.
想象缺失者在脑海中形成视觉图像的能力明显受损。在这里，通过测试有想象缺失和无想象缺失的人，我们研究了视觉意象和面孔处理之间的关系。我们发现想象缺失者的面孔识别能力比有视觉意象的人弱，这既可以通过自我报告（面孔失认症指数）也可以通过行为测量（剑桥面孔记忆测试）来证明。然而，想象缺失者仍然具有从记忆中构建面部组合的完全健全的能力（即，使用 EFIT6 由想象缺失者和有想象力者构建的组合在与目标面孔的相似性方面被评为同样准确）。此外，我们发现想象缺失者比有想象力者更难以看到组合与目标面孔之间的相似之处，这表明存在潜在的面孔匹配（感知）问题。最后，我们发现使用 EFIT6 进行整体和特征组合构建的方法产生了同样准确的组合。我们的结果表明，代表视觉属性为“脑海中的图片”的能力有助于面孔识别，但对面部组合的构建没有帮助。我们的发现对想象缺失的研究以及法医环境具有重要意义，因为面部组合系统常用于协助犯罪调查。
