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Viewpoint-dependent recognition of familiar faces.

N F Troje¹, D Kersten

¹Max-Planck Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Tübingen, Germany. niko@psyc.queensu.ca

|February 9, 2000

Summary

Human visual recognition relies on viewer-centered representations, even for familiar faces. Studies show viewpoint dependence for one's own face, indicating that familiarity doesn't guarantee viewpoint invariance in object recognition.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual Perception
Human Psychology

Background:

The debate on object representation (object-centered vs. viewer-centered) is ongoing.
Viewpoint dependence in object recognition suggests viewer-centered representations.
Previous studies often used unfamiliar objects.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate viewpoint dependence in visual recognition of highly familiar faces.
To determine if extensive familiarity with one's own face leads to viewpoint invariance.

Main Methods:

Testing recognition of own face and familiar colleagues' faces from different viewpoints.
Comparing response times for frontal and profile views.
Analyzing viewpoint dependence in recognition performance.

Main Results:

Observers were significantly poorer at recognizing their own profile view.
No significant difference in response time for frontal versus profile views of familiar colleagues' faces.
Demonstrated viewpoint dependence even for highly familiar self-faces.

Conclusions:

Extensive experience and familiarity with one's own face do not yield viewpoint invariance.
Results provide strong evidence for viewer-centered representations in human visual recognition.
Viewer-centered representations are robust even for highly familiar objects like faces.

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