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Figural aftereffects in the perception of faces
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno 89557, USA. mwebster@scs.unr.edu
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|February 22, 2000
Summary
Figural aftereffects bias human face perception, with adaptation to distorted faces causing them to appear distorted in the opposite direction. This adaptation plays a normalizing role in face perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Human face perception is highly sensitive to configural changes.
- Adaptation to visual stimuli can profoundly alter subsequent perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate figural aftereffects in human face perception.
- To understand the role of adaptation in face perception and form perception.
Main Methods:
- Observers viewed and rated/matched human faces after adapting to distorted face images.
- Tested aftereffects across different faces and orientations (upright/inverted).
Main Results:
- Prior adaptation to distorted faces caused subsequent perception of original faces to be biased in the opposite direction.
- Aftereffects transferred across different faces and were orientation-dependent.
- Adaptation to original faces had minimal effect on distorted face perception, indicating asymmetry.
Conclusions:
- Figural aftereffects strongly influence face form perception.
- Adaptation in face perception may serve a normalizing function.
- Figural aftereffects offer a novel method for studying human face perception properties.