Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Configural processing in face recognition in schizophrenia
Barbara L Schwartz1, Cherie L Marvel, Amy Drapalski
1Psychiatry Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC 20422, USA. schwarbl@gusun.georgetown.edu
Introduction:
There is currently substantial literature to suggest that patients with schizophrenia are impaired on many face-processing tasks. This study investigated the specific effects of configural changes on face recognition in groups of schizophrenia patients.
Methods:
In Experiment 1, participants identified facial expressions in upright faces and in faces inverted from their upright orientation. Experiments 2 and 3 examined recognition memory for faces and other non-face objects presented in upright and inverted orientations. Experiment 4 explored recognition of facial identity in composite images where the top half of one face was fused to the bottom half of another face to form a new face configuration.
Results:
In each experiment, the configural change had the same effect on face recognition for the schizophenia patients as it did for control participants. Recognising inverted faces was more difficult than recognising upright faces, with a disproportionate effect of inversion on faces relative to other objects. Recognition of facial identity in face-halves was interfered with by the formation of a new face configuration.
Conclusion:
Collectively, these results suggest that people with schizophrenia rely on configural information to recognise photographs of faces.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Prosopagnosia
Association Areas of the Cortex
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...
Positive Symptoms Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Hallucinations
Hallucinations in...
Schizophrenia
Parallel Processing

