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Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
Published on: June 3, 2013
Culture shapes how we look at faces
Caroline Blais1, Rachael E Jack, Christoph Scheepers
1Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Plos One
|August 21, 2008
Summary
Facial recognition strategies vary by culture. While Western Caucasians fixate on eyes and mouth, East Asians focus centrally, challenging universal face processing theories.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Cultural Studies
Background:
- Face processing is widely believed to be a universal human skill.
- Previous eye-movement studies indicated a consistent triangular fixation pattern (eyes and mouth).
- This suggested a biologically determined, invariant facial information extraction pattern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if face processing strategies are universal or culturally influenced.
- To compare eye movement patterns of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers across different facial stimuli and tasks.
Main Methods:
- Monitored eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian participants.
- Participants learned, recognized, and categorized faces of both Western Caucasian and East Asian origins.
- Analyzed fixation patterns during these tasks.
Main Results:
- Western Caucasian observers consistently showed a triangular fixation pattern across all faces and tasks.
- East Asian observers exhibited a more central fixation pattern, differing from the Western Caucasian group.
- This central focus by East Asians occurred irrespective of the face's racial origin.
Conclusions:
- Face processing is not a universal perceptual event.
- Cultural background significantly influences the visual strategy used for face perception.
- The findings challenge the notion of a single, biologically determined face processing mechanism.
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