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Adults scan own- and other-race faces differently
Genyue Fu1, Chao S Hu, Qiandong Wang
1Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
Plos One
|June 8, 2012
Summary
Chinese individuals look at the eyes of Caucasian faces more, but the nose and mouth of Chinese faces more, demonstrating the other-race effect in eye movements during face recognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The other-race effect (ORE) is a well-documented phenomenon where individuals exhibit superior recognition for own-race faces compared to other-race faces.
- Previous research has primarily focused on behavioral outcomes, with less attention paid to the underlying visual scanning patterns that contribute to the ORE.
Purpose of the Study:
- This study investigated whether visual scanning patterns differ when individuals view own- and other-race faces.
- The research aimed to explore if differential eye movement strategies correlate with the established other-race effect in face recognition.
Main Methods:
- Chinese participants were presented with Chinese and Caucasian faces for memorization over five testing blocks.
- Eye movements were meticulously recorded using an eye tracker and analyzed using an Area of Interest (AOI) approach focusing on facial features (eyes, nose, mouth).
- The iMap toolbox was employed for detailed analysis of fixation patterns across the entire face, pixel by pixel.
Main Results:
- Chinese participants devoted a significantly higher proportion of fixation time to the eyes of Caucasian (other-race) faces compared to Chinese (own-race) faces.
- Conversely, fixation time was significantly greater on the nose and mouth of Chinese faces than on those of Caucasian faces.
- This distinct pattern of visual attention, particularly concerning the eyes and nose, remained consistent even with increasing familiarity with the faces.
Conclusions:
- The findings support the hypothesis that differential scanning strategies contribute to the other-race effect in face recognition.
- Observed differences in fixation patterns are likely influenced by facial morphological variations between racial groups and cultural norms regarding mutual gaze.
- These results offer novel insights into the perceptual mechanisms underlying cross-racial face recognition.
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