Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
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,...
Prosopagnosia01:24

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...
Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior01:28

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...
Facial Feedback Hypothesis01:24

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are an evolutionary adaptation for communication. He argued that these expressions are not influenced by culture but are universal across species. For example, a snarling expression with exposed teeth signals a threat in many animals, including humans. Darwin also suggested that displaying an emotion can intensify the feeling. Smiling, for example, could enhance one's sense of happiness. This idea laid the foundation for understanding the role of...
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
Factors Influencing Attraction I: Proximity01:22

Factors Influencing Attraction I: Proximity

Proximity plays a fundamental role in shaping interpersonal attraction by increasing opportunities for interaction and fostering familiarity. Research consistently demonstrates that individuals are more likely to form social bonds with those who are physically closer to them, whether in residential settings, workplaces, or educational institutions. This effect is largely driven by the increased frequency of encounters, which facilitates the development of friendships and romantic...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Familiarity Is Key: Exploring the Effect of Familiarity on the Face-Voice Correlation.

Brain sciences·2024
Same author

The Curious Case of Impersonators and Singers: Telling Voices Apart and Telling Voices Together under Naturally Challenging Listening Conditions.

Brain sciences·2023
Same author

Sorting through the impact of familiarity when processing vocal identity: Results from a voice sorting task.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2019
Same author

A sound effect: Exploration of the distinctiveness advantage in voice recognition.

Applied cognitive psychology·2018
Same author

Training and performance measures for novices to the area of fingerprint analysis.

Data in brief·2017
Same author

Drawing a distinction between familiar and unfamiliar voice processing: A review of neuropsychological, clinical and empirical findings.

Neuropsychologia·2017
Same journal

EXPRESS: Age-related Differences in Recognition Memory for Discourse: The Case of Modified Words, Competitors, and Related Lures.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same journal

EXPRESS: Exaggerated Self-Referencing in Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same journal

EXPRESS: Post-Error Adjustments: The role of Response Stimulus Intervals and error placement.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same journal

Mitigating the Low Prevalence Effect: Role of Removing Explicit "Target-Absent" Responses in Visual Search.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same journal

Visual Selection Is Spatially Constrained During Working Memory Consolidation.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same journal

Cross-Phoneme Generalisation of Dimension-Based Statistical Learning for Stop Voicing: Probing Subject Design and Word Frame Effects.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 19, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
07:34

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Familiarity and face processing.

Cara D Osborne1, Sarah V Stevenage

  • 1Centre for Visual Cognition, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|August 22, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Facial recognition processing appears to be holistic, regardless of whether a face is familiar or unfamiliar. This suggests that the brain processes all faces using the same general mechanism, challenging previous assumptions.

More Related Videos

Behavioral Tasks for Examining Identity Recognition In Mice
06:58

Behavioral Tasks for Examining Identity Recognition In Mice

Published on: February 7, 2025

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
08:06

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Published on: August 15, 2010

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 19, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
07:34

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Behavioral Tasks for Examining Identity Recognition In Mice
06:58

Behavioral Tasks for Examining Identity Recognition In Mice

Published on: February 7, 2025

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
08:06

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Published on: August 15, 2010

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Familiarity is often considered a key factor in face recognition.
  • Previous research suggests different processing strategies for familiar versus unfamiliar faces.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of familiarity in face processing.
  • To determine if holistic processing is specific to familiar faces.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted using established face perception tasks.
  • Methods included the complete-over-part advantage and chimeric faces tasks.
  • A simultaneous chimeric task was used to control for memory demands.

Main Results:

  • Evidence for holistic processing was found for unfamiliar, newly learned, and famous faces.
  • The degree of holistic processing did not differ based on face familiarity.
  • Results were consistent across different experimental paradigms.

Conclusions:

  • Holistic face processing occurs for all faces, irrespective of familiarity.
  • The findings challenge the notion that familiarity dictates distinct processing types.
  • Task difficulty or memory demands do not fully explain the observed patterns.