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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Extensive visual training in adulthood significantly reduces the face inversion effect.

Renaud Laguesse¹, Giulia Dormal, Aurélie Biervoye

¹Institut de Recherche en Sciences Psychologiques, Institut de Neurosciences, Université de Louvain, Belgium.

Journal of Vision

|September 29, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Extensive adult training significantly reduced the face inversion effect for novel faces. This suggests greater flexibility in adult face processing than previously understood.

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Published on: April 16, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

The face inversion effect, poorer recognition of inverted vs. upright faces, is a robust finding in face perception.
Inverted faces are complex but not visually experienced during development, violating innate preferential looking constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if extensive adult training on inverted faces can reduce the inversion effect for novel faces.
To explore the flexibility of the adult face processing system.

Main Methods:

Eight adults trained for 16 hours over 2 weeks to individualize 30 inverted face identities across different views.
A four-alternatives delayed matching task assessed performance on novel inverted and upright faces post-training.

Main Results:

Significant reduction in the face inversion effect for novel faces observed after training.
This reduction was greater compared to pre-training performance and a control group, indicating generalization.

Conclusions:

Extensive adult training can significantly mitigate the face inversion effect.
Adult face processing demonstrates greater adaptability and flexibility than previously assumed.