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A critical role of holistic processing in face gender perception
Takemasa Yokoyama1, Yasuki Noguchi2, Ryosuke Tachibana2
1Department of Psychology, Kobe University Kobe, Japan ; Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Tokyo, Japan.
Holistic face processing, not featural, is critical for gender perception. This process occurs late in visual recognition (200-285 ms), as shown by behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) experiments.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- The debate on whether face gender perception relies on holistic or featural information persists.
- Neuroimaging studies highlight relevant brain regions but lack temporal resolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the mechanism and temporal dynamics of face gender perception.
- To determine the role of holistic versus featural cues in face gender processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized stereoscopic depth manipulation to create featural (front condition) and holistic (behind condition) cues.
- Conducted three behavioral experiments and one electroencephalography (EEG) experiment.
- Compared reaction times, priming effects, and aftereffects between conditions.
Main Results:
- Faster reaction times observed in the holistic (behind) condition compared to the featural (front) condition.
- Priming effects and aftereffects were exclusive to the holistic condition.
- EEG data indicated face gender perception occurs in a late visual recognition phase (200-285 ms).
Conclusions:
- Holistic information is crucial for accurate face gender perception.
- Face gender perception is a relatively late-latency process in visual cognition.
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