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Updated: Aug 31, 2025

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Preference for horizontal information in faces predicts typical variations in face recognition but is not impaired in
Zoë Little1,2, Tirta Susilo3
1School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. z.little@unsw.edu.au.
Abstract:
Face recognition is strongly influenced by the processing of orientation structure in the face image. Faces are much easier to recognize when they are filtered to include only horizontally oriented information compared with vertically oriented information. Here, we investigate whether preferences for horizontal information in faces are related to face recognition abilities in a typical sample (Experiment 1), and whether such preferences are lacking in people with developmental prosopagnosia (DP; Experiment 2). Experiment 1 shows that preferences for horizontal face information are linked to face recognition abilities in a typical sample, with weak evidence of face-selective contributions. Experiment 2 shows that preferences for horizontal face information are comparable in control and DP groups. Our study suggests that preferences for horizontal face information are related to variations in face recognition abilities in the typical range, and that these preferences are not aberrant in DP.
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