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Preferences for Processing Facial Information at Different Orientations in Individuals With Developmental
Jialin Ma1, Xiaojie Wang1, Rui Zhang2
1Facuty of Education, School of Psychology, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
Developmental Psychobiology
|March 24, 2026
Summary
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) and controls both prefer horizontal facial features. However, DP individuals favor vertical facial configurations, unlike controls who prefer horizontal ones.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) may exhibit a horizontal processing preference in facial recognition.
- This bias might cause them to overlook crucial facial information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate facial processing preferences in individuals with DP compared to controls.
- To determine if preferences relate to facial rotation or low-level structural information.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1 compared horizontal preference in DP (N=27) and control (N=47) groups.
- Experiments 2a/2b used behavioral and eye-tracking methods with DP (N=73) and control (N=58) groups to assess configuration preferences.
Main Results:
- Both groups showed a preference for horizontal facial features, unaffected by rotation.
- DP group preferred vertical configurations, while controls preferred horizontal configurations.
Conclusions:
- Both DP and control groups favor low-level horizontal facial information.
- DP individuals prefer vertical facial configurations, contrasting with controls' horizontal preference.
- Findings enhance understanding of DP face processing and cognitive patterns.
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