Abstracts 2005 - The Psychonomic Society

Posters 5030–5036 Saturday Evening
(5030)
Evidence for Gender Differences in Memory for Names and Faces.
KIMBERLY D. BATES & SHELIA M. KENNISON, Oklahoma State
University (sponsored by Shelia M. Kennison)—The research investigated
gender differences in memory for names and faces. Prior research
has shown that women remember faces better than do men. It
has further been shown that both men and women remember names
better when they refer to individuals of the same gender than those of
the opposite gender. In the present research, participants were shown
picture–name combinations. Names were unfamiliar and gender neutral
(e.g., Sharg, Tilk). Counterbalancing was used to ensure that each
name was paired with a male and a female picture. In two experiments,
participants studied 40 picture–name combinations. In Experiment
1, participants were later instructed to recall names when presented
with the picture. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to
match the name with the appropriate picture. The results of both experiments
showed that women remembered names of men and women
equally well but that men remembered names of men significantly
more accurately than names of women.
(5031)
Task and Strategic Influences on the Eye-Movement–Based Memory
Effect. TRAVIS L. SEYMOUR, CHRIS BAKER, & JOSH GAUNT,
University of California, Santa Cruz—We measured eye movements
to faces in an exclude–recognition task where one of two old lists was
to be accepted as “old” and the other as “new” along with new filler
faces. Previously, Althoff and Cohen (1999) showed that a host of eyebased
measures differentiate familiar from nonfamiliar faces (e.g.,
number of fixations, regions sampled, and different looking patterns).
We compared eye movements during a familiarity task with those in
the exclude–recognition task, where source recollection is required.
Results show that whereas the familiarity task replicates previous eye
movement patterns (longer, more constrained movements to new
faces), exclude tasks lead to the opposite pattern (slower, more constrained
looking for old items). Surprisingly, even the looking patterns
for new items differ across tasks. We suggest that eye movements in
recognition are dependent on task strategy. Also, despite previous reports,
we show that unconscious behaviors, such as pupil dilation, but
not blinking, can index prior exposure.
(5032)
Viewpoint-Dependent Performance for Faces Rotated About Pitch
and Yaw Axes. SIMONE K. FAVELLE, STEPHEN A. PALMISANO,
& RYAN MALONEY, University of Wollongong—When investigating
the extent to which the processing of faces is dependent on viewpoint,
studies typically consider rotation in depth (yaw; rotation around the
head’s vertical axis) and compare performance between front-on and
profile views. However, another common, although less studied,
source of viewpoint variation in faces is rotation in pitch (rotation
around the head’s horizontal axis). In the present study, we systematically
examined and compared the effect of viewpoint change in both
the pitch and the yaw axes on human face recognition. We used a sequential
matching task in which stimuli were images of real female
Caucasian faces shown at 15º increments around pitch (0º–75º) and
yaw (0º–90º). Performance on both axes was dependent on viewpoint;
however, participants responded more slowly and with less accuracy
when matching faces rotated around pitch as opposed to around yaw.
(5033)
Short-Term Adaptations of Face Configural Representation.
PAMELA M. PALLETT & KANG LEE, University of California, San
Diego (sponsored by Victor S. Ferreira)—Configural information plays
an important role in face processing. Lifelong experience with faces
leads one to acquire common configural representations. Are these
representations malleable with short-term experiences, despite an arduous
acquisition process? To address this, our study capitalized on
an illusion demonstrating that perception of an oval containing a face
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is influence by face configuration. Moving the eyes and mouth closer
to the nose makes the oval appear rounder. Subjects adapted to 64 similarly
shortened faces and provided magnitude estimations for an oval
surrounding an unseen shortened face. Subjects perceived a strong
shape illusion. Exposure to shortened faces decreased this illusion,
whereas normal face exposure failed to produce this shift. These findings
suggest that our face configural representations are malleable with
short-term experience. The present results add to converging evidence
for high-level nonretinotopically organized face adaptation that distinctly
differs from adaptation to basic psychophysical properties.
(5034)
The Influence of Familiarity on Sex Decisions to Faces and Names.
ROBERT A. JOHNSTON & RUTH CLUTTERBUCK, University of
Birmingham—According to the model of face recognition by Bruce
and Young (1986), sex analysis occurs independently of identity
analysis, and as a consequence, no influence of familiarity should be
found on the time taken to perform sex decisions. Results of recent
behavioral studies cast doubt upon this claim. Two experiments are reported
that explore the influence of familiarity on sex decisions to
faces (Experiment 1) and surnames (Experiment 2) of different levels
of familiarity. In Experiment 1, participants were able to assign sex
more quickly to highly familiar faces than to unfamiliar faces. Therefore,
familiarity can influence the speed at which sex is analyzed from
faces. Similarly, in Experiment 2, participants were able to assign sex
and familiarity more quickly to highly familiar surnames than to moderately
familiar surnames. These findings are discussed in relation to
the influence of sex information from identity-specific semantics, and
an explanation is offered on the basis of Burton et al.’s (1990) IAC
model of face recognition.
(5035)
Amygdalae and Affective Facial Expressions. ROMINA PALERMO,
Macquarie University, LAURIE MILLER, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital,
& MAX COLTHEART, Macquarie University—The ability to recognize
facial expressions of emotion is crucial for successful social
interactions. One neural structure that appears to be involved in processing
information from facial expressions is the amygdala. We have
been investigating how people with temporal lobe epilepsy, who may
have amygdala damage, recognize facial expressions of emotion. In
one study, we examined whether people who have affective auras prior
to their seizures recognize facial expressions differently than do those
that do not have auras. Another study examined whether the amygdala
is involved in affective priming. In the affective priming task, we manipulated
the expression, duration, and spatial frequency information
of the face primes. Affective priming was absent when the prime faces
contained only low-pass or high-pass information and were shown very
briefly. Implications for models of affective processing are discussed.
(5036)
The Role of the Eyes and Mouth in Facial Emotions. CHRISTOPHER
KOCH, George Fox University—Facial processing of emotions was
examined using an emotional face Stroop task in which a face was
presented with an emotion word. The expressed emotions included
anger, sadness, happiness, and fear. In addition, the importance of facial
features was examined by removing the eyes or mouth on some
trials. Thus, there were three face conditions (full face, eyes removed,
mouth removed) and three word conditions (no word, congruent emotion,
incongruent emotion). Twenty-seven graduate students participated
in the study. The results reveal a significant effect of face
[F(2,52) = 4.63, p < .02] and word conditions [F(2,52) = 9.57, p <
.001]. Full faces produced significantly shorter RTs than did faces
with either the eyes or the mouth removed, but there was no difference
between the eyes- and mouth-removed faces. Congruent emotion
words did not produce facilitation but incongruent words produced
significant interference. These findings suggest the eyes and the
mouth are equally important in facial expressions of emotions.