Similar exemplar pooling processes underlie the learning of facial identity and handwriting style: Evidence from typical observers and individuals with Autism

Considerable research has addressed whether the cognitive and neural representations recruited by faces are similar to those engaged by other types of visual stimuli. For example, research has examined the extent to which objects of expertise recruit holistic representation and engage the fusiform face area. Little is known, however, about the domain-specificity of the exemplar pooling processes thought to underlie the acquisition of familiarity with particular facial identities. In the present study we sought to compare observers’ ability to learn facial identities and handwriting styles from exposure to multiple exemplars. Crucially, while handwritten words and faces differ considerably in their topographic form, both learning tasks share a common exemplar pooling component. In our first experiment, we find that typical observers’ ability to learn facial identities and handwriting styles from exposure to multiple exemplars correlates closely. In our second experiment, we show that observers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are impaired at both learning tasks. Our findings suggest that similar exemplar pooling processes are recruited when learning facial identities and handwriting styles. Models of exemplar pooling originally developed to explain face learning, may therefore offer valuable insights into exemplar pooling across a range of domains, extending beyond faces. Aberrant exemplar pooling, possibly resulting from structural differences in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, may underlie difficulties recognising familiar faces often experienced by individuals with ASD, and leave observers overly reliant on local details present in particular exemplars

Featural and configurational processes in the recognition of faces of different familiarity

Previous research suggests that face recognition may involve both configurational and piecemeal (featural) processing. To explore the relationship between these processing modes, we examined the patterns of recognition impairment produced by blurring, inversion, and scrambling, both singly and in various combinations. Two tasks were used: recognition of unfamiliar faces (seen once before) and recognition of highly familiar faces (celebrities). The results provide further support for a configurational - featural distinction. Recognition performance remained well above chance if faces were blurred, scrambled, inverted, or simultaneously inverted and scrambled: each of these manipulations disrupts either configurational or piecemeal processing, leaving the other mode available as a route to recognition. However, blurred/scrambled and blurred/inverted faces were recognised at or near chance levels, presumably because both configurational processing and featural processing were disrupted. Similar patterns of effects were found for both familiar and unfamiliar faces, suggesting that the relationship between configurational and featural processing is qualitatively similar in both cases

Computer analysis of face beauty: a survey

The human face conveys to other human beings, and potentially to computer systems, information such as identity, intentions, emotional and health states, attractiveness, age, gender and ethnicity. In most cases analyzing this information involves the computer science as well as the human and medical sciences. The most studied multidisciplinary problems are analyzing emotions, estimating age and modeling aging effects. An emerging area is the analysis of human attractiveness. The purpose of this paper is to survey recent research on the computer analysis of human beauty. First we present results in human sciences and medicine pointing to a largely shared and data-driven perception of attractiveness, which is a rationale of computer beauty analysis. After discussing practical application areas, we survey current studies on the automatic analysis of facial attractiveness aimed at: i) relating attractiveness to particular facial features; ii) assessing attractiveness automatically; iii) improving the attractiveness of 2D or 3D face images. Finally we discuss open problems and possible lines of research

Do intoxicated witnesses produce poor facial composite images?

The effect of alcohol intoxication on witness memory and performance has been the subject of research for some time, however, whether intoxication affects facial composite construction has not been investigated. Intoxication was predicted to adversely affect facial composite construction. Thirty-two participants were allocated to one of four beverage conditions consisting of factorial combinations of alcohol or placebo at face encoding, and later construction. Participants viewed a video of a target person and constructed a composite of this target the following day. The resulting images were presented as a full face composite, or a part face consisting of either internal or external facial features to a second sample of participants who provided likeness ratings as a measure of facial composite quality. Intoxication at face encoding had a detrimental impact on the quality of facial composites produced the following day, suggesting that alcohol impaired the encoding of the target faces. The common finding that external compared to internal features are more accurately represented was demonstrated, even following alcohol at encoding. This finding was moderated by alcohol and target face gender such that alcohol at face encoding resulted in reduced likeness of external features for male composite faces only. Moderate alcohol intoxication impairs the quality of facial composites, adding to existing literature demonstrating little effect of alcohol on line-up studies. The impact of intoxication on face perception mechanisms, and the apparent narrowing of processing to external face areas such as hair, is discussed in the context of alcohol myopia theory

The presence of your absence:A conditioning theory of grief

I present a conditioning theory of grief. From conditioning research on appetitive disorders (e.g., addiction and binge eating), I borrow the concept cue-elicited craving. More precisely, the theory postulates that, throughout a life together, a variety of cues become associated with the presence of the loved one and that because of this these cues can trigger craving and (an action tendency for) searching for the deceased. Starting from this perspective, I additionally invoke extinction phenomena to explain the possible persistence of grief. Arguably, the theory has good heuristic value, because it allows to explain a variety of grief symptoms and to bring together existing knowledge in a unifying learning framework. In addition, the theory has good predictive value, because it opens the door to considering new research and treatment directions

I Am Not My Hair...Or Am I?: Exploring the Minority Swimming Gap

A review of literature has revealed a dearth of research on leisure swimming patterns of Black females. Black youth, both male and female, have a higher rate of drowning than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States (“Water‐related injuries: Fact sheet”, 2005). Two known studies produced by (Irwin et al., 2009; 2010) examining hair as a constraint to swimming for African American youth produced conflicting results. In order to comprehensively examine hair as a constraint to African American female participation in swimming, the current study adopted a qualitative approach which allowed exploration of the cultural background and experiences of the participants enrolled in a required swimming class at Yates University (this is a pseudonym used throughout this research). The following research questions guided the study (a) How does hair influence swimming participation choices of Black females and (b) What is the self-reported degree of difficulty in the constraints negotiation process for Black females who do swim? The major finding is that hair acts as a constraint to swimming for participants of this study, but participants offered ways of negotiating this constraint to still be active participants in swimming

Representación del género, la edad y la actividad física en libros para colorear infantiles

[EN] Despite publishing houses recognizing the importance of ensuring equal representation of all people in curricular materials and scholars also noting their importance in teaching children gendered behaviours, it is still common to find stereotypically gendered non-coeducational curriculum materials in the international market. The aim of this study is to determine the representation of female and male characters in the illustrations of six colouring books published in the United Kingdom entitled “Books for Girls” and “Books for Boys”. A quantitative content analysis, and a supporting qualitative discourse analysis were carried out. This paper examines the effect of constructing gender difference in children’s colouring books. Gender bias in early childhood education poses the risk of perpetuating a manifestation of inequality.[ES] A pesar de que las editoriales reconocen la importancia de asegurar la representación igualitaria de todas las personas en los materiales curriculares y los académicos también señalan su importancia en la enseñanza de comportamientos de género a los niños, todavía es común encontrar en el mercado internacional materiales curriculares no coeducativos con estereotipos de género. El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la representación de los personajes femeninos y masculinos en las ilustraciones de seis libros para colorear publicados en el Reino Unido titulados “Books for Girls” y “Books for Boys”. Se llevó a cabo un análisis cuantitativo de contenido y de apoyo un análisis cualitativo del discurso. En el presente documento se examina el efecto de la construcción de la diferencia de género en los libros para colorear para la infancia. El sesgo de género en la educación infantil plantea el riesgo de perpetuar una manifestación de desigualdad