Facing a real person: an event-related potential study.
Although faces are typically perceived in the context of human interaction, face processing is commonly studied by displaying faces on a computer screen. This study on event-related potential examined whether the processing of faces differs depending on whether participants are viewing faces live or on a computer screen. In both the conditions, the participants were shown a real face, a dummy face, and a control object. N170 and early posterior negativity discriminated between faces and control object in both the conditions. Interestingly, early posterior negativity differentiated between the real face and the dummy face only in the live condition. The results indicate that a live face, as a potentially interacting stimulus, is processed differently than an inanimate face already at the early processing stages.
Pönkänen
Laura M
LM
Human Information Processing Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Hietanen
Jari K
JK
Peltola
Mikko J
MJ
Kauppinen
Pasi K
PK
Haapalainen
Antti
A
Leppänen
Jukka M
JM
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology