Does face inversion change spatial frequency tuning?
The authors examined spatial frequency (SF) tuning of upright and inverted face identification using an SF variant of the Bubbles technique (F. Gosselin & P. G. Schyns, 2001). In Experiment 1, they validated the SF Bubbles technique in a plaid detection task. In Experiments 2a-c, the SFs used for identifying upright and inverted inner facial features were investigated. Although a clear inversion effect was present (mean accuracy was 24% higher and response times 455 ms shorter for upright faces), SF tunings were remarkably similar in both orientation conditions (mean r = .98; an SF band of 1.9 octaves centered at 9.8 cycles per face width for faces of about 6 degrees ). In Experiments 3a and b, the authors demonstrated that their technique is sensitive to both subtle bottom-up and top-down induced changes in SF tuning, suggesting that the null results of Experiments 2a-c are real. The most parsimonious explanation of the findings is provided by the quantitative account of the face inversion effect: The same information is used for identifying upright and inverted inner facial features, but processing has greater sensitivity with the former.
Willenbockel
Verena
V
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, BC, Canada.
Fiset
Daniel
D
Chauvin
Alan
A
Blais
Caroline
C
Arguin
Martin
M
Tanaka
James W
JW
Bub
Daniel N
DN
Gosselin
Frédéric
F
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult