title: Adaptation may cause some of the face caricature effect.
abstract: One of the ways to demonstrate a caricature preference is to ask participants to adjust a face image over a range from anti-caricature to caricature until it shows the best likeness to a specific individual. Since facial adaptation, whereby exposure to a face influences subsequent perception of faces, is rapid, it is possible that adaptation promotes the selection of a caricatured image. We tested whether giving participants a reference average face image, to counteract any adaptation, would reduce the degree of caricature selected for famous faces. Results confirmed a significant decrease but, even without an average, participants chose an anti-caricatured image. These data suggest a role for adaptation in generating caricature preferences while also suggesting such preferences are not inevitable.
authors.affiliation: Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK. pjbh1@stir.ac.uk
authors.forename: Peter J B
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Little
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002325:Caricatures as Topic / Q000523:psychology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D055815:Young Adult