title: An online version of the Mooney Face Test: phenotypic and genetic associations.
abstract: The Mooney Face Test is a widely used test of face perception, but was originally designed to be administered by personal interview. We have developed a three-alternative forced-choice version for online testing. We tested 397 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 42 (M=24 years). There was a wide range of performance (64-100% correct; M=89.6%). We observed a significant sex difference favoring males (.31 standard deviation; p =.004). In addition, independently of sex, higher 2D:4D digit ratios were significantly associated with higher scores (ρ=.14, p=.006). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for a subset of 370 participants identified an association between Mooney performance and a polymorphism in the RAPGEF5 gene (rs1522280; p=9.68×10(-8)). This association survives a permutation test (p=.031).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rjv31@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Roeland J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Verhallen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jenny M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bosten
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Brennan MacCallum Building, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Goodbourn
authors.affiliation: Applied Vision Research Centre, City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bargary
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lawrance-Owen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mollon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010466:Perceptual Closure / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D020663:ras Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C417242:RAPGEF5 protein, human; D020663:ras Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors
keywords: Closure; Face perception; Genome-wide association study (GWAS); Gestalt perception; Individual differences; Mooney Face Test; RAPGEF5; rs1522280