Simone Favelle

Attention to configural information in change detection for faces

Perception, 2007

The human face is a complex visual stimulus that conveys important social and biological informat... more The human face is a complex visual stimulus that conveys important social and biological information. Not surprisingly then, detecting and/or identifying a face is rapid and may even be mandatory; however, current evidence suggests that these processes require at least some attentional resources (see Palermo and Rhodes 2007 for a review of face perception and attention). But what properties within a face attract our attention? Many studies have focused on investigating the different facial regions (eg the eyes, mouth) that might be more salient or attract our attention Shepard et al 1981). However, it has been argued that what sets face processing apart from other object processing is the reliance on the configuration of features (Diamond and Carey 1986).

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The role of attention in processing configural and shape information in 3-D novel objects

by Darren Burke and Simone Favelle

Visual Cognition, 2006

Recent research suggests that there is an advantage for processing configural information in scen... more Recent research suggests that there is an advantage for processing configural information in scenes and objects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which attention may account for this configural advantage. In Experiment 1, we found that cueing the location of change in single object displays improved detection performance for both configural and shape changes, yet cueing attention away from the location of change was detrimental only for shape change detection. A configural advantage was present for each cueing condition. Experiments 2A and 2B examined whether the configural advantage persisted in conditions where attention was distributed more widely, using a visual search paradigm. Although searches for configural changes were faster than those for shape changes across all set sizes, both types of information appeared to be processed with similar efficiency. Overall, these results suggest that the configural advantage is independent of the location or distribution of visual attention.

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Face viewpoint effects about three axes: the role of configural and featural processing

by Stephen Palmisano and Simone Favelle

Perception, 2011

We directly compared recognition for faces following 0° – 75° viewpoint rotation about the yaw, p... more We directly compared recognition for faces following 0° – 75° viewpoint rotation about the yaw, pitch, and roll axes. The aim was to determine the extent to which configural and featural information supported face recognition following rotations about each of these axes. Experiment 1 showed that performance on a sequential-matching task was viewpoint-dependent for all three types of rotation. The best face-recognition accuracy and shortest reaction time was found for roll rotations, then for yaw rotations, and finally the worst accuracy and slowest reaction time was found for pitch rotations. Directional differences in recognition were found for pitch rotations, but not for roll or yaw. Experiment 2 provided evidence that, in all three cases, viewpoint-dependent declines in recognition were primarily driven by the loss of configural information. However, it also appeared that significant featural information was lost following yaw and pitch (but not roll) rotations. Together, these findings show that unfamiliar-face recognition is viewpoint-dependent following rotation about each axis (and in each direction), and that performance is based on the availability of configural and, to a lesser extent, featural information.

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The face inversion effect following pitch and yaw rotations: investigating the boundaries of holistic processing

by Stephen Palmisano and Simone Favelle

Frontiers in Psychology, 2012

Upright faces are thought to be processed holistically. However, the range of views within which ... more Upright faces are thought to be processed holistically. However, the range of views within which holistic processing occurs is unknown. Recent research by McKone (2008) suggests that holistic processing occurs for all yaw-rotated face views (i.e., full-face through to profile). Here we examined whether holistic processing occurs for pitch, aswell as yaw, rotated face views. In this face recognition experiment: (i) participants made same/different judgments
about two sequentially presented faces (either both upright or both inverted); (ii) the test face was pitch/yaw rotated by between 0° and 75° from the encoding face (always a full-face view). Our logic was as follows: if a particular pitch/yaw-rotated face view is being processed holistically when upright, then this processing should be disrupted by inversion. Consistent with previous research, significant face inversion effects (FIEs) were found for all yaw-rotated views. However, while FIEs were found for pitch rotations up to 45°, none were observed for 75° pitch rotations (rotated either above or below the full face). We conclude that holistic processing does not occur for all views of upright faces (e.g., not for uncommon pitch rotated views), only those that can be matched to a generic global representation of a face.

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Navigating the boundary of face space: What kind of stimulus is a face

Journal of Vision, 2010

The processing that underlies the subordinate level recognition of faces is a point of great deba... more

Face(book) perception: Is the own-race advantage due to perceptual learning

Journal of Vision, 2010

Things are looking up: Differential decline in face recognition following pitch and yaw rotation

Perception, 2007

Previous research into the effects of viewpoint change on face recognition has typically dealt wi... more Previous research into the effects of viewpoint change on face recognition has typically dealt with rotations around the head's vertical axis (yaw). Another common, although less studied, source of viewpoint variation in faces is rotation around the head's horizontal pitch axis (pitch). In the current study we used both a sequential matching task and an old/new recognition task to examine the effect of viewpoint change following rotation about both pitch and yaw axes on human face recognition. The results of both tasks showed that recognition performance was better for faces rotated about yaw compared to pitch. Further, recognition performance for faces rotated upwards on the pitch axis was better than for faces rotated downwards. Thus, equivalent angular rotations about pitch and yaw do not produce equivalent viewpoint-dependent declines in recognition performance.

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The role of attention in processing configural and shape information in 3-D novel objects

Visual Cognition, 2006

Recent research suggests that there is an advantage for processing configural information in scen... more Recent research suggests that there is an advantage for processing configural information in scenes and objects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which attention may account for this configural advantage. In Experiment 1, we found that cueing the location of change in single object displays improved detection performance for both configural and shape changes, yet cueing attention away from the location of change was detrimental only for shape change detection. A configural advantage was present for each cueing condition. Experiments 2A and 2B examined whether the configural advantage persisted in conditions where attention was distributed more widely, using a visual search paradigm. Although searches for configural changes were faster than those for shape changes across all set sizes, both types of information appeared to be processed with similar efficiency. Overall, these results suggest that the configural advantage is independent of the location or distribution of visual attention.

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Attention to configural information in change detection for faces

Perception, 2007

The human face is a complex visual stimulus that conveys important social and biological informat... more The human face is a complex visual stimulus that conveys important social and biological information. Not surprisingly then, detecting and/or identifying a face is rapid and may even be mandatory; however, current evidence suggests that these processes require at least some attentional resources (see Palermo and Rhodes 2007 for a review of face perception and attention). But what properties within a face attract our attention? Many studies have focused on investigating the different facial regions (eg the eyes, mouth) that might be more salient or attract our attention Shepard et al 1981). However, it has been argued that what sets face processing apart from other object processing is the reliance on the configuration of features (Diamond and Carey 1986).

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The time course of configural change detection for novel 3-D objects

Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 2010

The present study investigated the time course of visual information processing that is responsib... more The present study investigated the time course of visual information processing that is responsible for successful object change detection involving the configuration and shape of 3-D novel object parts. Using a one-shot change detection task, we manipulated stimulus and interstimulus mask durations (40—500 msec). Experiments 1A and 1B showed no change detection advantage for configuration at very short (40-msec) stimulus durations, but the configural advantage did emerge with durations between 80 and 160 msec. In Experiment 2, we showed that, at shorter stimulus durations, the number of parts changing was the best predictor of change detection performance. Finally, in Experiment 3, with a stimulus duration of 160 msec, configuration change detection was found to be highly accurate for each of the mask durations tested, suggesting a fast processing speed for this kind of change information. However, switch and shape change detection reached peak levels of accuracy only when mask durations were increased to 160 and 320 msec, respectively. We conclude that, with very short stimulus exposures, successful object change detection depends primarily on quantitative measures of change. However, with longer stimulus exposures, the qualitative nature of the change becomes progressively more important, resulting in the well-known configural advantage for change detection.

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Effects of Scenery, Lighting, Glideslope, and Experience on Timing the Landing Flare

Journal of Experimental Psychology-applied, 2008

This study examined three visual strategies for timing the initiation of the landing flare based ... more This study examined three visual strategies for timing the initiation of the landing flare based on perceptions of either: (a) a critical height above ground level; (b) a critical runway width angle (Psi); or (c) a critical time-to-contact (TTC) with the runway. Visual displays simulated landing approaches with trial-to-trial variations in glideslope, lighting, and scene detail. Twenty-four participants (8 private pilots, 8 student pilots, and 8 nonpilots) were instructed to initiate the flare when they perceived that their TTC with the runway (30 m wide by 840 m long) had reached a critical value of 2 seconds. Our results demonstrated a significant effect of flight experience on flare timing accuracy and dominance of the height-based strategy over the runway-width-angle and TTC-based strategies.

Time-to-Contact Perception During Simulated Night Landing

International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 2008

In 2 experiments, nonpilots made time-to-contact (TTC) judgments during simulated oblique descent... more In 2 experiments, nonpilots made time-to-contact (TTC) judgments during simulated oblique descents toward a ground–plane. Experiment 1 revealed a significant effect of simulated glideslope on TTC judgments: 3-degree simulations were underestimated, 6-degree simulations were generally accurate, and 9-degree simulations were overestimated. However, there was a significant reduction in this glideslope effect when the simulated aimpoint was explicitly (as opposed to implicitly) identified throughout the display. This glideslope effect was also found to disappear in Experiment 2, when aimpoint distance was held constant for all glideslopes, suggesting that TTC was being indirectly calculated based on perceived distance.

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