The impact of face-processing abilities and face inversion on the visual extraction strategies in face processing

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Facial cues convey information that we can use to quickly process basic characteristics such as identity, gender, age and ethnical origin as well as social information such as beauty, trustworthiness or mood. This wealth of information allows human beings to adjust their behaviors according to the nature of the encounter or situation with which they are confronted. For example, one should not behave with a close friend in the same way as one should with Stephen Harper, the current Prime Minister of Canada. The ability to extract the necessary visual cues from facial processing in order to produce an adequate and adapted response is no simple feat. Researchers consider face processing as one of the most complex tasks the human perceptual system must perform. However, most human beings are under the impression that it is an easy and effortless task. Naturally, strong individual differences exist within the normal population. Some show exceptional ability whereas others experience much difficulty. This disparity between good and poor face recognizers has the potential of helping us understand how the human brain processes and recognizes faces. One of the main goals of this research project is to examine how individual differences influence visual information extraction strategies. Do the best face recognizers process the basic visual information for face recognition more effectively? Are their eye movements more efficient in extracting this information? We will also explore how presenting faces upside-down, a proven way to disrupt efficient face identification even in the very best face recognizers, impacts perceptual strategies. Using a combination of psychophysical methods and gaze tracking experiments, this proposal will help us acquire a better understanding of how the visual system adapts to the challenges of face recognition. Moreover, once we expand our knowledge of how the brain manages to process faces, it will become possible to develop training programs to help people who experience difficulties with faces.