Impact of the visual and sociocultural environment on the processing of low-level visual information during face perception

长期以来，人们一直认为面部感知依赖于普遍的视觉过程。相反，在过去的几年里，我已经证明，高层次的力量，如文化，可能会影响机制，影响程度甚至深到初级视觉皮层中处理最基本的视觉信息的机制。视觉策略的差异也可以观察到内文化，从而进一步支持这样的想法，为了了解涉及的过程中的面孔知觉，更普遍的视觉知觉，研究需要调查的多样性，个人和群体的个人发展的战略。从这个意义上说，拟议研究的长期目标是通过考虑环境（例如身体、文化）和个人（例如）可能影响面部感知的方式，促进对面部感知的全面了解。能力）差异。* 本研究计划的目标1和2旨在广泛比较两种文化（西方人和东方人）在面部处理过程中对低水平（空间频率，方向）视觉信息的利用，并研究大脑中这种信息利用的时间过程。此外，最近的研究表明，识别人脸的能力与处理水平信息以及眼睛区域传达的信息的效率有关。由于先前的工作已经表明，面部处理的视觉策略因文化而异，因此“最佳”视觉策略也可能因群体而异。因此，本研究的第三个目的是验证面孔加工中的文化内个体差异是否与文化相互作用。最后，本研究计划的第四个目标是探索跨文化群体观察到的差异的潜在解释。事实上，许多人认为，存在专门的机制，面对处理，提高的可能性，不同文化之间产生不同的视觉策略的力量可能是不一样的脸和非脸的对象。然而，到目前为止，已经提出的两个主要理论来解释视觉感知的文化差异还没有在面孔感知的背景下进行评估。* 该研究计划是高度跨学科的，包括视觉，面部感知，文化心理学和神经科学领域。新的心理物理学方法和脑电图的组合将被使用。拟议的研究计划提供的新知识可能会影响我们研究视觉和面部感知的方式。此外，了解所观察到的差异的驱动力将进一步加深我们对面部感知的视觉过程的普遍性与文化特异性的认识，这是视觉领域的一个中心问题。**

Face perception has long been assumed to rely on universal visual processes. In the past few years, I have shown that, on the contrary, high-level forces, such as culture, may influence mechanisms as deep as those involved in the processing of the most basic kind of visual information processed in the primary visual cortex. Differences in visual strategies may also be observed within-culture, supporting thus further the idea that in order to understand the processes involved in face perception, and visual perception more generally, studies need to investigate the diversity of strategies developed across individuals and groups of individuals. In this sense, the long-term goal of the proposed research is to contribute to the development of a comprehensive understanding of face perception by taking into account the ways in which it may be influenced by environmental (e.g. physical, cultural) and individual (e.g. ability) differences. ***Objectives 1 and 2 of this research program aim at extensively comparing the utilization of low-level (spatial frequencies, orientations) visual information during face processing across two cultures (Westerners and Easterners), and at studying the time course of this information utilization in the brain. Furthermore, recent work has shown that the ability to recognize faces is related to the efficiency at processing horizontal information as well as the information conveyed by the eye area. Since previous work has demonstrated that the visual strategies underlying face processing vary from one culture to another, the “optimal” visual strategy may also differ across groups. Thus, the third objective of the present research program is to verify if within-culture individual differences in face processing interact with culture. Finally, the fourth objective of the present research program is to explore potential explanations for the differences observed across cultural groups. In fact, many argue for the existence of specialized mechanisms for face processing, raising the possibility that the forces that engender different visual strategies between cultures may not be the same for face and non-face objects. So far, however, the two main theories that have been proposed to explain cultural variations in visual perception have not been assessed in the context of face perception. ***This research program is highly interdisciplinary, encompassing the fields of vision, face perception, cultural psychology, and neuroscience. A combination of novel psychophysical methods and electroencephalography will be used. The new knowledge provided by the proposed research program may potentially shape the way we study visual and face perception. Moreover, understanding the driving forces of the differences observed will further our knowledge of the universality vs. cultural specificity of the visual processes underlying face perception, a central question in the field of vision. **