Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task
The composite face task is one of the most popular research paradigms for measuring holistic processing of upright faces. The exact mechanism underlying holistic processing remains elusive and controversial, and some studies have suggested that holistic processing may not be evenly distributed, in t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2016-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01506/full |
| _version_ | 1811259412907556864 |
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| author | Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Chao-Chih Wang Chao-Chih Wang |
| author_facet | Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Chao-Chih Wang Chao-Chih Wang |
| author_sort | Gary C.-W. Shyi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The composite face task is one of the most popular research paradigms for measuring holistic processing of upright faces. The exact mechanism underlying holistic processing remains elusive and controversial, and some studies have suggested that holistic processing may not be evenly distributed, in that the top-half of a face might induce stronger holistic processing than its bottom-half counterpart. In two experiments, we further examined the possibility of asymmetric holistic processing. Prior to Experiment 1, we confirmed that perceptual discriminability was equated between top and bottom face halves; we found no differences in performance between top and bottom face halves when they were presented individually. Then, in Experiment 1, using the composite face task with the complete design to reduce response bias, we failed to obtain evidence that would support the notion of asymmetric holistic processing between top and bottom face halves. To further reduce performance variability and to remove lingering holistic effects observed in the misaligned condition in Experiment 1, we doubled the number of trials and increased misalignment between top and bottom face halves to make misalignment more salient in Experiment 2. Even with these additional manipulations, we were unable to find evidence indicative of asymmetric holistic processing. Taken together, these findings suggest that holistic processing is distributed homogenously within an upright face. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:31:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a0ef7831d3c4c9080372ab66991bf9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:31:06Z |
| publishDate | 2016-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a0ef7831d3c4c9080372ab66991bf9c2022-12-22T03:21:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-10-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.01506156079Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite TaskGary C.-W. Shyi0Gary C.-W. Shyi1Gary C.-W. Shyi2Chao-Chih Wang3Chao-Chih Wang4Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng UniversityCenter for Research in Cognitive Science, National Chung UniversityAdvanced Institute of Manufacturing with High-tech Innovations (AIM-HI), Chung Cheng UniversityDepartment of Psychology, National Chung Cheng UniversityCenter for Research in Cognitive Science, National Chung UniversityThe composite face task is one of the most popular research paradigms for measuring holistic processing of upright faces. The exact mechanism underlying holistic processing remains elusive and controversial, and some studies have suggested that holistic processing may not be evenly distributed, in that the top-half of a face might induce stronger holistic processing than its bottom-half counterpart. In two experiments, we further examined the possibility of asymmetric holistic processing. Prior to Experiment 1, we confirmed that perceptual discriminability was equated between top and bottom face halves; we found no differences in performance between top and bottom face halves when they were presented individually. Then, in Experiment 1, using the composite face task with the complete design to reduce response bias, we failed to obtain evidence that would support the notion of asymmetric holistic processing between top and bottom face halves. To further reduce performance variability and to remove lingering holistic effects observed in the misaligned condition in Experiment 1, we doubled the number of trials and increased misalignment between top and bottom face halves to make misalignment more salient in Experiment 2. Even with these additional manipulations, we were unable to find evidence indicative of asymmetric holistic processing. Taken together, these findings suggest that holistic processing is distributed homogenously within an upright face.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01506/fullasymmetryface recognitionholistic processingcomposite taskCongruency effectperceptual field hypothesis |
| spellingShingle | Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Gary C.-W. Shyi Chao-Chih Wang Chao-Chih Wang Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task Frontiers in Psychology asymmetry face recognition holistic processing composite task Congruency effect perceptual field hypothesis |
| title | Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task |
| title_full | Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task |
| title_fullStr | Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task |
| title_short | Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task |
| title_sort | testing differential holistic processing within a face no evidence of asymmetry from the complete composite task |
| topic | asymmetry face recognition holistic processing composite task Congruency effect perceptual field hypothesis |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01506/full |
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