Changing faces: Direction is important

Citation

Ross DA, Hancock PJB & Lewis MB (2010) Changing faces: Direction is important. Visual Cognition, 18 (1), pp. 67-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280802536656

Abstract
Recent research has provided evidence for the role of norm-based coding in face recognition (e.g. Leopold et al., 2001). In such a model, any given face can be represented by a vector from the norm, with the difference between two faces being the difference between the two vectors. However, as has previously been suggested it is also possible to conceive of a model in which the angle between two vectors provides relevant information for differentiating faces. Two experiments investigated this possibility using a face matching paradigm. Discrimination was found to be better when two faces lay on different vectors than when they were the same physical distance apart but lying on the same vector. The results favour a specific type of norm-based model suggesting that vector angle is important in face perception.

Keywords
face coding; norm-based coding; face matching; Face Anatomy; Face Physiology; Morphology

Journal
Visual Cognition: Volume 18, Issue 1

People

Professor Peter Hancock

Professor, Psychology