Holistic processing for left–right composite faces in Chinese and Caucasian observers

Tina T. LIU; William G. HAYWARD; Matt OXNER; Marlene BEHRMANN

doi:10.1080/13506285.2014.944613

Holistic processing for left–right composite faces in Chinese and Caucasian observers

Tina T. LIU, William G. HAYWARD, Matt OXNER, Marlene BEHRMANN^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In Caucasian individuals, holistic processing and face recognition is lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas part-based processing and word recognition is lateralized to the left hemisphere. Whether this hemispheric complementarity holds more generally is unclear. We compare the hemispheric basis of holistic processing of faces in Caucasian and Chinese observers (who, as readers of logographic script, may have different hemispheric organization). Participants made same/different judgements about the left/right halves of two sequentially presented composite faces (comprised of the left half of one face and the right half of another face) when the halves were aligned or were misaligned. There was a larger congruency effect for aligned than misaligned faces, reflecting significant holistic processing, and this was equivalent for face halves judged in the right and left visual fields and for Caucasian and Chinese observers. This same result was replicated in a second study with Caucasian observers, in which we presented the cue simultaneous with the study face, rather than simultaneous with the test face. These findings reflect equal participation of both hemispheres in holistic face perception and suggest that orthographic experience does not necessarily affect the hemispheric basis of holistic processing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1050-1071
Number of pages	22
Journal	Visual Cognition
Volume	22
Issue number	8
Early online date	27 Aug 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2014.944613
Publication status	Published - 2014
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Please address all correspondence to Marlene Behrmann, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. E-mail: [email protected] research was supported by the National Science Foundation to MB and DP [grant number BCS0923763], Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center [grant number SBE0542013; G. Cottrell: Co-PI: M. Behrmann], and Hong Kong Research Grants Council [grant number HKU744512H] to WGH; and Ungerleider Carnegie Prize Fellowship to TTL. The authors thank Jim Tanaka for providing the stimuli used to create the composite faces and Ryan Egan for processing the Caucasian face stimuli and helping with data collection.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Taylor & Francis.

Keywords

Composite face effect
Face lateralization
Holistic processing
Lateralization of language processing
Other race effect

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10.1080/13506285.2014.944613

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title = "Holistic processing for left–right composite faces in Chinese and Caucasian observers",

abstract = "In Caucasian individuals, holistic processing and face recognition is lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas part-based processing and word recognition is lateralized to the left hemisphere. Whether this hemispheric complementarity holds more generally is unclear. We compare the hemispheric basis of holistic processing of faces in Caucasian and Chinese observers (who, as readers of logographic script, may have different hemispheric organization). Participants made same/different judgements about the left/right halves of two sequentially presented composite faces (comprised of the left half of one face and the right half of another face) when the halves were aligned or were misaligned. There was a larger congruency effect for aligned than misaligned faces, reflecting significant holistic processing, and this was equivalent for face halves judged in the right and left visual fields and for Caucasian and Chinese observers. This same result was replicated in a second study with Caucasian observers, in which we presented the cue simultaneous with the study face, rather than simultaneous with the test face. These findings reflect equal participation of both hemispheres in holistic face perception and suggest that orthographic experience does not necessarily affect the hemispheric basis of holistic processing.",

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author = "LIU, {Tina T.} and HAYWARD, {William G.} and Matt OXNER and Marlene BEHRMANN",

note = "Funding Information: Please address all correspondence to Marlene Behrmann, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. E-mail: [email protected] research was supported by the National Science Foundation to MB and DP [grant number BCS0923763], Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center [grant number SBE0542013; G. Cottrell: Co-PI: M. Behrmann], and Hong Kong Research Grants Council [grant number HKU744512H] to WGH; and Ungerleider Carnegie Prize Fellowship to TTL. The authors thank Jim Tanaka for providing the stimuli used to create the composite faces and Ryan Egan for processing the Caucasian face stimuli and helping with data collection. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014, Taylor & Francis.",

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AU - LIU, Tina T.

AU - HAYWARD, William G.

AU - OXNER, Matt

AU - BEHRMANN, Marlene

N1 - Funding Information: Please address all correspondence to Marlene Behrmann, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. E-mail: [email protected] research was supported by the National Science Foundation to MB and DP [grant number BCS0923763], Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center [grant number SBE0542013; G. Cottrell: Co-PI: M. Behrmann], and Hong Kong Research Grants Council [grant number HKU744512H] to WGH; and Ungerleider Carnegie Prize Fellowship to TTL. The authors thank Jim Tanaka for providing the stimuli used to create the composite faces and Ryan Egan for processing the Caucasian face stimuli and helping with data collection. Publisher Copyright: © 2014, Taylor & Francis.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - In Caucasian individuals, holistic processing and face recognition is lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas part-based processing and word recognition is lateralized to the left hemisphere. Whether this hemispheric complementarity holds more generally is unclear. We compare the hemispheric basis of holistic processing of faces in Caucasian and Chinese observers (who, as readers of logographic script, may have different hemispheric organization). Participants made same/different judgements about the left/right halves of two sequentially presented composite faces (comprised of the left half of one face and the right half of another face) when the halves were aligned or were misaligned. There was a larger congruency effect for aligned than misaligned faces, reflecting significant holistic processing, and this was equivalent for face halves judged in the right and left visual fields and for Caucasian and Chinese observers. This same result was replicated in a second study with Caucasian observers, in which we presented the cue simultaneous with the study face, rather than simultaneous with the test face. These findings reflect equal participation of both hemispheres in holistic face perception and suggest that orthographic experience does not necessarily affect the hemispheric basis of holistic processing.

AB - In Caucasian individuals, holistic processing and face recognition is lateralized to the right hemisphere, whereas part-based processing and word recognition is lateralized to the left hemisphere. Whether this hemispheric complementarity holds more generally is unclear. We compare the hemispheric basis of holistic processing of faces in Caucasian and Chinese observers (who, as readers of logographic script, may have different hemispheric organization). Participants made same/different judgements about the left/right halves of two sequentially presented composite faces (comprised of the left half of one face and the right half of another face) when the halves were aligned or were misaligned. There was a larger congruency effect for aligned than misaligned faces, reflecting significant holistic processing, and this was equivalent for face halves judged in the right and left visual fields and for Caucasian and Chinese observers. This same result was replicated in a second study with Caucasian observers, in which we presented the cue simultaneous with the study face, rather than simultaneous with the test face. These findings reflect equal participation of both hemispheres in holistic face perception and suggest that orthographic experience does not necessarily affect the hemispheric basis of holistic processing.

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KW - Holistic processing

KW - Lateralization of language processing

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JF - Visual Cognition

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Holistic processing for left–right composite faces in Chinese and Caucasian observers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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