Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: The "distinctiveness effect" in face memory holds that distinctive faces are recognized better than typical faces, as reflected by higher hit rates and lower false alarm rates during recognition tasks.We propose that this effect is due to a systematic bias in the similarity relationships between target and distractor faces.Specifically, we claim that distinctive faces are recognized more successfully because they are on the whole more distinguishable from a set of distractor faces, but not because of any inherent advantage in the way we represent them in memory.To test this claim, we conduct two memory experiments using a low-dimensional parameterization of face space based on silhouetted face profiles (Davidenko, 2004).In Study 1, we conduct an old/new recognition task with face silhouettes to replicate the classic distinctiveness effect.In Study 2, we construct a set of face stimuli that eliminates the asymmetry of target-distractor distances between typical and distinctive faces.Under these conditions, distinctive faces lose their recognition advantage and actually produce poorer performance than typical faces.We discuss possible causes of this "typicality effect" in terms of perceptual learning.
Authors: Nicolas Davidenko, Michael Ramscar
Institution: Stanford University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W2591144790