The Development of Information Biases for Face Recognition

North Dakota State University Fargo, Fargo ND

Investigators

Abstract

Face recognition is critically important for social interaction, and adults are experts at quickly and accurately detecting faces and recognizing the people around them. This involves special strategies for processing visual information about faces that are not used to recognize other objects. For example, horizontal edges are more useful for recognizing faces than vertical edges. Children are still developing expertise for face recognition, and therefore may not use the same strategies or information as adults. To date, most descriptions of how children process faces are underspecified. The goal of this research is to determine how children learn to use specific types of visual information by investigating how particular features contribute to face recognition at different ages between 4 and 10 years. Dr. Balas will compare face recognition in children and adults by asking participants from both groups to discriminate faces from other objects when specific visual information has been removed or disrupted. In some tasks, participants will arrange facial features (eyes, nose and mouth) inside a face pattern so Dr. Balas can assess how children's understanding of facial geometry develops. Other participants will complete tasks that require them to quickly label images as faces or non-faces, in some cases while Dr. Balas records the electrical activity of their brains using electroencephalography (EEG). This research will help us understand how the machinery for visual recognition develops during childhood, and will improve our ability to characterize deficits in visual social perception. As part of the educational and outreach goals of this proposal, Dr. Balas will mentor high school students through North Dakota's Governor's School program and will also participate in the NSF-funded NATURE program at NDSU. This program is designed to introduce Native American students to research, and involves working closely with local students and faculty from the Tribal College system. Dr. Balas will also share the goals and results of his research with educators and children at local day-care centers and schools.