A cognitive template for human face detection

TY - JOUR

T1 - A cognitive template for human face detection

AU - Prunty, Jonathan E.

AU - Jenkins, Rob

AU - Qarooni, Rana

AU - Bindemann, Markus

N1 - © 2024 The Authors

PY - 2024/8

Y1 - 2024/8

N2 - Faces are highly informative social stimuli, yet before any information can be accessed, the face must first be detected in the visual field. A detection template that serves this purpose must be able to accommodate the wide variety of face images we encounter, but how this generality could be achieved remains unknown. In this study, we investigate whether statistical averages of previously encountered faces can form the basis of a general face detection template. We provide converging evidence from a range of methods—human similarity judgements and PCA-based image analysis of face averages (Experiment 1–3), human detection behaviour for faces embedded in complex scenes (Experiment 4 and 5), and simulations with a template-matching algorithm (Experiment 6 and 7)—to examine the formation, stability and robustness of statistical image averages as cognitive templates for human face detection. We integrate these findings with existing knowledge of face identification, ensemble coding, and the development of face perception.

AB - Faces are highly informative social stimuli, yet before any information can be accessed, the face must first be detected in the visual field. A detection template that serves this purpose must be able to accommodate the wide variety of face images we encounter, but how this generality could be achieved remains unknown. In this study, we investigate whether statistical averages of previously encountered faces can form the basis of a general face detection template. We provide converging evidence from a range of methods—human similarity judgements and PCA-based image analysis of face averages (Experiment 1–3), human detection behaviour for faces embedded in complex scenes (Experiment 4 and 5), and simulations with a template-matching algorithm (Experiment 6 and 7)—to examine the formation, stability and robustness of statistical image averages as cognitive templates for human face detection. We integrate these findings with existing knowledge of face identification, ensemble coding, and the development of face perception.

KW - Averages

KW - Cognitive

KW - Detection

KW - Face

KW - Templates

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85193434440&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105792

DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105792

M3 - Article

C2 - 38763070

AN - SCOPUS:85193434440

SN - 0010-0277

VL - 249

JO - Cognition

JF - Cognition

M1 - 105792

ER -