The Effect Of Holistic Processing On The Face Perception Of Changes In Face Information

The face is a multi-dimensionally complex stimulus.The human visual processing system has formed a special processing method for the face.This special processing method is the holistic processing,which makes humans have outstanding face recognition capabilities.The holistic processing of the face refers to the integration of various information on the face into a gestalt for perception.Moreover,as the face exposure experience increases,the holistic processing becomes stronger,and at the same time,the holistic processing of the eye area is stronger than that of the mouth area.Previously,this phenomenon was called "regional selectivity of holistic processing".Neuroelectrophysiological studies have also found that the N170 component of the occipital-temporal lobe region is related to the holistic processing of the face,and that N170 has greater amplitude to the eyes than the mouth.In face perception,people's perception of information change in the eye area is more sensitive than that in the mouth area.This phenomenon is called "regional selectivity of sensitivity to information change".Is this sensitivity of regional selectivity related to face-specific processing methods,that is holistic processing?In other words,will the holistic processing of the face not only improve the processing efficiency of faces,but also it will improve the processing sensitivity of faces?Answering this question helps us to understand the processing mechanism of face perception more deeply.In study 1,we used a constant stimulus method to measure the subject's perception sensitivity(difference threshold)of information changes in different areas(eyes and mouths)and different types(configural information and feature information),and we compared the effects of the different ways of presentation(upright and inverted)and changes(individual change and common change)on the difference threshold,to examine the impact of holistic processing on the sensitivity of face information changes perception.In study 2,while measuring the difference threshold,we also used the ERP technique to record the P1 component and N170 component of the occipital-temporal lobe region to investigate the neural mechanism of the information perception process.Study 1 investigated whether the holistic processing of face perception can promote the perception of information changes,including whether inverted presentation increases the threshold for differences in face information changes,and whether two types of information changes can reduce the difference threshold for any information change.It will also examine whether this effect is "region-specific",that is,it affects the eye area more than the mouth area.The results show that(1)When the information changes alone,compared to upright face,the inversion will increase the difference threshold of the mouth area configural information,but it will not affect the mouth area feature information,and the eye area information.(2)When the information changes alone,regardless of whether the face is upright or upside down,the difference threshold of the feature or configural information change of the eye area is lower than the mouth area.(3)In the upright face,the difference threshold of the participants' perception of the two types of information changes is lower than the perception of configural information change alone or the feature information change alone,that is,the co-variation promotion effect appears,and the effect in the eye area is stronger.(4)When presented upside down,there is no co-variation promotion effect in the eye area,and existing configural information co-variation promotion effect in the mouth area.Study 2 examined whether the promotion effect of holistic processing on the perception of information changes in behavioral experiments had corresponding performance in ERP research.The behavioral data from Study 2 replicate the results from Study 1.The ERP results show that,in the eye area,whether it is the P1 component or the N170 component,the co-variation of the two types of information and the change of the configural information alone behave the same,and they are different from the change of the feature information alone.In addition,on the amplitude of the P1 component,compared to upright face,the inversion does not affect the amplitude of the information change perception in the eye area,but increases the amplitude of the information change perception in the mouth area,and there is a covariation promotion effect of feature information change perception and configural information change perception in the mouth area in the upright face change promotion effect.In summary,the results of this study suggest that(1)holistic processing can improve people's sensitivity to changes in face information,and this improvement has "regional selectivity";(2)in addition to processing efficiency,face holistic processing has also improved the sensitivity of people's processing of faces;(3)P1 may participate in both the holistic processing and the processing of information change perception;it also suggests that the holistic processing can improve people's sensitivity to changes in facial information.