PSY 162 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Humphrey Ocean, Fairy
What Makes A Face Recognizable?
● So when we see a face several different cells will fire to tell us how that face is unique
What Makes An Expression Recognizable…
● Similarly -
○ Similar facial expression are located near one another
■ In the STS
○ So we are coding expression based on how an emotion differs from the average
configuration of faces
What Does It Mean to Have A Module
● We evolved a specialized region for processing specialized information
○ The visual system- is one example of a module
○ Wer have modules for recognizing faces,bodies, places, animals & tools
○ A second hypothesis is that we develop these in response to experience
■ The exact same way - all over the world
What Is The Advantage of A Module
● Neurons inhibit each other locally
○ Excitation travels a distance
○ Having clusters of neurons all processing the same category of objects →
■ Neurons can inhibit one another
■ Neurons can code fine “within-category” differences
■ Better able to discriminate 2 people this way
The Inverted Face Effect
● You can tell the one on the left looks weird but…
○ When you turn it upside down -WHOH?
○ This is because when the fae is upside down -
■ We don’t process it the same way
■ Images that fit the criterion of being a “fae” activate the module
■ When a face is upside down - it is processed by a courser object
recognition system
The Job of An Artist
● Might be to force our brain to process information differently
○ This causes you to see it in a way you hadn’t before...
But Faces Are More Than Just An Object
● They are pretty critical
○ Do you know them
○ How are they feeling
○ How “able” are they (are they young/old)
● We understand not just that a face is different-
○ But these differences are meaningful
So What Is Going On In the Artist’s Brain?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Similar facial expression are located near one another. So when we see a face several different cells will fire to tell us how that face is unique. So we are coding expression based on how an emotion differs from the average configuration of faces. What does it mean to have a module. We evolved a specialized region for processing specialized information. The visual system- is one example of a module. Wer have modules for recognizing faces,bodies, places, animals & tools. A second hypothesis is that we develop these in response to experience. The exact same way - all over the world. Having clusters of neurons all processing the same category of objects . Better able to discriminate 2 people this way. You can tell the one on the left looks weird but . This is because when the fae is upside down - We don"t process it the same way.