Alejandro J. Estudillo

Generalization across view in face memory and face matching

While a change in view is considered to be one of the most damaging manipulations for facial identification, this phenomenon has been measured traditionally with tasks that confound perceptual processes with recognition memory. This study explored facial identification with a pairwise matching task to determine whether view generalization is possible when memory factors are minimised. Experiment 1 showed that the detrimental view effect in recognition memory is attenuated in face matching. Moreover, analysis of individual differences revealed that some observers can identify faces across view with perfect accuracy. This was replicated in Experiment 2, which also showed that view generalization is unaffected when only the internal facial features are shown. These results indicate that the view effect in recognition memory does not arise from data limits, whereby faces contain insufficient visual information to allow identification across views. Instead, these findings point to resource limits, within observers, that hamper such person identification in recognition memory.

Masked transposition effects for simple versus complex nonalphanumeric objects

When two letters/digits/symbols are switched in a string (e.g., jugde–judge; 1492–1942; *?

Can gaze-contingent mirror-feedback from unfamiliar faces alter self-recognition?

&–*

Commentary: My face or yours? Event-related potential correlates of self-face processing

?&), the resulting strings are perceptually similar to each other and produce a sizable masked transposition priming effect with the masked priming same–different matching task. However, a parallel effect does not occur for strings of pseudoletters (e.g., ; García-Orza, Perea, & Muñoz, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 1603–1618, 2010). In the present study, we examined whether masked transposition priming is specific to alphanumeric stimuli or whether it also occurs with strings composed of other “objects”—namely, line drawings of common objects (Experiment 1) and geometrical shapes (Experiment 2). Results showed a significant masked transposition priming effect for geometrical shapes (e.g., ), but not for line drawings of common objects (e.g., ). These findings suggest that the mechanism involved in the coding of position in masked priming works only with perceptually simple, familiar “objects” (i.e., letters, numbers, symbols, or geometrical shapes), once their identities have been well ascertained.

Multisensory stimulation modulates perceptual and post perceptual face representations: Evidence from event-related potentials

This study focuses on learning of the self, by examining how human observers update internal representations of their own face. For this purpose, we present a novel gaze-contingent paradigm, in which an onscreen face mimics observers’ own eye-gaze behaviour (in the congruent condition), moves its eyes in different directions to that of the observers (incongruent condition), or remains static and unresponsive (neutral condition). Across three experiments, the mimicry of the onscreen face did not affect observers’ perceptual self-representations. However, this paradigm influenced observers’ reports of their own face. This effect was such that observers felt the onscreen face to be their own and that, if the onscreen gaze had moved on its own accord, observers expected their own eyes to move too. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Is place-value processing in four-digit numbers fully automatic? Yes, but not always

The own face is our most distinctive physical feature and the paramount representation of our own identity. In contrast to other pieces of self-related information, such as the own name, the own face is not shared with other people, and it is more strongly tied to self-awareness (e.g., Keenan et al., 2005). This makes the own face a unique piece of our physical identity and, therefore, the emblem of the self (McNeill, 1998). Behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging research have tried to unravel different aspects about the relevance of the own face (e.g., Tong and Nakayama, 1999; Brédart and Devue, 2006; Estudillo and Bindemann, 2016, 2017) and its different neural markers (Devue and Brédart, 2011).

La implicación de la memoria de trabajo en la resolución mental de problemas aritméticos: el caso de la discalculia

Seeing a face being touched in spatial and temporal synchrony with the own face produces a bias in self‐recognition, whereby the other face becomes more likely to be perceived as the self. The present study employed event‐related potentials to explore whether this enfacement effect reflects initial face encoding, enhanced distinctiveness of the enfaced face, modified self‐identity representations, or even later processing stages that are associated with the emotional processing of faces. Participants were stroked in synchrony or asynchrony with an unfamiliar face they observed on a monitor in front of them, in a situation approximating a mirror image. Subsequently, event‐related potentials were recorded during the presentation of (a) a previously synchronously stimulated face, (b) an asynchronously stimulated face, (c) observers’ own face, (d) filler faces, and (e) a to‐be‐detected target face, which required a response. Observers reported a consistent enfacement illusion after synchronous stimulation. Importantly, the synchronously stimulated face elicited more prominent N170 and P200 responses than the asynchronously stimulated face. By contrast, similar N250 and P300 responses were observed in these conditions. These results suggest that enfacement modulates early neural correlates of face encoding and facial prototypicality, rather than identity self‐representations and associated emotional processes.

Multisensory stimulation with other-race faces and the reduction of racial prejudice.

Knowing the place-value of digits in multi-digit numbers allows us to identify, understand and distinguish between numbers with the same digits (e.g., 1492 vs. 1942). Research using the size congruency task has shown that the place-value in a string of three zeros and a non-zero digit (e.g., 0090) is processed automatically. In the present study, we explored whether place-value is also automatically activated when more complex numbers (e.g., 2795) are presented. Twenty-five participants were exposed to pairs of four-digit numbers that differed regarding the position of some digits and their physical size. Participants had to decide which of the two numbers was presented in a larger font size. In the congruent condition, the number shown in a bigger font size was numerically larger. In the incongruent condition, the number shown in a smaller font size was numerically larger. Two types of numbers were employed: numbers composed of three zeros and one non-zero digit (e.g., 0040–0400) and numbers composed of four non-zero digits (e.g., 2795–2759). Results showed larger congruency effects in more distant pairs in both type of numbers. Interestingly, this effect was considerably stronger in the strings composed of zeros. These results indicate that place-value coding is partially automatic, as it depends on the perceptual and numerical properties of the numbers to be processed.

Facial Memory: The Role of the Pre-Existing Knowledge in Face Processing and Recognition

espanolPara resolver problemas aritmeticos, los humanos necesitamos tratar con diferentes piezas de informacion. Por esta razon, parece plausible que necesitemos de algun sistema capaz de procesar, retener y manipular dicha informacion. La memoria de trabajo es el sistema encargado de llevar a cabo estos procesos, por lo que podria estar implicado en la resolucion de operaciones aritmeticas. En este sentido, la investigacion empirica ha mostrado que los diferentes componentes de la memoria de trabajo (el ejecutivo central, el bucle fonologico, y la agenda visoespacial) juegan diferentes roles en el proceso de resolucion de problemas aritmeticos. Por otro lado, algunos investigadores sugieren que la discalculia evolutiva, la dificultad para llevar a cabo operaciones matematicas mas frecuente en la poblacion, se caracteriza por un deficit principal en la memoria de trabajo. Sin embargo, estos resultados no han sido siempre replicados. En este articulo se presenta una revision actualizada de la implicacion de la memoria de trabajo en la resolucion de operaciones aritmeticas. Como se vera, cada componente cumple con una funcion especifica en el proceso de resolucion de operaciones aritmeticas. Ademas, la evidencia en contra y apoyando un deficit principal en memoria de trabajo en pacientes con discalculia del desarrollo sera revisada. EnglishTo solve arithmetic problems, humans need to deal with several pieces of information. The working memory system actively stores and manipulates information. For this reason, it seems plausible that this system is involved in solving arithmetic problems. In fact, it has been shown that the different subcomponents of working memory (central executive, phonological loop and visual sketch-pad) play different roles in solving arithmetic problems. On the other hand, some research has shown that the most typical arithmetic disability, that is developmental dyscalculia, is characterized by a main deficit in working memory. However, these results have not been always obtained. In the present article the involvement of working memory in solving arithmetic operations is re-viewed. Moreover, the evidence supporting and against a main impairment in working memory in people with developmental dyscalculia will be discussed.