Same-race faces are perceived more holistically than other-race faces
(2006) Visual Cognition — Vol. 14, n° 1, p. 55-73 (2006)
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- Abstract
- People are better at recognizing same-than other-race faces but the theoretical explanation of this phenomenon is still controversial. Here we tested the hypothesis that the "other-race effect'' is related to a reduced ability to encode configural information on other-race faces. Caucasian and Asian participants had to match whole faces to isolated facial features, or onto whole faces differing by a single feature, on both Caucasian and Asian faces. Participants performed better with whole faces as compared to isolated features, demonstrating a "holistic processing'' of faces (Tanaka & Farah, 1993). For Caucasian participants, this "whole/part advantage" was observed only for Caucasian faces. Asian participants who had been living for about a year among Caucasians had a comparable whole/part advantage regardless the race of the faces. These results indicate that same-race faces are processed more holistically than other-race faces, as a result of experience. However, despite processing Caucasian faces as holistically as Asian faces in this paradigm, Asian subjects still presented a large other-race effect. This observation suggests that holistic encoding may be a necessary step in order to be able to recognize other-race faces efficiently, but that it is by no means sufficient to overcome the other-race face effect.
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Michel, C., Caldara, R., & Rossion, B. (2006). Same-race faces are perceived more holistically than other-race faces. Visual Cognition, 14(1), 55-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280500158761 (Original work published 2006)