Self-face recognition is characterized by “bilateral gain” and by faster, more accurate performance which persists when faces are inverted

Abstract

We examine interhemispheric cooperation in the recognition of personally known faces whose long-term familiarity ensures frequent co-activation of face-sensitive areas in the right and left brain. Images of self, friend, and stranger faces were presented for 150 ms in upright and inverted orientations both unilaterally, in the right or left visual field, and bilaterally. Consistent with previous research, we find a bilateral advantage for familiar but not for unfamiliar faces, and we demonstrate that this gain occurs for inverted as well as upright faces. We show that friend faces are recognized more quickly than unfamiliar faces in upright but not in inverted orientations, suggesting that configural processing underlies this particular advantage. Novel to this study is the finding that people are faster and more accurate at recognizing their own face over both stranger and friend faces and that these advantages occur for both upright and inverted faces. These findings are consistent with evidence for a bilateral representation of self-faces.

Keywords:

• Self-face recognition
• Configural processing
• Inversion
• Faces

Acknowledgments

Helen Keyes was supported by an Ad Astra Scholarship from University College Dublin.

Notes

¹ Here “configuration” refers to second-order spatial relations—the precise geometric arrangement of features within the face—rather than to first-order relations that describe the generic arrangement of the eyes, nose, and mouth.