Face-space: A unifying concept in face recognition research

Abstract

The concept of a multidimensional psychological space, in which faces can be represented according to their perceived properties, is fundamental to the modern theorist in face processing. Yet the idea was not clearly expressed until 1991. The background that led to the development of face-space is explained, and its continuing influence on theories of face processing is discussed. Research that has explored the properties of the face-space and sought to understand caricature, including facial adaptation paradigms, is reviewed. Face-space as a theoretical framework for understanding the effect of ethnicity and the development of face recognition is evaluated. Finally, two applications of face-space in the forensic setting are discussed. From initially being presented as a model to explain distinctiveness, inversion, and the effect of ethnicity, face-space has become a central pillar in many aspects of face processing. It is currently being developed to help us understand adaptation effects with faces. While being in principle a simple concept, face-space has shaped, and continues to shape, our understanding of face perception.

Keywords:

• Face
• Recognition
• Caricature
• Adaptation
• Ethnicity

Notes

1 It has been common practice in the literature to use the term “race”. However, the correct term is “ethnicity”, because there is only one human subspecies (race) alive on the planet (Homo sapiens sapiens). Even if “race” is regarded as acceptable to refer to the major anthropological groups, it is incorrect (as is common in the literature) to use the term “race” to refer to ethnicities such as “Hispanic” who are, of course, Caucasian and therefore the same race as “Whites”.