Abstract
The present study assessed the memory for the position of a feature in upright and inverted faces. Computer generated faces were presented to observers who then had to replicate the position of an eye on a face with no eyes. Prior to the first experimental trial, we gathered data on the prototypical location of an eye in the face. Observers were presented with both an upright face and an inverted face (counterbalanced for order) with the eyes removed and were asked to position the mouse cursor where they thought one of the eyes belonged within the face. Observers exhibited more precise prototypical eye position for upright faces than for inverted faces. Specifically, the distribution of errors was narrower for upright than inverted faces. In the second task, faces were presented and observers then had to replicate the position of an eye on a face with no eyes. It was found that the spatial memory was biased towards the prototype to a greater degree in upright faces than the inverted faces. The results extend the literature on category effects on spatial memory and provide insight into the processing of upright and inverted faces.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013