Abstract
Recently, we showed that face identification ability is related to a systematic increase in the use of the eye area (Royer et al., 2018). One hypothesis that may explain these results is that individuals with higher ability better process the fine and complex perceptual information within the eye area and this, irrespective of the task. To investigate this, we asked 71 participants to perform both the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT; Duchaine & Nakayama, 2006) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). The CFMT measured face identification and face memory abilities, and the RMET measured the ability to infer mental states from subtle facial expressions in the eye region. No correlation was found between the two tests (r=-0.02, p=0.89). Since the RMET is an easy task and following the idea that individual differences in face processing could be explained by a better ability to extract subtle visual cues in the eye region, we divided the RMET in two according to the level of difficulty of each item (see Domes et al. 2007). Again, no correlation was found between the CFMT and the scores on the difficult items of the RMET (r=0.06, p=0.62). Many explanations are possible for this negative finding. It is indeed possible that face processing abilities are task specific i.e., do not generalize to other face-processing tasks such as the RMET. Another intriguing possibility is that the better utilization of the eyes in face identification comes from an attentional bias for this part of the face. Since only the eye area is visible in the RMET it is possible that this eliminates the difference between the individual with lower and higher abilities. More research will be needed to better understand the mechanisms associated with individual differences in face recognition.