ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

›› 2011, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (11): 1588-1594.

• 研究前沿 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Researches and Theories on Face Inversion Effect

WANG Hai-Ling;FU Shi-Min   

  1. Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 10084, China
  • Received:2011-04-20 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2011-11-15 Published:2011-11-15
  • Contact: FU Shi-Min

Abstract: Face inversion effect refers to the fact that the recognition is severely impaired for inverted relative to upright faces. The inversion effect is larger for faces relative to other objects, such as house. Several theoretical frameworks have been proposed to account for this face inversion effect, but the present review focused on two popular views, namely the configural processing hypothesis and the eye specificity hypothesis. The configural processing hypothesis posits that inverted faces impair the structural feature of faces and thus influence holistic processing. According to the eye specificity hypothesis, eyes play an important role in face processing, especially when faces are inverted. Evidences from ERP and fMRI studies are discussed. The importance of eyes and attention should be addressed in future studies.

Key words: face inversion effect, holistic processing, eyes, ERP, N170, fMRI