Research article summary (published 30 Jul 2006):

Is face distinctiveness gender based?

Full Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to study the role of gender category in evaluations of face distinctiveness. In Experiment 1, participants had to evaluate the distinctiveness and the femininity-masculinity of real or artificial composite faces. The composite faces were created by blending either faces of the same gender (sexed composite faces, approximating the sexed prototypes) or faces of both genders (nonsexed composite faces, approximating the face prototype). The results show that the distinctiveness ratings decreased as the number of blended faces increased. Distinctiveness and gender ratings did not covary for real faces or sexed composite faces, but they did vary for nonsexed composite faces. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to state which of two composite faces, one sexed and one nonsexed, was more distinctive. Sexed composite faces were selected less often. The results are interpreted as indicating that distinctiveness is based on sexed prototypes. Implications for face recognition models are discussed.((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

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Author information

Author/s: Baudouin, Jean-Yves (JY); Gallay, Mathieu (M);

Affiliation: Laboratoire Socio-Psychologie et Management du Sport, Universit de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. Jean-Yves.Baudouin(-atsign-)u-bourgogne.fr

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 32 (issue 4) : pp 789-98

Dates: Created 2006/07/18; Completed 2006/12/15;

PMID: 16846279, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Attention Discrimination Learning Face Female Humans Male

Male Mental Recall Pattern Recognition, Visual Psychophysics Reaction Time Sex Characteristics Stereotyping

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