The second session presented research looking at what happens in our brain when we constantly see faces that are insignificant to us and are quickly forgotten.
With repeated exposure to a face, a mental representation builds. Upon recognizing a face, the stored representation is activated and an N250 wave occurs 250ms after stimulus onset in the posterior channels of the brain
The researchers constructed a “Joe /No Joe” task to capture face recognition in the lab.
In the experiment, participants compare three “types” of faces, of which Joe’s is one type. Their prediction was that the N250 wave will be more emphasized for the Joe-type faces.
They found that the N250 wave indexes existing and acquired faces, and subsequently indexes Joe in experimental conditions, which lead them to ask the question: “would a non-individuated non-task-relevant but highly salient face elicit the same N250? What are the conditions necessary to elicit N250?” In this case, the enhanced N250 is not a result of Joe being distinctive, rather it comes from repeated experience of seeing Joe.
No comments:
Post a Comment