Mike Tintner wrote: >{I wonder whether the difference below *is* biological - due to narrower >eyes taking that little bit longer to process?]
Or there is a learned difference in the way Caucasians and Asians process visual information due to written language differences (a larger alphabet). Or there is a genetic difference, such as a broader fovea in Asians, or differences in the eye muscles resulting in a lower saccade rate. Or as the paper suggests, it is rude to stare at people in Asian cultures, so they learn to recognize faces without looking directly at the eyes. You can't tell from the paper, but perhaps you could conclude that for an AI, getting the low level features right is not critical for face recognition. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ---- From: Mike Tintner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: agi@v2.listbox.com Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 10:16:42 AM Subject: [agi] How We Look At Faces {I wonder whether the difference below *is* biological - due to narrower eyes taking that little bit longer to process?] Culture Shapes How We Look at Faces Caroline Blais1,2, Rachael E. Jack1, Christoph Scheepers1, Daniel Fiset1,2, Roberto Caldara1 1 Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2 Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada Abstract Background Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures. Source: PLoS One [Open Access] http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003022 ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?& Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=111637683-c8fa51 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com