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Caroline Blais
Professor
Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology
Caroline Blais heads the Laboratoire de Perception Visuelle et Sociale at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, where she is also a full professor. His research focuses on the impact of socio-cultural factors on perceptual and cognitive functioning. She pays particular attention to the impact of the cultural environment in which a person has grown up on the visual processing of faces and the communication of affective signals. She also holds the Canada Research Chair in Cognitive and Social Vision (Level 1).
Productions included in the research:
AUT (Other), BRE (Patent), CAC (Refereed publications in conference proceedings), CNA (Non-refereed paper), COC (Contribution to a collective work), COF (Refereed paper), CRE, GRO, LIV (Book), RAC (Refereed journal), RAP (Research report), RSC (Non-refereed journal).
Year: 1975 to 2024
Selected publications
2025 |
Audette, P. -L.; Côté, L.; Blais, C.; Duncan, J.; Gingras, F.; Fiset, D. Part-based processing, but not holistic processing, predicts individual differences in face recognition abilities Journal Article In: Cognition, vol. 256, 2025, ISSN: 00100277 (ISSN), (Publisher: Elsevier B.V.). @article{audette_part-based_2025, This study aimed to assess the roles of part-based and holistic processing for face processing ability (FPA). A psychophysical paradigm in which the efficiency at recognizing isolated or combined facial parts was used (N = 64), and holistic processing was defined as the perceptual integration from multiple parts. FPA and object processing ability were measured using a battery of tasks. A multiple linear regression including three predictors, namely perceptual integration, part-based efficiency, and object processing, explained 40 % of the variance in FPA. Most importantly, our results reveal a strong predictive relationship between part-based efficiency and FPA, a small predictive relationship between object processing ability and FPA, and no predictive relationship between perceptual integration and FPA. This result was obtained despite considerable variance in perceptual integration skills–with some participants exhibiting a highly efficient integration. These results indicate that part-based processing plays a pivotal role in FPA, whereas holistic processing does not. © 2024 The Authors |
Blais, C.; Fiset, D.; Côté, L.; Ledrou-Paquet, V.; Charbonneau, I. Conducting online visual psychophysics experiments: A replication assessment of two face processing studies Journal Article In: Vision Research, vol. 233, 2025, ISSN: 00426989 (ISSN), (Publisher: Elsevier Ltd). @article{blais_conducting_2025, In vision sciences, researchers rigorously control the testing environment and the physical properties of stimuli, making it challenging to conduct visual perception experiments online. However, online research offers key advantages, including access to larger and more diverse participant samples, helping to address the problem of underpowered studies and to enhance the generalizability of results. In face recognition research, increasing diversity is essential, especially considering evidence that cultural and geographical factors influence basic visual face processing. The present study tested a new online platform, Pack & Go from VPixx Technologies, that supports experiments written in MATLAB and Python. Two face recognition experiments based on a data-driven psychophysical method involving real-time stimulus manipulation and relying on functions from the Psychtoolbox were tested. In Experiment 1, the visual information used for face recognition was compared across four conditions that gradually reduced experimental control over the testing environment and stimulus properties. In Experiment 2, the association between face recognition abilities and information utilization was measured online and compared to lab-based results. In both experiments, results obtained in the lab and online were highly similar, demonstrating the potential of online research for vision science. © 2025 The Author(s) |
Bérubé, A.; Pearson, J.; Blais, C.; Forget, H. In: Development and Psychopathology, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 281–291, 2025, ISSN: 09545794 (ISSN), (Publisher: Cambridge University Press). @article{berube_stress_2025, Our study proposes to examine how stress and emotion recognition interact with a history of maltreatment to influence sensitive parenting behaviors. A sample of 58 mothers and their children aged between 2 and 5 years old were recruited. Parents' history of maltreatment was measured using the Child Trauma Questionnaire. An emotion recognition task was performed. Mothers identified the dominant emotion in morphed facial emotion expressions in children. Mothers and children interacted for 15 minutes. Salivary cortisol levels of mothers were collected before and after the interaction. Maternal sensitive behaviors were coded during the interaction using the Coding Interactive Behavior scheme. Results indicate that the severity of childhood maltreatment is related to less sensitive behaviors for mothers with average to good abilities in emotion recognition and lower to average increases in cortisol levels following an interaction with their children. For mothers with higher cortisol levels, there is no association between a history of maltreatment and sensitive behaviors, indicating that higher stress reactivity could act as a protective factor. Our study highlights the complex interaction between individual characteristics and environmental factors when it comes to parenting. These results argue for targeted interventions that address personal trauma. © 2024 The Author(s). |
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