@article{cote_eyes_2026,

title = {The eyes are central to face detection: revisiting the foundations of face processing},

author = {L. Côté and J. Lamontagne and A. Bellerose and C. Blais and D. Fiset},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105030389147&doi=10.1016%2Fj.visres.2026.108785&partnerID=40&md5=752aa5d9923ac60539e36118ad41e1e6},

doi = {10.1016/j.visres.2026.108785},

issn = {00426989 (ISSN)},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Vision Research},

volume = {243},

abstract = {Face detection feels effortless, yet it requires finely tuned computations to extract socially meaningful signals from the visual stream. Here, we used the Bubbles method to isolate the facial features and spatial frequency information that support face categorization. Across three experiments varying in task demands and visual context, the eye region consistently emerged as the most diagnostic source of information, particularly in high spatial frequencies. This finding held whether participants distinguished faces from noise, from non-face objects, or from real-world categories—suggesting that the eyes serve as an anchor point for categorization across contexts. Strikingly, this diagnostic profile mirrors that found in face identification tasks, implying that detection and recognition may rely on shared perceptual mechanisms rather than sequential, independent processes. This overlap sheds light on longstanding ambiguities in the prosopagnosia literature, indicating that detection impairments found in patients may stem from a broader failure to extract critical eye information. More broadly, our results invite a rethinking of the early stages of face processing, suggesting that detection already involves selective use of diagnostic facial features that supports recognition, emotional decoding, and social perception. © 2026 The Author(s).},

keywords = {adult, article, Black person, Bubbles, Categorization, Caucasian, Detection, emotion assessment, Faces, Facial Recognition, facies, female, human, human experiment, Image analysis, information processing, Information use, male, Noise, normal human, perception, Prosopagnosia, spatial frequency discrimination, task performance, visual discrimination, Young Adult},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{blais_conducting_2025,

title = {Conducting online visual psychophysics experiments: A replication assessment of two face processing studies},

author = {C. Blais and D. Fiset and L. Côté and V. Ledrou-Paquet and I. Charbonneau},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105004807446&doi=10.1016%2fj.visres.2025.108617&partnerID=40&md5=771b056e57c4d7a34ff7c56ce39a4bd2},

doi = {10.1016/j.visres.2025.108617},

issn = {00426989 (ISSN)},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Vision Research},

volume = {233},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {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)},

note = {Publisher: Elsevier Ltd},

keywords = {adult, article, cultural factor, experiment, Facial Recognition, female, geography, human, human experiment, Humans, information processing, laboratory, male, normal human, online system, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, procedures, psychology, Psychophysics, recognition, stimulus response, vision, visual stimulation, Young Adult},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{audette_part-based_2025,

title = {Part-based processing, but not holistic processing, predicts individual differences in face recognition abilities},

author = {P. -L. Audette and L. Côté and C. Blais and J. Duncan and F. Gingras and D. Fiset},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85213575434&doi=10.1016%2fj.cognition.2024.106057&partnerID=40&md5=135d2ba1bdf18648b57db0d3a93d0628},

doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2024.106057},

issn = {00100277 (ISSN)},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Cognition},

volume = {256},

publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},

abstract = {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},

note = {Publisher: Elsevier B.V.},

keywords = {Adolescent, adult, article, face perception, face recognition, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, Individual differences, Individuality, Integration efficiency, male, multiple linear regression analysis, physiology, psychology, Psychophysics, recognition, Young Adult},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{petrin_maternal_2024,

title = {Maternal childhood emotional abuse increases cardiovascular responses to children’s emotional facial expressions},

author = {R. Pétrin and A. Bérubé and É. St-Pierre and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85192637581&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0302782&partnerID=40&md5=c464b30fe7cc5b7b0baaf865fdf1f6de},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0302782},

issn = {19326203 (ISSN)},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {PLoS ONE},

volume = {19},

number = {5 May},

publisher = {Public Library of Science},

abstract = {Parents with a history of childhood maltreatment may be more likely to respond inadequately to their child’s emotional cues, such as crying or screaming, due to previous exposure to prolonged stress. While studies have investigated parents’ physiological reactions to their children’s vocal expressions of emotions, less attention has been given to their responses when perceiving children’s facial expressions of emotions. The present study aimed to determine if viewing facial expressions of emotions in children induces cardiovascular changes in mothers (hypo- or hyper-arousal) and whether these differ as a function of childhood maltreatment. A total of 104 mothers took part in this study. Their experiences of childhood maltreatment were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Participants’ electrocardiogram signals were recorded during a task in which they viewed a landscape video (baseline) and images of children’s faces expressing different intensities of emotion. Heart rate variability (HRV) was extracted from the recordings as an indicator of parasympathetic reactivity. Participants presented two profiles: one group of mothers had a decreased HRV when presented with images of children’s facial expressions of emotions, while the other group’s HRV increased. However, HRV change was not significantly different between the two groups. The interaction between HRV groups and the severity of maltreatment experienced was marginal. Results suggested that experiences of childhood emotional abuse were more common in mothers whose HRV increased during the task. Therefore, more severe childhood experiences of emotional abuse could be associated with mothers’ cardiovascular hyperreactivity. Maladaptive cardiovascular responses could have a ripple effect, influencing how mothers react to their children’s facial expressions of emotions. That reaction could affect the quality of their interaction with their child. Providing interventions that help parents regulate their physiological and behavioral responses to stress might be helpful, especially if they have experienced childhood maltreatment. © 2024 Public Library of Science. All rights reserved.},

note = {Publisher: Public Library of Science},

keywords = {adult, alcohol consumption, analysis of variance, article, blood pressure, cardiovascular response, Child, Child Abuse, Childhood, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, demographics, electrocardiogram, Electrocardiography, emotion, Emotional Abuse, Emotions, Ethnicity, Facial Expression, female, Heart Rate, heart rate variability, human, human experiment, Humans, Likert scale, male, mother, mother child relation, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers, parasympathetic tone, physical activity, physiology, post hoc analysis, psychology, questionnaire, sexual abuse, Surveys and Questionnaires},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{gingras_differences_2023,

title = {Differences in eye movements for face recognition between Canadian and Chinese participants are not modulated by social orientation},

author = {F. Gingras and A. Estéphan and D. Fiset and H. Lingnan and R. Caldara and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85179766751&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0295256&partnerID=40&md5=34499ca3a094ccf3937f07a1fb177c82},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0295256},

issn = {19326203 (ISSN)},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {PLoS ONE},

volume = {18},

number = {12 December},

publisher = {Public Library of Science},

abstract = {Face recognition strategies do not generalize across individuals. Many studies have reported robust cultural differences between West Europeans/North Americans and East Asians in eye movement strategies during face recognition. The social orientation hypothesis posits that individualistic vs. collectivistic (IND/COL) value systems, respectively defining West European/North American and East Asian societies, would be at the root of many cultural differences in visual perception. Whether social orientation is also responsible for such cultural contrast in face recognition remains to be clarified. To this aim, we conducted two experiments with West European/North American and Chinese observers. In Experiment 1, we probed the existence of a link between IND/COL social values and eye movements during face recognition, by using an IND/COL priming paradigm. In Experiment 2, we dissected the latter relationship in greater depth, by using two IND/COL questionnaires, including subdimensions to those concepts. In both studies, cultural differences in fixation patterns were revealed between West European/North American and East Asian observers. Priming IND/ COL values did not modulate eye movement visual sampling strategies, and only specific subdimensions of the IND/COL questionnaires were associated with distinct eye-movement patterns. Altogether, we show that the typical contrast between IND/COL cannot fully account for cultural differences in eye movement strategies for face recognition. Cultural differences in eye movements for faces might originate from mechanisms distinct from social orientation. © 2023 Gingras et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.},

note = {Publisher: Public Library of Science},

keywords = {adult, article, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Canadian, China, Chinese, clinical article, Diagnosis, East Asian, eye movement, Eye movements, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, male, North American, Orientation, questionnaire, social value, vision},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{banville_using_2023,

title = {Using Virtual Reality to Improve Nurses’ Students’ Clinical Surveillance in a Critical Care Context: A Psychological Perspective on Learning},

author = {F. Banville and D. Milhomme and A. Perron and J. Pinard and J. Houle and D. Therrien and G. Peguero-Rodriguez and S. Charette and B. -A. Ménélas and M. Trépanier and S. Bouchard},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85182468511&partnerID=40&md5=65f6f32f45ade940105c06386edd7a1c},

issn = {15548716},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Annual Review of CyberTherapy and Telemedicine},

volume = {21},

pages = {245–251},

publisher = {Interactive Media Institute},

abstract = {Nurse’s clinical judgement is important to provide optimal and safe care, particularly in a critical care unit. Clinical surveillance is an activity that nurses use every day and which requires crucial components to manage patients' risk of complications. To carry out this process, several cognitive functions and psychological attitudes are needed such as information and attention processing, judgement, decision-making, stress, and anxiety regulation. Since 2018, Milhomme, Banville et al. have been working to develop a Virtual Care Unit (VCU), using immersive virtual reality, intended to train future nurses to improve their competence towards clinical surveillance process skills. The aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to determine the pertinence to use VCU simulation with graduating nurses’ students to improve clinical surveillance skills in a critical care context. Thirteen nursing students were recruited to test the scenario through the VCU. Participants were instructed to carry surveillance process on a specific patient who suffer of an instability after a surgery. An interview guide of 11 questions was used for the data collection. The results show there are 10 facilitating and 9 restricting factors in the VCU that may play a role in nursing students’ learning clinical surveillance processes. Among these elements, four of them have an important link with a psychological perspective: 1) sense of presence; 2) cybersickness; 3) reflexive environment; 4) stress reduction. Results show an important contribution of several cognitive function in the clinical surveillance process learning by the virtual reality technology. © 2023, Interactive Media Institute. All rights reserved.},

note = {Publisher: Interactive Media Institute},

keywords = {article, clinical monitoring, cognition, controlled study, cybersickness, female, human, human experiment, intensive care, intensive care unit, interview, male, normal human, nursing student, psychological aspect, qualitative analysis, qualitative research, recovery room, skill, virtual reality},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{joudeh_prediction_2023,

title = {Prediction of Emotional States from Partial Facial Features for Virtual Reality Applications},

author = {I. O. Joudeh and A. -M. Cretu and S. Bouchard and S. Guimond},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85182471413&partnerID=40&md5=8190e0dbb5b48ae508515f4029b0a0d1},

doi = {10.3390/s23125613},

issn = {15548716},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Annual Review of CyberTherapy and Telemedicine},

volume = {21},

number = {12},

pages = {17–21},

publisher = {Interactive Media Institute},

abstract = {The availability of virtual reality (VR) in numerous clinical contexts has been made possible by recent technological advancements. One application is using VR for cognitive interventions with individuals who have mental disorders. Predicting the emotional states of users could help to prevent their discouragement during VR interventions. We can monitor the emotional states of individuals using sensors like an external camera, as they engage in various tasks within VR environments. The emotional state of VR users can be measured through arousal and valence, as per the Circumplex model. We used the Remote Collaborative and Affective Interactions (RECOLA) database of emotional behaviours. We processed video frames from 18 RECOLA videos. Due to the headset in VR systems, we detected faces and cropped the images of faces to use the lower half of the face only. We labeled the images with arousal and valence values to reflect various emotions. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs), specifically MobileNet-v2 and ResNets-18, were then used to predict arousal and valence values. MobileNet-v2 outperforms ResNet-18 as well as others from the literature. We achieved a root mean squared error (RMSE), Pearson’s correlation coefficient (PCC), and Concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.1495, 0.6387, and 0.6081 for arousal, and 0.0996, 0.6453, and 0.6232 for valence. Our work acts as a proof-of-concept for predicting emotional states from arousal and valence values via visual data of users immersed in VR experiences. In the future, predicted emotions could be used to automatically adjust the VR environment for individuals engaged in cognitive interventions. © 2023, Interactive Media Institute. All rights reserved.},

note = {Publisher: MDPI},

keywords = {Arousal, article, clinical article, convolutional neural network, correlation coefficient, data base, emotion, facies, female, human, human experiment, Image processing, long short term memory network, male, random forest, residual neural network, root mean squared error, videorecording, virtual reality},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{plouffe-demers_facial_2022,

title = {Facial Expression of Pain: Sex Differences in the Discrimination of Varying Intensities},

author = {M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and C. Saumure and D. Fiset and S. Cormier and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85138214204&doi=10.1037%2femo0001156&partnerID=40&md5=d5063c7ab05722c16694952ac5d53027},

doi = {10.1037/emo0001156},

issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Emotion},

volume = {23},

number = {5},

pages = {1254–1266},

publisher = {American Psychological Association},

abstract = {It has been proposed that women are better than men at recognizing emotions and pain experienced by others. They have also been shown to be more sensitive to variations in pain expressions. The objective of the present study was to explore the perceptual basis of these sexual differences by comparing the visual information used by men and women to discriminate between different intensities of pain facial expressions. Using the data-driven Bubbles method, we were able to corroborate the woman advantage in the discrimination of pain intensities that did not appear to be explained by variations in empathic tendencies. In terms of visual strategies, our results do not indicate any qualitative differences in the facial regions used by men and women. However, they suggest that women rely on larger regions of the face that seems to completely mediate their advantage. This utilization of larger clusters could indicate either that women integrate simultaneously and more efficiently information coming from different areas of the face or that they are more flexible in the utilization of the information present in these clusters. Women would then opt for a more holistic or flexible processing of the facial information, while men would rely on a specific yet rigid integration strategy. © 2022 American Psychological Association},

note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association},

keywords = {adult, article, controlled study, data-driven methods, effect size, Empathy, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, human, human experiment, information processing, male, normal human, Pain, pain intensity, qualitative research, sample size, sex difference, sex differences, vision, visual acuity, visual information, Visual Perception},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{leveille_effects_2022,

title = {Effects of Emotion and Emotional Ambiguity on Early Visual Event-Related Potentials},

author = {E. Léveillé and M. Desjardins and G. Dumel and C. Blais and D. Saint-Amour and P. Scherzer and L. De Beaumont},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85135853427&doi=10.1037%2femo0001119&partnerID=40&md5=7e89d6dee0b96766b8a359a3a9be4d73},

doi = {10.1037/emo0001119},

issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Emotion},

volume = {23},

number = {3},

pages = {787–804},

publisher = {American Psychological Association},

abstract = {The modulation of early sensory event-related potentials such as the P1, N1, and N170 by emotion and emotional ambiguity is still controversial. Some studies have found a modulation of one or all of these components by one or both of these factors, whereas others have failed to show such results. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of emotion and ambiguity on the behavioral and electrophysiological responses to a morphed emotion recognition task. Thirty-seven healthy participants (19 men) completed an emotion recognition task where photographs of a male face expressing the six basic emotions morphed with another emotion (in a proportion ranging from 26% to 74%) were randomly presented while electroencephalography was recorded. After each face presentation, participants were asked to identify the facial emotion. We found an emotional effect on the P1, N1, and N170, with greater amplitudes for some emotional facial expressions than for others. However, we found no significant emotional ambiguity effect or interaction between emotion and ambiguity for any of these components. These findings suggest that computation of emotional facial expressions (regardless of their ambiguity) occurs from the early stages of brain processing. © 2022 American Psychological Association},

note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association},

keywords = {adult, article, Brain, clinical article, controlled study, Electroencephalography, electroencephalography (EEG), emotion, emotional facial expression (EFE), event related potential, event-related potential (ERP), Facial Expression, female, human, human experiment, male, mass univariate statistics, photography, univariate analysis},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{monthuy-blanc_eloricorps_2020,

title = {“eLoriCorps Immersive Body Rating Scale”: Exploring the Assessment of Body Image Disturbances from Allocentric and Egocentric Perspectives},

author = {J. Monthuy-Blanc and S. Bouchard and M. Ouellet and G. Corno and S. Iceta and M. Rousseau},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85107195568&doi=10.3390%2fjcm9092926&partnerID=40&md5=ff9b98c6c2ee5dfd530d2c6ea9f39c85},

doi = {10.3390/jcm9092926},

issn = {20770383 (ISSN)},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine},

volume = {9},

number = {9},

pages = {1–18},

publisher = {MDPI},

abstract = {The first objective of this study was to test the convergent and discriminant validity between the “eLoriCorps Immersive Body Rating Scale” and the traditional paper-based figure rating scale (FRS). The second objective was to explore the contribution of the egocentric virtual reality (VR) perspective of eLoriCorps to understanding body image disturbances (BIDs). The sample consisted of 53 female and 13 male adults. Body size dissatisfaction, body size distortion, perceived body size, and ideal body size were assessed. Overall, outcomes showed good agreement between allocentric perspectives as measured via VR and the FRS. The egocentric VR perspective produced different results compared to both the allocentric VR perspective and the FRS. This difference revealed discriminant validity and suggested that eLoricorps’ egocentric VR perspective might assess something different from the traditional conception of body dissatisfaction, which an allocentric VR perspective generally assesses. Finally, the egocentric VR perspective in assessing BIDs deserves to be studied more extensively to explore the possibility of finding two types of body image distortion: (a) an egocentric perceptual body distortion, referring to internal body sensation affected by intra-individual changes, and (b) an allocentric perceptual body distortion, referring to external body benchmarks constructed by inter-individual comparison occurring in a given cultural context. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.},

note = {Publisher: MDPI},

keywords = {adult, article, Bodily feeling, body dissatisfaction, Body distortion, Body Size, clinical article, conception, controlled study, discriminant validity, female, human, human experiment, male, Perceptual component, rating scale, Sensation, State-and trait-BIDs, Validation, virtual reality},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}