

de Recherche et d’Innovation
en Cybersécurité et Société
Gingras, F.; Fiset, D.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; N’Guiamba, M.; Sun, D.; Zhang, Y.; Blais, C.
Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli Journal Article
In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2026, ISSN: 10699384 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult
@article{gingras_cultural_2026,
title = {Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli},
author = {F. Gingras and D. Fiset and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and M. N’Guiamba and D. Sun and Y. Zhang and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105025378146&doi=10.3758%2Fs13423-025-02832-0&partnerID=40&md5=43840b8cfa4c2df54e647f03a452f8e5},
doi = {10.3758/s13423-025-02832-0},
issn = {10699384 (ISSN)},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin and Review},
volume = {33},
number = {1},
abstract = {Previous research has identified cultural differences in visual perception, where East Asians focus more on global object structure and display a larger breadth of attention compared with Westerners. East Asians rely on lower spatial frequencies (SFs) compared to Westerners for face recognition, which may be linked to this. Investigating whether such differences extend to other high-level stimulus categories would clarify if SF tuning differences reflect more general or face specific cognitive processes. The present study compared the SF tunings of Canadians and Chinese during object (Exp. 1; N = 50) and scene (Exp. 3; N = 47) categorization. In both experiments, results did not indicate a significant difference between groups. In Experiment 3 (N = 128), we conducted an online replication of Experiment 1 while measuring the SF tunings of the same participants during face perception. Again, no significant difference between the groups was found during object categorization, but the finding that East Asians rely on lower SF than Westerners was replicated. Together, these results suggest that unique mechanisms may underlie the cultural differences in face processing, though alternative explanations, such as the feature consistency of faces, could also account for these findings. © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2025.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gingras, F.; Fiset, D.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; N’Guiamba, M.; Sun, D.; Zhang, Y.; Blais, C.
Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli Journal Article
In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2026, ISSN: 10699384 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult
@article{gingrasCulturalDifferencesSpatial2026,
title = {Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli},
author = {F. Gingras and D. Fiset and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and M. N’Guiamba and D. Sun and Y. Zhang and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025378146?origin=resultslist},
doi = {10.3758/s13423-025-02832-0},
issn = {10699384 (ISSN)},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin and Review},
volume = {33},
number = {1},
publisher = {Springer},
abstract = {Previous research has identified cultural differences in visual perception, where East Asians focus more on global object structure and display a larger breadth of attention compared with Westerners. East Asians rely on lower spatial frequencies (SFs) compared to Westerners for face recognition, which may be linked to this. Investigating whether such differences extend to other high-level stimulus categories would clarify if SF tuning differences reflect more general or face specific cognitive processes. The present study compared the SF tunings of Canadians and Chinese during object (Exp. 1; N = 50) and scene (Exp. 3; N = 47) categorization. In both experiments, results did not indicate a significant difference between groups. In Experiment 3 (N = 128), we conducted an online replication of Experiment 1 while measuring the SF tunings of the same participants during face perception. Again, no significant difference between the groups was found during object categorization, but the finding that East Asians rely on lower SF than Westerners was replicated. Together, these results suggest that unique mechanisms may underlie the cultural differences in face processing, though alternative explanations, such as the feature consistency of faces, could also account for these findings. © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2025.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Côté, L.; Lamontagne, J.; Bellerose, A.; Blais, C.; Fiset, D.
The eyes are central to face detection: revisiting the foundations of face processing Journal Article
In: Vision Research, vol. 243, 2026, ISSN: 00426989 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, article, Black person, Bubbles, Categorization, Caucasian, Detection, emotion assessment, Eye, Face, Faces, Facial Recognition, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, Image analysis, information processing, Information use, male, Noise, normal human, Pattern Recognition, perception, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, procedures, Prosopagnosia, psychology, recognition, Social Perception, spatial frequency discrimination, task performance, Visual, visual discrimination, visual pattern recognition, Young Adult
@article{coteEyesAreCentral2026,
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/pages/publications/105030389147?origin=resultslist},
doi = {10.1016/j.visres.2026.108785},
issn = {00426989 (ISSN)},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
journal = {Vision Research},
volume = {243},
publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},
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, Eye, Face, Faces, Facial Recognition, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, Image analysis, information processing, Information use, male, Noise, normal human, Pattern Recognition, perception, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, procedures, Prosopagnosia, psychology, recognition, Social Perception, spatial frequency discrimination, task performance, Visual, visual discrimination, visual pattern recognition, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gingras, F.; Fiset, D.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; N’Guiamba, M.; Sun, D.; Zhang, Y.; Blais, C.
Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli Journal Article
In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2026, ISSN: 10699384 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult
@article{gingrasCulturalDifferencesSpatial2026a,
title = {Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli},
author = {F. Gingras and D. Fiset and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and M. N’Guiamba and D. Sun and Y. Zhang and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105025378146&doi=10.3758%2Fs13423-025-02832-0&partnerID=40&md5=43840b8cfa4c2df54e647f03a452f8e5},
doi = {10.3758/s13423-025-02832-0},
issn = {10699384 (ISSN)},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin and Review},
volume = {33},
number = {1},
abstract = {Previous research has identified cultural differences in visual perception, where East Asians focus more on global object structure and display a larger breadth of attention compared with Westerners. East Asians rely on lower spatial frequencies (SFs) compared to Westerners for face recognition, which may be linked to this. Investigating whether such differences extend to other high-level stimulus categories would clarify if SF tuning differences reflect more general or face specific cognitive processes. The present study compared the SF tunings of Canadians and Chinese during object (Exp. 1; N = 50) and scene (Exp. 3; N = 47) categorization. In both experiments, results did not indicate a significant difference between groups. In Experiment 3 (N = 128), we conducted an online replication of Experiment 1 while measuring the SF tunings of the same participants during face perception. Again, no significant difference between the groups was found during object categorization, but the finding that East Asians rely on lower SF than Westerners was replicated. Together, these results suggest that unique mechanisms may underlie the cultural differences in face processing, though alternative explanations, such as the feature consistency of faces, could also account for these findings. © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2025.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gingras, F.; Fiset, D.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; N’Guiamba, M.; Sun, D.; Zhang, Y.; Blais, C.
Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli Journal Article
In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2026, ISSN: 10699384 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult
@article{gingrasCulturalDifferencesSpatial2026b,
title = {Cultural differences in spatial frequency tunings to faces do not generalize to visual scenes and object stimuli},
author = {F. Gingras and D. Fiset and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and M. N’Guiamba and D. Sun and Y. Zhang and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105025378146&doi=10.3758%2Fs13423-025-02832-0&partnerID=40&md5=43840b8cfa4c2df54e647f03a452f8e5},
doi = {10.3758/s13423-025-02832-0},
issn = {10699384 (ISSN)},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin and Review},
volume = {33},
number = {1},
abstract = {Previous research has identified cultural differences in visual perception, where East Asians focus more on global object structure and display a larger breadth of attention compared with Westerners. East Asians rely on lower spatial frequencies (SFs) compared to Westerners for face recognition, which may be linked to this. Investigating whether such differences extend to other high-level stimulus categories would clarify if SF tuning differences reflect more general or face specific cognitive processes. The present study compared the SF tunings of Canadians and Chinese during object (Exp. 1; N = 50) and scene (Exp. 3; N = 47) categorization. In both experiments, results did not indicate a significant difference between groups. In Experiment 3 (N = 128), we conducted an online replication of Experiment 1 while measuring the SF tunings of the same participants during face perception. Again, no significant difference between the groups was found during object categorization, but the finding that East Asians rely on lower SF than Westerners was replicated. Together, these results suggest that unique mechanisms may underlie the cultural differences in face processing, though alternative explanations, such as the feature consistency of faces, could also account for these findings. © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2025.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, Asian, Asian People, Canada, Caucasian, China, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cross-cultural psychology, cultural factor, Depth Perception, Face processing, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, male, Object processing, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Scene processing, Space Perception, Spatial frequencies, Visual, visual pattern recognition, Visual Perception, White People, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Charbonneau, I.; Guérette, J.; Cormier, S.; Blais, C.; Lalonde-Beaudoin, G.; Smith, F. W.; Fiset, D.
The role of spatial frequencies for facial pain categorization Journal Article
In: Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, 2021, ISSN: 20452322, (Publisher: Nature Research).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, Classification, Distance Perception, emotion, Emotions, Face, face pain, Facial Expression, Facial Pain, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, Knowledge, male, Normal Distribution, Pattern Recognition, procedures, psychology, Psychophysics, recognition, reproducibility, Reproducibility of Results, Visual, Young Adult
@article{charbonneau_role_2021,
title = {The role of spatial frequencies for facial pain categorization},
author = {I. Charbonneau and J. Guérette and S. Cormier and C. Blais and G. Lalonde-Beaudoin and F. W. Smith and D. Fiset},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85111138273&doi=10.1038%2fs41598-021-93776-7&partnerID=40&md5=d759d0218de65fce371bb51d7f2593d8},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-93776-7},
issn = {20452322},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
publisher = {Nature Research},
abstract = {Studies on low-level visual information underlying pain categorization have led to inconsistent findings. Some show an advantage for low spatial frequency information (SFs) and others a preponderance of mid SFs. This study aims to clarify this gap in knowledge since these results have different theoretical and practical implications, such as how far away an observer can be in order to categorize pain. This study addresses this question by using two complementary methods: a data-driven method without a priori expectations about the most useful SFs for pain recognition and a more ecological method that simulates the distance of stimuli presentation. We reveal a broad range of important SFs for pain recognition starting from low to relatively high SFs and showed that performance is optimal in a short to medium distance (1.2–4.8 m) but declines significantly when mid SFs are no longer available. This study reconciles previous results that show an advantage of LSFs over HSFs when using arbitrary cutoffs, but above all reveal the prominent role of mid-SFs for pain recognition across two complementary experimental tasks. © 2021, The Author(s).},
note = {Publisher: Nature Research},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, Classification, Distance Perception, emotion, Emotions, Face, face pain, Facial Expression, Facial Pain, Facial Recognition, female, human, Humans, Knowledge, male, Normal Distribution, Pattern Recognition, procedures, psychology, Psychophysics, recognition, reproducibility, Reproducibility of Results, Visual, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Saumure, C.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; Fiset, D.; Blais, C.
The use of visual information in the recognition of posed and spontaneous facial expressions Journal Article
In: Journal of Vision, vol. 18, no. 9, pp. 1–15, 2018, ISSN: 15347362, (Publisher: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: association, Cues, emotion, Emotions, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, happiness, human, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Visual, Young Adult
@article{saumure_use_2018,
title = {The use of visual information in the recognition of posed and spontaneous facial expressions},
author = {C. Saumure and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and D. Fiset and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85054591286&doi=10.1167%2f18.9.21&partnerID=40&md5=9d2396b70438842c089a36f6a499f734},
doi = {10.1167/18.9.21},
issn = {15347362},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Vision},
volume = {18},
number = {9},
pages = {1–15},
publisher = {Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc.},
abstract = {Recognizing facial expressions is crucial for the success of social interactions, and the visual processes underlying this ability have been the subject of many studies in the field of face perception. Nevertheless, the stimuli used in the majority of these studies consist of facial expressions that were produced on request rather than spontaneously induced. In the present study, we directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of posed and spontaneous expressions of happiness, disgust, surprise, and sadness. We used the Bubbles method with pictures of the same individuals spontaneously expressing an emotion or posing with an expression on request. Two key findings were obtained: Visual strategies were less systematic with spontaneous than with posed expressions, suggesting a higher heterogeneity in the useful facial cues across identities; and with spontaneous expressions, the relative reliance on the mouth and eyes areas was more evenly distributed, contrasting with the higher reliance on the mouth compared to the eyes area observed with posed expressions. © 2018 The Authors.},
note = {Publisher: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc.},
keywords = {association, Cues, emotion, Emotions, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, happiness, human, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Visual, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Estéphan, A.; Fiset, D.; Saumure, C.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, D.; Blais, C.
Time course of cultural differences in spatial frequency use for face identification Journal Article
In: Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018, ISSN: 20452322, (Publisher: Nature Publishing Group).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, article, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, attention, Canada, Caucasian, European Continental Ancestry Group, eye movement, Eye movements, Facial Recognition, female, financial management, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, stimulus, Visual, visual information, Young Adult
@article{estephan_time_2018,
title = {Time course of cultural differences in spatial frequency use for face identification},
author = {A. Estéphan and D. Fiset and C. Saumure and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and Y. Zhang and D. Sun and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85041296131&doi=10.1038%2fs41598-018-19971-1&partnerID=40&md5=b9e70f2d9ac7c641171bd6e450316846},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-19971-1},
issn = {20452322},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
volume = {8},
number = {1},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
abstract = {Several previous studies of eye movements have put forward that, during face recognition, Easterners spread their attention across a greater part of their visual field than Westerners. Recently, we found that culture's effect on the perception of faces reaches mechanisms deeper than eye movements, therefore affecting the very nature of information sampled by the visual system: That is, Westerners globally rely more than Easterners on fine-grained visual information (i.e. high spatial frequencies; SFs), whereas Easterners rely more on coarse-grained visual information (i.e. low SFs). These findings suggest that culture influences basic visual processes; however, the temporal onset and dynamics of these culturespecific perceptual differences are still unknown. Here, we investigate the time course of SF use in Western Caucasian (Canadian) and East Asian (Chinese) observers during a face identification task. Firstly, our results confirm that Easterners use relatively lower SFs than Westerners, while the latter use relatively higher SFs. More importantly, our results indicate that these differences arise as early as 34 ms after stimulus onset, and remain stable through time. Our research supports the hypothesis that Westerners and Easterners initially rely on different types of visual information during face processing. © The Author(s) 2018.},
note = {Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},
keywords = {adult, article, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, attention, Canada, Caucasian, European Continental Ancestry Group, eye movement, Eye movements, Facial Recognition, female, financial management, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, stimulus, Visual, visual information, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Saumure, C.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Estéphan, A.; Fiset, D.; Blais, C.
The use of visual information in the recognition of posed and spontaneous facial expressions Journal Article
In: Journal of Vision, vol. 18, no. 9, pp. 1–15, 2018, ISSN: 15347362.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: association, Cues, emotion, Emotions, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, happiness, human, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Visual, Young Adult
@article{saumureUseVisualInformation2018,
title = {The use of visual information in the recognition of posed and spontaneous facial expressions},
author = {C. Saumure and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and A. Estéphan and D. Fiset and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85054591286&doi=10.1167%2f18.9.21&partnerID=40&md5=9d2396b70438842c089a36f6a499f734},
doi = {10.1167/18.9.21},
issn = {15347362},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Vision},
volume = {18},
number = {9},
pages = {1–15},
publisher = {Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc.},
abstract = {Recognizing facial expressions is crucial for the success of social interactions, and the visual processes underlying this ability have been the subject of many studies in the field of face perception. Nevertheless, the stimuli used in the majority of these studies consist of facial expressions that were produced on request rather than spontaneously induced. In the present study, we directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of posed and spontaneous expressions of happiness, disgust, surprise, and sadness. We used the Bubbles method with pictures of the same individuals spontaneously expressing an emotion or posing with an expression on request. Two key findings were obtained: Visual strategies were less systematic with spontaneous than with posed expressions, suggesting a higher heterogeneity in the useful facial cues across identities; and with spontaneous expressions, the relative reliance on the mouth and eyes areas was more evenly distributed, contrasting with the higher reliance on the mouth compared to the eyes area observed with posed expressions. © 2018 The Authors.},
keywords = {association, Cues, emotion, Emotions, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, happiness, human, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, Visual, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Estéphan, A.; Fiset, D.; Saumure, C.; Plouffe-Demers, M. -P.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, D.; Blais, C.
Time course of cultural differences in spatial frequency use for face identification Journal Article
In: Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018, ISSN: 20452322.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, article, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, attention, Canada, Caucasian, European Continental Ancestry Group, eye movement, Eye movements, Facial Recognition, female, financial management, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, stimulus, Visual, visual information, Young Adult
@article{estephanTimeCourseCultural2018,
title = {Time course of cultural differences in spatial frequency use for face identification},
author = {A. Estéphan and D. Fiset and C. Saumure and M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and Y. Zhang and D. Sun and C. Blais},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85041296131&doi=10.1038%2fs41598-018-19971-1&partnerID=40&md5=b9e70f2d9ac7c641171bd6e450316846},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-19971-1},
issn = {20452322},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
volume = {8},
number = {1},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
abstract = {Several previous studies of eye movements have put forward that, during face recognition, Easterners spread their attention across a greater part of their visual field than Westerners. Recently, we found that culture's effect on the perception of faces reaches mechanisms deeper than eye movements, therefore affecting the very nature of information sampled by the visual system: That is, Westerners globally rely more than Easterners on fine-grained visual information (i.e. high spatial frequencies; SFs), whereas Easterners rely more on coarse-grained visual information (i.e. low SFs). These findings suggest that culture influences basic visual processes; however, the temporal onset and dynamics of these culturespecific perceptual differences are still unknown. Here, we investigate the time course of SF use in Western Caucasian (Canadian) and East Asian (Chinese) observers during a face identification task. Firstly, our results confirm that Easterners use relatively lower SFs than Westerners, while the latter use relatively higher SFs. More importantly, our results indicate that these differences arise as early as 34 ms after stimulus onset, and remain stable through time. Our research supports the hypothesis that Westerners and Easterners initially rely on different types of visual information during face processing. © The Author(s) 2018.},
keywords = {adult, article, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, attention, Canada, Caucasian, European Continental Ancestry Group, eye movement, Eye movements, Facial Recognition, female, financial management, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Pattern Recognition, physiology, stimulus, Visual, visual information, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}



