Slide
Centre Interdisciplinaire
de Recherche et d’Innovation
en Cybersécurité et Société
de Recherche et d’Innovation
en Cybersécurité et Société
1.
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}
}
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).
2.
Blais, C.; Fiset, D.; Furumoto-Deshaies, H.; Kunz, M.; Seuss, D.; Cormier, S.
Facial Features Underlying the Decoding of Pain Expressions Journal Article
In: Journal of Pain, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 728–738, 2019, ISSN: 15265900 (ISSN), (Publisher: Churchill Livingstone Inc.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, article, attention, decoding, Eye, Facial Expression, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, lip, male, Memory, Nose, Pain, pain assessment, pain dimensions, pain measurement, sensory analysis, wrinkle, Young Adult
@article{blais_facial_2019,
title = {Facial Features Underlying the Decoding of Pain Expressions},
author = {C. Blais and D. Fiset and H. Furumoto-Deshaies and M. Kunz and D. Seuss and S. Cormier},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85060707205&doi=10.1016%2fj.jpain.2019.01.002&partnerID=40&md5=2d2dd305de430a7ce8973644f57a4996},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpain.2019.01.002},
issn = {15265900 (ISSN)},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Pain},
volume = {20},
number = {6},
pages = {728–738},
publisher = {Churchill Livingstone Inc.},
abstract = {Previous research has revealed that the face is a finely tuned medium for pain communication. Studies assessing the decoding of facial expressions of pain have revealed an interesting discrepancy, namely that, despite eyes narrowing being the most frequent facial expression accompanying pain, individuals mostly rely on brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising to evaluate pain. The present study verifies if this discrepancy may reflect an interaction between the features coding pain expressions and the features used by observers and stored in their mental representations. Experiment 1 shows that more weight is allocated to the brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising, supporting the idea that these features are allocated more importance when mental representations of pain expressions are stored in memory. These 2 features have been associated with negative valence and with the affective dimension of pain, whereas the eyes narrowing feature has been associated more closely with the sensory dimension of pain. However, experiment 2 shows that these 2 features remain more salient than eyes narrowing, even when attention is specifically directed toward the sensory dimension of pain. Together, these results suggest that the features most saliently coded in the mental representation of facial expressions of pain may reflect a bias toward allocating more weight to the affective information encoded in the face. Perspective: This work reveals the relative importance of 3 facial features representing the core of pain expressions during pain decoding. The results show that 2 features are over-represented; this finding may potentially be linked with the estimation biases occurring when clinicians and lay persons evaluate pain based on facial appearance. © 2019 the American Pain Society},
note = {Publisher: Churchill Livingstone Inc.},
keywords = {adult, article, attention, decoding, Eye, Facial Expression, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, lip, male, Memory, Nose, Pain, pain assessment, pain dimensions, pain measurement, sensory analysis, wrinkle, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Previous research has revealed that the face is a finely tuned medium for pain communication. Studies assessing the decoding of facial expressions of pain have revealed an interesting discrepancy, namely that, despite eyes narrowing being the most frequent facial expression accompanying pain, individuals mostly rely on brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising to evaluate pain. The present study verifies if this discrepancy may reflect an interaction between the features coding pain expressions and the features used by observers and stored in their mental representations. Experiment 1 shows that more weight is allocated to the brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising, supporting the idea that these features are allocated more importance when mental representations of pain expressions are stored in memory. These 2 features have been associated with negative valence and with the affective dimension of pain, whereas the eyes narrowing feature has been associated more closely with the sensory dimension of pain. However, experiment 2 shows that these 2 features remain more salient than eyes narrowing, even when attention is specifically directed toward the sensory dimension of pain. Together, these results suggest that the features most saliently coded in the mental representation of facial expressions of pain may reflect a bias toward allocating more weight to the affective information encoded in the face. Perspective: This work reveals the relative importance of 3 facial features representing the core of pain expressions during pain decoding. The results show that 2 features are over-represented; this finding may potentially be linked with the estimation biases occurring when clinicians and lay persons evaluate pain based on facial appearance. © 2019 the American Pain Society
3.
Duncan, J.; Dugas, G.; Brisson, B.; Blais, C.; Fiset, D.
Dual-task interference on left eye utilization during facial emotion perception Journal Article
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 1319–1330, 2019, ISSN: 00961523 (ISSN), (Publisher: American Psychological Association Inc.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, attention, Auditory Perception, Automatic processing, Bubbles, Central attention, emotion, Emotions, Executive Function, Eye, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, hearing, human, Humans, male, perception, physiology, Psychological, psychological refractory period, Psychophysics, Refractory Period, Social Perception, Young Adult
@article{duncan_dual-task_2019,
title = {Dual-task interference on left eye utilization during facial emotion perception},
author = {J. Duncan and G. Dugas and B. Brisson and C. Blais and D. Fiset},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85068219081&doi=10.1037%2fxhp0000674&partnerID=40&md5=f432c0265348103d6fce87660baa4c18},
doi = {10.1037/xhp0000674},
issn = {00961523 (ISSN)},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance},
volume = {45},
number = {10},
pages = {1319–1330},
publisher = {American Psychological Association Inc.},
abstract = {There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether facial emotion perception is carried automatically- that is, without effort or attentional resources. While it is generally accepted that spatial attention is necessary for the perception of emotional facial expressions, the picture is less clear for central attention. Using the bubbles method, we provide results that were obtained by measuring the effect of the psychological refractory period on diagnostic information for the basic facial expressions. Based on previous findings that linked spatial attention with processing of the eyes and of high spatial frequencies in the visual periphery, we hypothesized that reliance on the eyes might decrease when central resources were monopolized by a difficult prioritized auditory task. Central load led to a marked decrease in left eye utilization that was generalized across emotions; on the contrary, utilization of the mouth was unaffected by central load. Thus, processing of the left eye might be nonautomatic, and processing of the mouth might be automatic. Interestingly, we also observed a reduction in reliance on the left side of the face under central load that was accompanied by a commensurate increase in reliance on the right side of the face. We end with a discussion of how hemispheric asymmetries might account for these peculiar findings. © 2019 American Psychological Association.},
note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association Inc.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, attention, Auditory Perception, Automatic processing, Bubbles, Central attention, emotion, Emotions, Executive Function, Eye, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, hearing, human, Humans, male, perception, physiology, Psychological, psychological refractory period, Psychophysics, Refractory Period, Social Perception, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether facial emotion perception is carried automatically- that is, without effort or attentional resources. While it is generally accepted that spatial attention is necessary for the perception of emotional facial expressions, the picture is less clear for central attention. Using the bubbles method, we provide results that were obtained by measuring the effect of the psychological refractory period on diagnostic information for the basic facial expressions. Based on previous findings that linked spatial attention with processing of the eyes and of high spatial frequencies in the visual periphery, we hypothesized that reliance on the eyes might decrease when central resources were monopolized by a difficult prioritized auditory task. Central load led to a marked decrease in left eye utilization that was generalized across emotions; on the contrary, utilization of the mouth was unaffected by central load. Thus, processing of the left eye might be nonautomatic, and processing of the mouth might be automatic. Interestingly, we also observed a reduction in reliance on the left side of the face under central load that was accompanied by a commensurate increase in reliance on the right side of the face. We end with a discussion of how hemispheric asymmetries might account for these peculiar findings. © 2019 American Psychological Association.
4.
Blais, C.; Fiset, D.; Furumoto-Deshaies, H.; Kunz, M.; Seuss, D.; Cormier, S.
Facial Features Underlying the Decoding of Pain Expressions Journal Article
In: Journal of Pain, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 728–738, 2019, ISSN: 15265900 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, article, attention, decoding, Eye, Facial Expression, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, lip, male, Memory, Nose, Pain, pain assessment, pain dimensions, pain measurement, sensory analysis, wrinkle, Young Adult
@article{blaisFacialFeaturesUnderlying2019,
title = {Facial Features Underlying the Decoding of Pain Expressions},
author = {C. Blais and D. Fiset and H. Furumoto-Deshaies and M. Kunz and D. Seuss and S. Cormier},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85060707205&doi=10.1016%2fj.jpain.2019.01.002&partnerID=40&md5=2d2dd305de430a7ce8973644f57a4996},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpain.2019.01.002},
issn = {15265900 (ISSN)},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Pain},
volume = {20},
number = {6},
pages = {728–738},
publisher = {Churchill Livingstone Inc.},
abstract = {Previous research has revealed that the face is a finely tuned medium for pain communication. Studies assessing the decoding of facial expressions of pain have revealed an interesting discrepancy, namely that, despite eyes narrowing being the most frequent facial expression accompanying pain, individuals mostly rely on brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising to evaluate pain. The present study verifies if this discrepancy may reflect an interaction between the features coding pain expressions and the features used by observers and stored in their mental representations. Experiment 1 shows that more weight is allocated to the brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising, supporting the idea that these features are allocated more importance when mental representations of pain expressions are stored in memory. These 2 features have been associated with negative valence and with the affective dimension of pain, whereas the eyes narrowing feature has been associated more closely with the sensory dimension of pain. However, experiment 2 shows that these 2 features remain more salient than eyes narrowing, even when attention is specifically directed toward the sensory dimension of pain. Together, these results suggest that the features most saliently coded in the mental representation of facial expressions of pain may reflect a bias toward allocating more weight to the affective information encoded in the face. Perspective: This work reveals the relative importance of 3 facial features representing the core of pain expressions during pain decoding. The results show that 2 features are over-represented; this finding may potentially be linked with the estimation biases occurring when clinicians and lay persons evaluate pain based on facial appearance. © 2019 the American Pain Society},
keywords = {adult, article, attention, decoding, Eye, Facial Expression, facies, female, human, human experiment, Humans, lip, male, Memory, Nose, Pain, pain assessment, pain dimensions, pain measurement, sensory analysis, wrinkle, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Previous research has revealed that the face is a finely tuned medium for pain communication. Studies assessing the decoding of facial expressions of pain have revealed an interesting discrepancy, namely that, despite eyes narrowing being the most frequent facial expression accompanying pain, individuals mostly rely on brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising to evaluate pain. The present study verifies if this discrepancy may reflect an interaction between the features coding pain expressions and the features used by observers and stored in their mental representations. Experiment 1 shows that more weight is allocated to the brow lowering and nose wrinkling/upper lip raising, supporting the idea that these features are allocated more importance when mental representations of pain expressions are stored in memory. These 2 features have been associated with negative valence and with the affective dimension of pain, whereas the eyes narrowing feature has been associated more closely with the sensory dimension of pain. However, experiment 2 shows that these 2 features remain more salient than eyes narrowing, even when attention is specifically directed toward the sensory dimension of pain. Together, these results suggest that the features most saliently coded in the mental representation of facial expressions of pain may reflect a bias toward allocating more weight to the affective information encoded in the face. Perspective: This work reveals the relative importance of 3 facial features representing the core of pain expressions during pain decoding. The results show that 2 features are over-represented; this finding may potentially be linked with the estimation biases occurring when clinicians and lay persons evaluate pain based on facial appearance. © 2019 the American Pain Society
5.
Duncan, J.; Dugas, G.; Brisson, B.; Blais, C.; Fiset, D.
Dual-task interference on left eye utilization during facial emotion perception Journal Article
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 1319–1330, 2019, ISSN: 00961523 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, attention, Auditory Perception, Automatic processing, Bubbles, Central attention, emotion, Emotions, Executive Function, Eye, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, hearing, human, Humans, male, perception, physiology, Psychological, psychological refractory period, Psychophysics, Refractory Period, Social Perception, Young Adult
@article{duncanDualtaskInterferenceLeft2019,
title = {Dual-task interference on left eye utilization during facial emotion perception},
author = {J. Duncan and G. Dugas and B. Brisson and C. Blais and D. Fiset},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85068219081&doi=10.1037%2fxhp0000674&partnerID=40&md5=f432c0265348103d6fce87660baa4c18},
doi = {10.1037/xhp0000674},
issn = {00961523 (ISSN)},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance},
volume = {45},
number = {10},
pages = {1319–1330},
publisher = {American Psychological Association Inc.},
abstract = {There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether facial emotion perception is carried automatically- that is, without effort or attentional resources. While it is generally accepted that spatial attention is necessary for the perception of emotional facial expressions, the picture is less clear for central attention. Using the bubbles method, we provide results that were obtained by measuring the effect of the psychological refractory period on diagnostic information for the basic facial expressions. Based on previous findings that linked spatial attention with processing of the eyes and of high spatial frequencies in the visual periphery, we hypothesized that reliance on the eyes might decrease when central resources were monopolized by a difficult prioritized auditory task. Central load led to a marked decrease in left eye utilization that was generalized across emotions; on the contrary, utilization of the mouth was unaffected by central load. Thus, processing of the left eye might be nonautomatic, and processing of the mouth might be automatic. Interestingly, we also observed a reduction in reliance on the left side of the face under central load that was accompanied by a commensurate increase in reliance on the right side of the face. We end with a discussion of how hemispheric asymmetries might account for these peculiar findings. © 2019 American Psychological Association.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, attention, Auditory Perception, Automatic processing, Bubbles, Central attention, emotion, Emotions, Executive Function, Eye, Facial Expression, Facial Recognition, female, hearing, human, Humans, male, perception, physiology, Psychological, psychological refractory period, Psychophysics, Refractory Period, Social Perception, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether facial emotion perception is carried automatically- that is, without effort or attentional resources. While it is generally accepted that spatial attention is necessary for the perception of emotional facial expressions, the picture is less clear for central attention. Using the bubbles method, we provide results that were obtained by measuring the effect of the psychological refractory period on diagnostic information for the basic facial expressions. Based on previous findings that linked spatial attention with processing of the eyes and of high spatial frequencies in the visual periphery, we hypothesized that reliance on the eyes might decrease when central resources were monopolized by a difficult prioritized auditory task. Central load led to a marked decrease in left eye utilization that was generalized across emotions; on the contrary, utilization of the mouth was unaffected by central load. Thus, processing of the left eye might be nonautomatic, and processing of the mouth might be automatic. Interestingly, we also observed a reduction in reliance on the left side of the face under central load that was accompanied by a commensurate increase in reliance on the right side of the face. We end with a discussion of how hemispheric asymmetries might account for these peculiar findings. © 2019 American Psychological Association.
6.
Royer, J.; Blais, C.; Charbonneau, I.; Déry, K.; Tardif, J.; Duchaine, B.; Gosselin, F.; Fiset, D.
Greater reliance on the eye region predicts better face recognition ability Journal Article
In: Cognition, vol. 181, pp. 12–20, 2018, ISSN: 00100277, (Publisher: Elsevier B.V.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, article, clinical article, extraction, Eye, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, male, recognition, Recognition (Psychology), visual information, Young Adult
@article{royer_greater_2018,
title = {Greater reliance on the eye region predicts better face recognition ability},
author = {J. Royer and C. Blais and I. Charbonneau and K. Déry and J. Tardif and B. Duchaine and F. Gosselin and D. Fiset},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85051252949&doi=10.1016%2fj.cognition.2018.08.004&partnerID=40&md5=e1af5e939ec7381c82ff3d13d1c3cc51},
doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2018.08.004},
issn = {00100277},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Cognition},
volume = {181},
pages = {12–20},
publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},
abstract = {Interest in using individual differences in face recognition ability to better understand the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms supporting face processing has grown substantially in recent years. The goal of this study was to determine how varying levels of face recognition ability are linked to changes in visual information extraction strategies in an identity recognition task. To address this question, fifty participants completed six tasks measuring face and object processing abilities. Using the Bubbles method (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001), we also measured each individual's use of visual information in face recognition. At the group level, our results replicate previous findings demonstrating the importance of the eye region for face identification. More importantly, we show that face processing ability is related to a systematic increase in the use of the eye area, especially the left eye from the observer's perspective. Indeed, our results suggest that the use of this region accounts for approximately 20% of the variance in face processing ability. These results support the idea that individual differences in face processing are at least partially related to the perceptual extraction strategy used during face identification. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.},
note = {Publisher: Elsevier B.V.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, article, clinical article, extraction, Eye, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, male, recognition, Recognition (Psychology), visual information, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Interest in using individual differences in face recognition ability to better understand the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms supporting face processing has grown substantially in recent years. The goal of this study was to determine how varying levels of face recognition ability are linked to changes in visual information extraction strategies in an identity recognition task. To address this question, fifty participants completed six tasks measuring face and object processing abilities. Using the Bubbles method (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001), we also measured each individual's use of visual information in face recognition. At the group level, our results replicate previous findings demonstrating the importance of the eye region for face identification. More importantly, we show that face processing ability is related to a systematic increase in the use of the eye area, especially the left eye from the observer's perspective. Indeed, our results suggest that the use of this region accounts for approximately 20% of the variance in face processing ability. These results support the idea that individual differences in face processing are at least partially related to the perceptual extraction strategy used during face identification. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
7.
Royer, J.; Blais, C.; Charbonneau, I.; Déry, K.; Tardif, J.; Duchaine, B.; Gosselin, F.; Fiset, D.
Greater reliance on the eye region predicts better face recognition ability Journal Article
In: Cognition, vol. 181, pp. 12–20, 2018, ISSN: 00100277.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Adolescent, adult, article, clinical article, extraction, Eye, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, male, recognition, Recognition (Psychology), visual information, Young Adult
@article{royerGreaterRelianceEye2018,
title = {Greater reliance on the eye region predicts better face recognition ability},
author = {J. Royer and C. Blais and I. Charbonneau and K. Déry and J. Tardif and B. Duchaine and F. Gosselin and D. Fiset},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85051252949&doi=10.1016%2fj.cognition.2018.08.004&partnerID=40&md5=e1af5e939ec7381c82ff3d13d1c3cc51},
doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2018.08.004},
issn = {00100277},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Cognition},
volume = {181},
pages = {12–20},
publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},
abstract = {Interest in using individual differences in face recognition ability to better understand the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms supporting face processing has grown substantially in recent years. The goal of this study was to determine how varying levels of face recognition ability are linked to changes in visual information extraction strategies in an identity recognition task. To address this question, fifty participants completed six tasks measuring face and object processing abilities. Using the Bubbles method (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001), we also measured each individual's use of visual information in face recognition. At the group level, our results replicate previous findings demonstrating the importance of the eye region for face identification. More importantly, we show that face processing ability is related to a systematic increase in the use of the eye area, especially the left eye from the observer's perspective. Indeed, our results suggest that the use of this region accounts for approximately 20% of the variance in face processing ability. These results support the idea that individual differences in face processing are at least partially related to the perceptual extraction strategy used during face identification. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.},
keywords = {Adolescent, adult, article, clinical article, extraction, Eye, Facial Recognition, female, human, human experiment, Humans, male, recognition, Recognition (Psychology), visual information, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Interest in using individual differences in face recognition ability to better understand the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms supporting face processing has grown substantially in recent years. The goal of this study was to determine how varying levels of face recognition ability are linked to changes in visual information extraction strategies in an identity recognition task. To address this question, fifty participants completed six tasks measuring face and object processing abilities. Using the Bubbles method (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001), we also measured each individual's use of visual information in face recognition. At the group level, our results replicate previous findings demonstrating the importance of the eye region for face identification. More importantly, we show that face processing ability is related to a systematic increase in the use of the eye area, especially the left eye from the observer's perspective. Indeed, our results suggest that the use of this region accounts for approximately 20% of the variance in face processing ability. These results support the idea that individual differences in face processing are at least partially related to the perceptual extraction strategy used during face identification. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
8.
Blais, C.; Fiset, D.; Roy, C.; Régimbald, C. S.; Gosselin, F.
Eye fixation patterns for categorizing static and dynamic facial Expressions Journal Article
In: Emotion, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 1107–1119, 2017, ISSN: 15283542 (ISSN), (Publisher: American Psychological Association Inc.).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, anatomy and histology, Bubbles, Dynamic, emotion, Emotions, Eye, eye fixation, Eye movements, eye tracking, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, Fixation, human, Humans, male, Mouth, Ocular, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, PsycINFO, stimulus, Visual strategies, Young Adult
@article{blais_eye_2017,
title = {Eye fixation patterns for categorizing static and dynamic facial Expressions},
author = {C. Blais and D. Fiset and C. Roy and C. S. Régimbald and F. Gosselin},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85016754655&doi=10.1037%2femo0000283&partnerID=40&md5=baecd8d6500d1447d48a399497611ccd},
doi = {10.1037/emo0000283},
issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Emotion},
volume = {17},
number = {7},
pages = {1107–1119},
publisher = {American Psychological Association Inc.},
abstract = {Facial expressions of emotion are dynamic in nature, but most studies on the visual strategies underlying the recognition of facial emotions have used static stimuli. The present study directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions using eye tracking and the Bubbles technique. The results revealed different eye fixation patterns with the 2 kinds of stimuli, with fewer fixations on the eye and mouth area during the recognition of dynamic than static expressions. However, these differences in eye fixations were not accompanied by any systematic differences in the facial information that was actually processed to recognize the expressions. © 2017 American Psychological Association.},
note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association Inc.},
keywords = {adult, anatomy and histology, Bubbles, Dynamic, emotion, Emotions, Eye, eye fixation, Eye movements, eye tracking, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, Fixation, human, Humans, male, Mouth, Ocular, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, PsycINFO, stimulus, Visual strategies, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Facial expressions of emotion are dynamic in nature, but most studies on the visual strategies underlying the recognition of facial emotions have used static stimuli. The present study directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions using eye tracking and the Bubbles technique. The results revealed different eye fixation patterns with the 2 kinds of stimuli, with fewer fixations on the eye and mouth area during the recognition of dynamic than static expressions. However, these differences in eye fixations were not accompanied by any systematic differences in the facial information that was actually processed to recognize the expressions. © 2017 American Psychological Association.
9.
Blais, C.; Fiset, D.; Roy, C.; Régimbald, C. S.; Gosselin, F.
Eye fixation patterns for categorizing static and dynamic facial Expressions Journal Article
In: Emotion, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 1107–1119, 2017, ISSN: 15283542 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, anatomy and histology, Bubbles, Dynamic, emotion, Emotions, Eye, eye fixation, Eye movements, eye tracking, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, Fixation, human, Humans, male, Mouth, Ocular, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, PsycINFO, stimulus, Visual strategies, Young Adult
@article{blaisEyeFixationPatterns2017,
title = {Eye fixation patterns for categorizing static and dynamic facial Expressions},
author = {C. Blais and D. Fiset and C. Roy and C. S. Régimbald and F. Gosselin},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85016754655&doi=10.1037%2femo0000283&partnerID=40&md5=baecd8d6500d1447d48a399497611ccd},
doi = {10.1037/emo0000283},
issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Emotion},
volume = {17},
number = {7},
pages = {1107–1119},
publisher = {American Psychological Association Inc.},
abstract = {Facial expressions of emotion are dynamic in nature, but most studies on the visual strategies underlying the recognition of facial emotions have used static stimuli. The present study directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions using eye tracking and the Bubbles technique. The results revealed different eye fixation patterns with the 2 kinds of stimuli, with fewer fixations on the eye and mouth area during the recognition of dynamic than static expressions. However, these differences in eye fixations were not accompanied by any systematic differences in the facial information that was actually processed to recognize the expressions. © 2017 American Psychological Association.},
keywords = {adult, anatomy and histology, Bubbles, Dynamic, emotion, Emotions, Eye, eye fixation, Eye movements, eye tracking, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, Fixation, human, Humans, male, Mouth, Ocular, Photic Stimulation, photostimulation, physiology, PsycINFO, stimulus, Visual strategies, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Facial expressions of emotion are dynamic in nature, but most studies on the visual strategies underlying the recognition of facial emotions have used static stimuli. The present study directly compared the visual strategies underlying the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions using eye tracking and the Bubbles technique. The results revealed different eye fixation patterns with the 2 kinds of stimuli, with fewer fixations on the eye and mouth area during the recognition of dynamic than static expressions. However, these differences in eye fixations were not accompanied by any systematic differences in the facial information that was actually processed to recognize the expressions. © 2017 American Psychological Association.
10.
Blais, C.; Roy, C.; Fiset, D.; Arguin, M.; Gosselin, F.
The eyes are not the window to basic emotions Journal Article
In: Neuropsychologia, vol. 50, no. 12, pp. 2830–2838, 2012, ISSN: 00283932.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: adult, analytic method, article, association, association cortex, cognition, Cues, Discrimination (Psychology), discriminative stimulus, dynamic stimulus, emotion, Emotions, Eye, Facial Expression, female, Fixation, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Mouth, normal human, Ocular, Pattern Recognition, Photic Stimulation, static stimulus, task performance, Visual, visual discrimination, visual information, visual memory, visual system function, Young Adult
@article{blais_eyes_2012,
title = {The eyes are not the window to basic emotions},
author = {C. Blais and C. Roy and D. Fiset and M. Arguin and F. Gosselin},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84865829171&doi=10.1016%2fj.neuropsychologia.2012.08.010&partnerID=40&md5=8a46d347f96ea9bd94bd161b6f1e8b92},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.08.010},
issn = {00283932},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
volume = {50},
number = {12},
pages = {2830–2838},
abstract = {Facial expressions are one of the most important ways to communicate our emotional state. In popular culture and in the scientific literature on face processing, the eye area is often conceived as a very important - if not the most important - cue for the recognition of facial expressions. In support of this, an underutilization of the eye area is often observed in clinical populations with a deficit in the recognition of facial expressions of emotions. Here, we used the Bubbles technique to verify which facial cue is the most important when it comes to discriminating between eight static and dynamic facial expressions (i.e., six basic emotions, pain and a neutral expression). We found that the mouth area is the most important cue for both static and dynamic facial expressions. We conducted an ideal observer analysis on the static expressions and determined that the mouth area is the most informative. However, we found an underutilization of the eye area by human participants in comparison to the ideal observer. We then demonstrated that the mouth area contains the most discriminative motions across expressions. We propose that the greater utilization of the mouth area by the human participants might come from remnants of the strategy the brain has developed with dynamic stimuli, and/or from a strategy whereby the most informative area is prioritized due to the limited capacity of the visuo-cognitive system. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.},
keywords = {adult, analytic method, article, association, association cortex, cognition, Cues, Discrimination (Psychology), discriminative stimulus, dynamic stimulus, emotion, Emotions, Eye, Facial Expression, female, Fixation, human, human experiment, Humans, male, Mouth, normal human, Ocular, Pattern Recognition, Photic Stimulation, static stimulus, task performance, Visual, visual discrimination, visual information, visual memory, visual system function, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Facial expressions are one of the most important ways to communicate our emotional state. In popular culture and in the scientific literature on face processing, the eye area is often conceived as a very important - if not the most important - cue for the recognition of facial expressions. In support of this, an underutilization of the eye area is often observed in clinical populations with a deficit in the recognition of facial expressions of emotions. Here, we used the Bubbles technique to verify which facial cue is the most important when it comes to discriminating between eight static and dynamic facial expressions (i.e., six basic emotions, pain and a neutral expression). We found that the mouth area is the most important cue for both static and dynamic facial expressions. We conducted an ideal observer analysis on the static expressions and determined that the mouth area is the most informative. However, we found an underutilization of the eye area by human participants in comparison to the ideal observer. We then demonstrated that the mouth area contains the most discriminative motions across expressions. We propose that the greater utilization of the mouth area by the human participants might come from remnants of the strategy the brain has developed with dynamic stimuli, and/or from a strategy whereby the most informative area is prioritized due to the limited capacity of the visuo-cognitive system. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.