Visual Bandwidths for Face Orientation Decrease During Early Development M Vida1, H Wilson2, D Maurer1 |
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1Dept. of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, ON, Canada |
| Accuracy in matching facial identities between frontal and side views declines during healthy aging (Habak et al., 2008, Vision Research, 48, 9-15). Evidence from behavioural experiments and neural models suggests that this decline reflects a broadening of cortical bandwidths for face orientation (Wilson et al., 2011, Vision Research, 51, 160-194). Before age 10, children are less accurate than adults in matching facial identities across face views (Mondloch et al., 2004, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 86, 67-84). We investigated whether this age difference could reflect broader bandwidths for face orientation in children. Adults (n=20) and 8-year-olds (n=18) were adapted to a frontal face view or a left/right side view. A test face at or near the frontal orientation was then briefly presented. Participants pressed a button to indicate whether the test face was rotated to the left or right. Sensitivity to face orientation was lower and aftereffects following left/right adaptation were larger in 8-year-olds than adults. A neural model shows that these differences can be modelled by broader bandwidths for face orientation and higher internal noise in 8-year-olds. Hence, improvements in children's ability to match facial identities across face views may reflect a narrowing of cortical bandwidths for face orientation. |
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