Age Differences in Face Processing: The Role of Perceptual Degradation and Holistic Processing

Isabelle BoutetPhD, Bozana Meinhardt-InjacPhD and Nicole AndersonPhDDecision Editor

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2019, vol. 74, issue 6, 933-942

Abstract: ObjectivesWe simultaneously investigated the role of three hypotheses regarding age-related differences in face processing: perceptual degradation, impaired holistic processing, and an interaction between the two.MethodsYoung adults (YA) aged 20–33-year olds, middle-age adults (MA) aged 50–64-year olds, and older adults (OA) aged 65–82-year olds were tested on the context congruency paradigm, which allows measurement of face-specific holistic processing across the life span (Meinhardt-Injac, Persike & Meinhardt, 2014. Acta Psychologica, 151, 155–163). Perceptual degradation was examined by measuring performance with faces that were not filtered (FSF), with faces filtered to preserve low spatial frequencies (LSF), and with faces filtered to preserve high spatial frequencies (HSF).ResultsWe found that reducing perceptual signal strength had a greater impact on MA and OA for HSF faces, but not LSF faces. Context congruency effects were significant and of comparable magnitude across ages for FSF, LSF, and HSF faces. By using watches as control objects, we show that these holistic effects reflect face-specific mechanisms in all age groups.DiscussionOur results support the perceptual degradation hypothesis for faces containing only HSF and suggest that holistic processing is preserved in aging even under conditions of reduced signal strength.

Keywords: Aging; Face perception; Holistic processing; Perceptual degradation; Spatial frequency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

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