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The Thatcher illusion and face processing in infancy
Author(s) -
Bertin Evelin,
Bhatt Ramesh S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00363.x
Subject(s) - illusion , psychology , cognitive psychology , face (sociological concept) , information processing , face perception , inversion (geology) , optical illusion , communication , perception , neuroscience , linguistics , paleontology , philosophy , structural basin , biology
Adults readily detect changes in face patterns brought about by the inversion of eyes and mouth when the faces are viewed upright but not when they are viewed upside down. Research suggests that this illusion (the Thatcher illusion) is caused by the interfering effects of face inversion on the processing of second‐order relational information (fine spatial information such as the distance between the eyes). In the current study, 6‐month‐olds discriminated ‘thatcherized’ faces when they were viewed upright but not when they were viewed upside down. These results are consistent with the notion that 6‐month‐olds are sensitive to second‐order relational information while processing faces.