General recognition theory with individual differences: a new method for examining perceptual and decisional interactions with an application to face perception

TitleGeneral recognition theory with individual differences: a new method for examining perceptual and decisional interactions with an application to face perception
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsSoto, F. A., Vucovich L., Musgrave R., & Ashby F. G.
JournalPsychonomic Bulletin & Review
Volume22
Issue1
Pagination88-111
Date Published2015 Feb
ISSN1531-5320
KeywordsAttention, Decision Making, Emotions, Facial Recognition, Female, Humans, Individuality, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Psychological Theory, Recognition (Psychology), Young Adult
Abstract

A common question in perceptual science is to what extent different stimulus dimensions are processed independently. General recognition theory (GRT) offers a formal framework via which different notions of independence can be defined and tested rigorously, while also dissociating perceptual from decisional factors. This article presents a new GRT model that overcomes several shortcomings with previous approaches, including a clearer separation between perceptual and decisional processes and a more complete description of such processes. The model assumes that different individuals share similar perceptual representations, but vary in their attention to dimensions and in the decisional strategies they use. We apply the model to the analysis of interactions between identity and emotional expression during face recognition. The results of previous research aimed at this problem have been disparate. Participants identified four faces, which resulted from the combination of two identities and two expressions. An analysis using the new GRT model showed a complex pattern of dimensional interactions. The perception of emotional expression was not affected by changes in identity, but the perception of identity was affected by changes in emotional expression. There were violations of decisional separability of expression from identity and of identity from expression, with the former being more consistent across participants than the latter. One explanation for the disparate results in the literature is that decisional strategies may have varied across studies and influenced the results of tests of perceptual interactions, as previous studies lacked the ability to dissociate between perceptual and decisional interactions.

DOI10.3758/s13423-014-0661-y
Alternate JournalPsychon Bull Rev
PubMed ID24841236
PubMed Central IDPMC4239198
Grant ListP01 NS044393 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States
P01NS044393 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States