Privileged Detection of Conspecifics: Evidence from Inversion Effects during Continuous Flash Suppression

Autor/inn/en	Stein, Timo; Sterzer, Philipp; Peelen, Marius V.
Titel	Privileged Detection of Conspecifics: Evidence from Inversion Effects during Continuous Flash Suppression
Quelle	In: Cognition, 125 (2012) 1, S.64-79 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0010-0277
DOI	10.1016/j.cognition.2012.06.005
Schlagwörter	Evidence; Stimuli; Infants; Social Cognition; Experiments; Identification; Human Body; Visual Stimuli; Visual Perception; Control Groups; Evaluation Methods; Cognitive Processes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Evidenz; Anreizsystem; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Soziale Kognition; Erprobung; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Menschlicher Körper; Visuelle Wahrnehmung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess
Abstract	The rapid visual detection of other people in our environment is an important first step in social cognition. Here we provide evidence for selective sensitivity of the human visual system to upright depictions of conspecifics. In a series of seven experiments, we assessed the impact of stimulus inversion on the detection of person silhouettes, headless bodies, faces and other objects from a wide range of animate and inanimate control categories. We used continuous flash suppression (CFS), a variant of binocular rivalry, to render stimuli invisible at the beginning of each trial and measured the time upright and inverted stimuli needed to overcome such interocular suppression. Inversion strongly interfered with access to awareness for human faces, headless human bodies, person silhouettes, and even highly variable body postures, while suppression durations for control objects were not (inanimate objects) or only mildly (animal faces and bodies) affected by inversion. Furthermore, inversion effects were eliminated when the normal body configuration was distorted. The absence of strong inversion effects in a binocular control condition not involving interocular suppression suggests that non-conscious mechanisms mediated the effect of inversion on body and face detection during CFS. These results indicate that perceptual mechanisms that govern access to visual awareness are highly sensitive to the presence of conspecifics. (Contains 10 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10