Implicit learning of new faces in prosopagnosia: An application of the mere-exposure paradigm

https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(90)90138-EGet rights and content

Abstract

A prosopagnosic patient was shown faces with which he had no prior experience, and was then given two-alternative forced choice recognition (“which of these faces did you see before?”) and preference (“which of these faces do you like better?”) tasks to assess learning. The patient showed normal preference for target faces, despite the fact that recognition of the faces was nil. This suggests that at least some prospagnosics show implicit learning of new faces. The patient's normal preference for target faces is conceptualized as a “perceptual fluency” effect similar to that seen in more global forms of amnesia

References (30)

  • V. Bruce

    Searching for politicians: an information-processing approach to face recognition

    Q. J. exp. Psychol.

    (1979)
  • A.R. Damasio et al.

    Prosopagnosia. anatomic basis and behavioral mechanisms

    Neurology

    (1982)
  • E.H.F. DeHaan et al.

    Face recognition without awareness

    Cognit Neuropsychol.

    (1987)
  • K.W. Greve et al.

    Aspects of affective facial processing in prosopagnosia: consistency of likeability ratings

  • L.L. Jacoby et al.

    On the relationship between autobiographical memory and perceptual learning

    J. exp. Psychol: Learn. Mem. Cognit.

    (1981)
  • Cited by (43)

    • Capgras delusion: An interactionist model

      2008, Consciousness and Cognition
      Citation Excerpt :

      The authors consequently claimed that an affective attitude can influence choices made about faces not consciously recognised. Similarly, Greve and Bauer (1990) presented a prosopagnosic patient with pairs of unknown faces, although on each occasion one of the pair had been studied by the patient earlier. When asked to select the previously studied face, accuracy was 53%, not significantly above chance (as one might expect for someone with prosopagnosia).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text