A visual short-term memory advantage for faces. Curby, K. M. & Gauthier, I. Psychon Bull Rev, 14(4):620–628, 2007. abstract bibtex What determines how much can be stored in visual short-term memory (VSTM)? Studies of VSTM have focused largely on stimulus-based properties such as the number or complexity of the items stored. Recent work also suggests that capacity is severely reduced for items within the same category. However, the importance for VSTM capacity of more qualitative differences in processing for different categories has not been investigated. For example, faces are processed more holistically than other objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, we show that the processing of faces, objects that are crucial socially and for which we possess considerable expertise, overcomes these limitations. More faces can be stored in VSTM than objects from other complex nonface categories. As in prior studies, at short encoding durations we found that capacity for faces was less than that for other categories. However, at longer encoding durations, capacity for faces exceeded that for nonface objects, and this advantage was specific to upright faces. Because inversion reduces holistic processing, the interaction of orientation with VSTM capacity-which occurred for faces but no t objects in Experiment 3–suggests that it is holistic processing that confers an advantage for face VSTM when sufficient encoding time is allowed.
@Article{Curby2007,
author = {Curby, Kim M. and Gauthier, Isabel},
journal = {Psychon Bull Rev},
title = {A visual short-term memory advantage for faces.},
year = {2007},
number = {4},
pages = {620--628},
volume = {14},
abstract = {What determines how much can be stored in visual short-term memory
(VSTM)? Studies of VSTM have focused largely on stimulus-based properties
such as the number or complexity of the items stored. Recent work
also suggests that capacity is severely reduced for items within
the same category. However, the importance for VSTM capacity of more
qualitative differences in processing for different categories has
not been investigated. For example, faces are processed more holistically
than other objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, we show that the processing
of faces, objects that are crucial socially and for which we possess
considerable expertise, overcomes these limitations. More faces can
be stored in VSTM than objects from other complex nonface categories.
As in prior studies, at short encoding durations we found that capacity
for faces was less than that for other categories. However, at longer
encoding durations, capacity for faces exceeded that for nonface
objects, and this advantage was specific to upright faces. Because
inversion reduces holistic processing, the interaction of orientation
with VSTM capacity-which occurred for faces but no t objects in Experiment
3--suggests that it is holistic processing that confers an advantage
for face VSTM when sufficient encoding time is allowed.},
institution = {Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122-6085, USA. kim.curby@temple.edu},
keywords = {Adult; Face; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Visual Perception},
language = {eng},
medline-pst = {ppublish},
pmid = {17972723},
timestamp = {2013.05.13},
}
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