Abstract

Recognition of faces has been found to be impaired by stimulus inversion more than that of other types of stimuli. This disproportionate effect of inversion on face recognition has been explained in terms of our greater experience or familiarity with faces compared to other types of stimuli. The viability of this explanation was examined in the present study by testing Caucasian and Oriental subjects for their recognition of Caucasian and Oriental faces presented in upright and inverted orientations. The size of the inversion effect was measured in terms of the percentage as well as the absolute decrease of performance with the inversion of faces. The results demonstrated that both Caucasian and Oriental subjects showed inversion effects for both own - and other - race faces, and that recognition of own - race faces was impaired by inversion as much as that of other - race faces. This pattern of results provides no support for the proposal that greater familiarity is associated with greater sensitivity to inversion.