Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.16 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Perceptual decisions are derived from the combination of priors and sensorial input. While priors
are broadly understood to refect experience/expertise developed over one’s lifetime, the role of
perceptual expertise at the individual level has seldom been directly explored. Here, we manipulate
probabilistic information associated with a high and low expertise category (faces and cars
respectively), while assessing individual level of expertise with each category. 67 participants learned
the probabilistic association between a color cue and each target category (face/car) in a behavioural
categorization task. Neural activity (EEG) was then recorded in a similar paradigm in the same
participants featuring the previously learned contingencies without the explicit task. Behaviourally,
perception of the higher expertise category (faces) was modulated by expectation. Specifcally, we
observed facilitatory and interference efects when targets were correctly or incorrectly expected,
which were also associated with independently measured individual levels of face expertise.
Multivariate pattern analysis of the EEG signal revealed clear efects of expectation from 100 ms post
stimulus, with signifcant decoding of the neural response to expected vs. not stimuli, when viewing
identical images. Latency of peak decoding when participants saw faces was directly associated with
individual level facilitation efects in the behavioural task. The current results not only provide time
sensitive evidence of expectation efects on early perception but highlight the role of higher-level
expertise on forming priors.
Description
Keywords
Expectation Prediction Expertise Face processing EEG MVPA
Citation
Inês Mares, Fraser W. Smith, E. J. Goddard, Lianne Keighery, Michael Pappasava, Louise Ewing, & Marie L. Smith. (2024). Effects of expectation on face perception and its association with expertise. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59284-0
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group