The role of familiarity in three-dimensional view-transferability of face identity adaptation.

Recent studies show that face adaptation effects partially transfer across three-dimensional viewpoint change. Here we investigated whether the degree of adaptation transfer is mediated by experience with a face. We manipulated face familiarity and measured identity aftereffects both within- and across-viewpoint. Familiarity enhanced the overall strength of identity adaptation as well as the degree to which adaptation transferred across-viewpoint change. These findings support the idea that transfer effects in adaptation vary as a function of experience with particular faces, and suggest the use of adaptation as a tool for tracking face representations as they develop.