BACKGROUND: Configural processing in face recognition is a sensitivity to the spacing between facial features. It has been argued both that its presence represents a high level of expertise in face recognition, and also that it is a developmentally vulnerable process. METHOD: We report a cross-syndrome investigation of the development of configural face recognition in school-aged children with autism, Down syndrome and Williams syndrome compared with a typically developing comparison group. Cross-sectional trajectory analyses were used to compare configural and featural face recognition utilising the 'Jane faces' task. Trajectories were constructed linking featural and configural performance either to chronological age or to different measures of mental age (receptive vocabulary, visuospatial construction), as well as the Benton face recognition task. RESULTS: An emergent inversion effect across age for detecting configural but not featural changes in faces was established as the marker of typical development. Children from clinical groups displayed atypical profiles that differed across all groups. CONCLUSION: We discuss the implications for the nature of face processing within the respective developmental disorders, and how the cross-sectional syndrome comparison informs the constraints that shape the typical development of face recognition.
BACKGROUND: Configural processing in face recognition is a sensitivity to the spacing between facial features. It has been argued both that its presence represents a high level of expertise in face recognition, and also that it is a developmentally vulnerable process. METHOD: We report a cross-syndrome investigation of the development of configural face recognition in school-aged children with autism, Down syndrome and Williams syndrome compared with a typically developing comparison group. Cross-sectional trajectory analyses were used to compare configural and featural face recognition utilising the 'Jane faces' task. Trajectories were constructed linking featural and configural performance either to chronological age or to different measures of mental age (receptive vocabulary, visuospatial construction), as well as the Benton face recognition task. RESULTS: An emergent inversion effect across age for detecting configural but not featural changes in faces was established as the marker of typical development. Children from clinical groups displayed atypical profiles that differed across all groups. CONCLUSION: We discuss the implications for the nature of face processing within the respective developmental disorders, and how the cross-sectional syndrome comparison informs the constraints that shape the typical development of face recognition.
Authors: Alexander L Cohen; Louis Soussand; Sherryse L Corrow; Olivier Martinaud; Jason J S Barton; Michael D Fox Journal: Brain Date: 2019-12-01 Impact factor: 13.501
Authors: Dean D'Souza; Victoria Cole; Emily K Farran; Janice H Brown; Kate Humphreys; John Howard; Maja Rodic; Tessa M Dekker; Hana D'Souza; Annette Karmiloff-Smith Journal: Front Psychol Date: 2015-06-15
Authors: Alexandra Zaharia; Maude Schneider; Bronwyn Glaser; Martina Franchini; Sarah Menghetti; Marie Schaer; Martin Debbané; Stephan Eliez Journal: J Neurodev Disord Date: 2018-08-29 Impact factor: 4.025
Authors: Annette Karmiloff-Smith; Tamara Al-Janabi; Hana D'Souza; Jurgen Groet; Esha Massand; Kin Mok; Carla Startin; Elizabeth Fisher; John Hardy; Dean Nizetic; Victor Tybulewicz; Andre Strydom Journal: F1000Res Date: 2016-03-23