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A domain-relevant framework for the development of face processing

Nature Reviews Psychology volume 2, pages 183–195 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Faces are thought to have a privileged status for processing relative to other visual images. Humans use faces to identify people, learn language, and to communicate and understand intentions, meaning and emotions. An enduring debate within the fields of developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience is whether human face processing is specialized owing to domain-specific neural circuitry driven primarily by evolutionary mechanisms or whether it emerges from a domain-general architecture through experience. In this Perspective, we argue for an experience-based account based on associative and non-associative learning and supported by general neurobiological mechanisms. We posit that face-processing specialization emerges from activity-dependent, self-organizing processes where neuronal connectivity is shaped by the environment and constrained by intrinsic yet malleable neural architecture. This ‘domain-relevant’ framework for face processing reflects a dynamic interaction between the developing brain and the environmental input.

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Fig. 1: A domain-relevant face-processing cascade.
Fig. 2: Acuity constraints and neonate subcortical structures.
Fig. 3: Foveated face processing.
Fig. 4: Cortical development of human face processing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank members of the University of Florida’s Brain, Cognition and Developmental Laboratory for relevant discussions. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation to L.S.S. (BCS-1728133 and BCS-1056805/BCS-1560810).

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    Lisa S. Scott

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Michael J. Arcaro

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Scott, L.S., Arcaro, M.J. A domain-relevant framework for the development of face processing. Nat Rev Psychol 2, 183–195 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00152-5

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