Robust representations for faces: Evidence from visual search

We report evidence from visual search that people can develop robust repres entations for highly overlearned faces. When observers searched for their o wn face versus the face of an unfamiliar observer, search slopes and interc epts revealed consistently faster processing of self than stranger. These p rocessing advantages persisted even after hundreds of presentations of the unfamiliar face and even for atypical profile and upside-down views. Observ ers not only showed rapid asymptotic recognition of their own face as the t arget, but could reject their own face more quickly as the distracter. Thes e findings suggest that robust representations for a highly overlearned fac e may (a) mediate rapid asymptotic visual processing, (b) require extensive experience to develop, (c). contain abstract or view-invariant information , (d) facilitate a variety of processes such as target recognition and dist racter rejection, and (e) demand less attentional resources.