The entry point of face recognition: Evidence for face expertise

Previous studies have shown that experts (e.g., birdwatchers) are as fast t o recognize objects at subordinate levels of abstraction (e.g., robin) as t hey are to recognize the same object at the basic level (e.g., bird). As a test of face expertise, the current study found that adults identify faces more frequently (Experiment 1) and as quickly (Experiment 2) at the subordi nate level (e.g., Bill Clinton) as at the basic level (e.g., human). Wherea s brief presentation (75 ms) impaired subordinate-level recognition of nonf ace objects, it did not impair the subordinate level recognition of faces ( Experiment 3). Finally, in an identity-matching task, subordinate-level pri mes facilitated the matching responses of faces but not nonface objects (Ex periment 4). Collectively, these results indicate that face expertise, like expert object expertise, promotes a downward shift in recognition to more subordinate levels of abstraction.