Primary Stages in Single-Glance Face Recognition: Expression and Identity

Abstract

All faces share the same global spatial structure (eyes above nose, above mouth, etc,). Thus more specific classifications, for instance of identity and expression, should be compared to the classifications of a single letter written in a specific way, rather than to just letter recognition. Yet, in no more than a fraction of a second, we do not only see a face as a face, we also notice its individual uniqueness. We see its age, gender, race, beauty and emotional expression. Moreover, under conditions of adequately stored information, we even identify it within the same split second. Thus face perception is perception par excellence.