Megreya, Ahmed M.; Memon, Amina and Havard, Catriona
(2011).
|
Due to copyright restrictions, this file is not available for public download Click here to request a copy from the OU Author. |
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1002/acp.1826 |
|---|---|
| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
Internal and external features dominate familiar and unfamiliar face recognition, respectively. However, this finding is not universal; Egyptians showed a robust internal-feature advantage for processing unfamiliar faces (Megreya & Bindemann, 2009). This bias was speculatively attributed to their long-term experiences for individuating female faces with headscarves, which completely cover the external features. Here, we provided an empirical test for this suggestion. Participants from Egypt and UK were presented with a staged crime, which was committed by an own-race woman with or without a headscarf. All participants were then asked to identify the culprit from a line-up involving 10 faces with or without headscarves. British participants showed an advantage when the culprit left her hair uncovered. In contrast, Egyptian observers showed an advantage when the culprit wore a headscarf. This Egyptian headscarf effect was also replicated using British faces, suggesting that it reflects a specific characteristic of participant nationality rather than face nationality. These results therefore provide evidence for how culture influences cognition.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
| ISSN: | 0888-4080 |
| Academic Unit/Department: | Social Sciences > Psychology in the Social Sciences |
| Item ID: | 29840 |
| Depositing User: | Catriona Havard |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Oct 2011 12:51 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2012 09:13 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/29840 |
Actions (login may be required)
| View Item | |
| Public: Report issue / request change |