| dc.description.abstract | The other-race effect (ORE) is a robust and cross-cultural phenomenon that shows people recognizing own-race faces better than other-race faces. The ORE is assumed to result from less experience with other-race than own-race faces. However, it remains to be determined whether the ORE would be observed in appreciating facial attractiveness. Previous research has shown that familiarity would affect attractiveness judgments and memory of faces, but the exact relationship between facial attractiveness and familiarity is still debated.
In Experiment 1 of the current study, participants’ performance in the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) showed a clear ORE in memory, as Caucasian participants remembered Australian faces better than Chinese faces, East-Asian (Taiwanese) participants remembered Chinese faces better than Australian faces, while South-Asian participants remembered faces of both races equally. On the other hand, Australian faces were rated as more attractive than Chinese faces by the participants from all three groups. Additionally, a Race Contact Questionnaire (RCQ) was administered to the participants to measure their social interaction with Caucasian and Chinese people. We did not find any evidence that participants’ memory accuracy and attractiveness judgment correlated with their answers in the RCQ.
To investigate the effect of facial attractiveness on recognition memory of the same faces, and whether participants are differentially sensitive to own-race and attractive faces, we collected attractiveness ratings and measured recognition memory performance on the same faces from East-Asian (Taiwanese) observers in Experiment 2. The results replicated the findings of attractiveness ratings in Experiment 1 by showing that Australian faces were rated as more attractive than Chinese faces. On the other hand, better recognition memory (as reflected in higher sensitivity and more conservative criterions) was found for own-race (Chinese) than other-race (Australian) faces. Further, an item-wise analysis was performed by correlating the mean attractiveness ratings of individual faces with the mean memory performance. The results revealed that perceived facial attractiveness negatively correlated with corresponding memory sensitivity and criterions. Specifically, attractive faces were remembered worse than unattractive faces.
In Experiment 3, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded simultaneously during the facial attractiveness judgment and the face recognition memory tasks, and ERP responses to own- vs. other-race and to attractive vs. unattractive male-female faces were compared. The analysis of the neurophysiological signals showed an enhanced N1 (60-80 ms) component at frontocentral sites and the P1 (80-120 ms), N170 (140-200 ms) and LPC (500-700 ms) components at parietal, parieto-occipital and occipital sites during face processing in both tasks. During the face attractiveness judgment task, a stronger P1 component was elicited by own- than other-race faces. No significant difference was observed at the early (N1, P1, N170) or late (LPC) ERP components for attractive vs. unattractive faces. During the face recognition memory task, a larger LPC component associated with the “hits” responses (i.e., correct identification of seen faces) to other-race than own-race faces was observed, while no effect of attractiveness was detected.
In summary, findings of the current study suggest that only the processing of facial characteristics related to race but not to attractiveness is directly modulated by familiarity and experience with faces. Further research is needed to clarify the behavioral and neurophysiological interactions among attractiveness, familiarity, and memory. | en_US |