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What goes on in our brain when we look at someone? Tonight at Pint of Science, we will hear from Dr Mareschal about the fascinating world of eye movements and why they can reveal a lot about who we are (could it be why some people always wear sunglasses?) and Dr Bennetts will describe her research on the psychology of face recognition, why some people are so good at it and why some not at all! During the event, there will be Pint of Science T-shirts and bottle openers to be won! Please note that food will not be served at this event. Please note that food will not be served at this event.
Beware, your eyes reveal more than what you think!
Prof Isabelle Mareschal
(Professor in Visual Cognition and Head of Psychology Department)
What people look at in visual scenes reflects an interplay of cognitive and motor functions. This means that eye movement data (recording what people look at during a simple visual task) is of great interest for both diagnostic and research purposes. Here, we recorded people’s eye movements at the Science Museum while they engaged in making eye contact with an actor on a screen. This allowed us to examine how participants looked at the actor’s faces revealed important information about them. Surprisingly, we found that men and women look at faces in characteristically different ways.
Face facts: The psychology of face recognition
Dr Rachel Bennetts
(Lecturer in Psychology)
Have you ever walked straight past an acquaintance in a tube station? Or recognised a person you haven’t seen for 10 years? Most people take face recognition for granted, but it’s a complex skill and not everyone is as good (or as bad) at it as they think. This talk will introduce you to the processes that underpin face recognition, test how good you are with faces, and discuss what we can learn about face recognition from individuals who are face-blind (prosopagnosia) and those who never forget a face (super-recognisers).
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