Finally, Faces Find Favor

Historical trends in face perception research during the past half century are summarized. The dual process model offered by cognitive neuroscientists to account for the perception of identity and emotion expression in the face is briefly reviewed together with supporting evidence. An ecological approach that incorporates missing pieces of face perception is offered as an additional, broader conceptual framework. It is argued that a comprehensive theory of face perception must account for the extraction from a facial image of all the attributes that are perceived (social category, identity, emotion, psychological and physical traits) as well as the interdependence of attributes as shown in moderating influences of one attribute on the perception of others. It also must specify the stimulus information that conveys each attribute, perceiver attunements that influence detection of each attribute, the development of these attunements, the neural mechanisms engaged in processing various attributes, and the behavioral consequences of face perception. Social, personality, and developmental psychologists are urged to join cognitive neuroscientists in filling in the missing pieces.