An inversion effect modified by expertise in capuchin monkeys

• Published in: Animal cognition Vol. 14; no. 6; pp. 839 - 846
• Main Authors: Pokorny, Jennifer J., Webb, Christine E., de Waal, Frans B. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.11.2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal cognition; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cebus - psychology; Cebus apella; Discrimination (Psychology); Eyes & eyesight; Face; Female; Information processing; Life Sciences; Male; Monkeys; Monkeys & apes; Original Paper; Pan troglodytes; Pattern recognition; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Primates; Psychology Research; Recognition (Psychology); Sensory perception; Stimuli; Zoology; Oddity; Primates; Face recognition; Visual discrimination; Face processing
• ISSN: 1435-9448; 1435-9456; 1435-9456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10071-011-0417-2

The face inversion effect may be defined as the general impairment in recognition that occurs when faces are rotated 180°. This phenomenon seems particularly strong for faces as opposed to other objects and is often used as a marker of a specialized face-processing mechanism. Four brown capuchin monkeys ( Cebus apella ) were tested on their ability to discriminate several classes of facial and non-facial stimuli presented in both their upright and inverted orientations in an oddity task. Results revealed significantly better performance on upright than inverted presentations of capuchin and human face stimuli, but not on chimpanzee faces or automobiles. These data support previous studies in humans and other primates suggesting that the inversion effect occurs for stimuli for which subjects have developed an expertise.