PERCEPTUAL LEARNING OF FACES: A REHABILITATIVE STUDY OF DEVELOPMENTAL PROSOPAGNOSIA

[摘要] In recent years, several attempts have been made to improve face recognition in developmental prosopagnosia. These efforts have often resulted in training effects that are either not long lasting, or do not generalize to novel viewpoints, expressions, or identities. We used a perceptual learning approach to train face recognition in a group of 7 participants with developmental prosopagnosia. Four completed the 11-week training program first, followed by an 11-week non-training period and three completed an 11-week control task followed by the training program. On each trial of the training program, participants selected which of two test faces appeared most similar to a simultaneously presented target face. A staircase procedure was used to ensure that each participant was training at an individually appropriate level—as performance improved, faces become more similar, and when performance declined, faces became less similar. With each week of training, variation across viewpoint and expression were gradually introduced. Performance on post-tests improved significantly more during the training period than non-training period for both trained faces (p< 0.001) and untrained faces (p< 0.05), suggesting that the program produced effects that generalized across novel viewpoints, expressions, and identities. At the individual level, some participants reported improvements in their everyday experiences as well. In sum, perceptually learning may be an effective approach for improving face recognition in developmental prosopagnosia.

[学科分类] 眼科学