Abstract
Faces are generally assumed to be processed holistically, that is, features are represented in an integrated fashion. Similarly, pictorial representations of faces (e.g., drawings) have been shown to elicit holistic processing. Some researchers, however, have contested the concept of holistic face processing, suggesting that the perception of a face is no more than the sum of individual face parts. In the present study, we ask whether faces in paintings are processed holistically and, if so, whether this holistic processing is consistent across art styles along the realism–distortion dimension. Additionally, we seek to understand whether other factors, such as interest in art and exposure to art (e.g., visiting museums), as well as general visual recognition abilities, contribute to the potential holistic processing of faces in paintings. We found holistic face processing across stimulus sets, suggesting that holistic processing of faces in art occurs regardless of the characteristics of the art style (i.e., realism/distortion).Moreover, general interest in art showed a marginally negative correlation with holistic face processing. In contrast, general visual recognition abilities correlated positively with holistic processing, suggesting that increased capacity to process purely visual information benefits perceptual integration and grouping.
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Francisco Cruz
Invited Assistant Professor
Francisco Cruz is an invited assistant professor in psychology, statistics, and methods at the Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, and Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Europeia. Junior Consulting Editor at the Journal of European Social Psychology, 2025-present. Social Psychology Ph.D. on lay beliefs about science, supervised by Prof. André Mata (Universidade de Lisboa) and Prof. Tania Lombrozo (Princeton University), 2022-2025. Visiting Student Research Collaborator at Princeton University, 2023-2024. Society for General Psychology and Interdisciplinary Inquiry, Fulbright Portugal, and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia awardee. His research interests include lay beliefs about science (i.e., what people believe that science can or cannot explain and why), motivated beliefs in science (i.e., the contexts in which people are more prone to accepting scientific explanations), representation of social groups (i.e., how people integrate information to provide judgments on shared homogeneity vs. heterogeneity across group members), epistemic trespassing (i.e., when people provide judgments on domains beyond those in which they are experts), intuitive mind-body dualism (i.e., a natural tendency to see the world as split in material and immaterial portions), and face perception (i.e., features driving the advantage in recall for own- vs. other-race faces).