Holistic and local processing occur simultaneously for inverted faces: Evidence from behavior and computational modeling

Whether inverted faces are processed locally or involve holistic processing has been debated for several years. This study conducted two experiments to explore the extent of holistic processing of inverted faces. Experiment 1 adopted a face-congruency paradigm that orthogonally manipulated stimulus congruency and orientation. Experiment 2 employed the complete congruency paradigm to test whether misalignment effects of inverted faces are related to holistic processing. The results of both experiments consistently demonstrated that inverted faces are processed not only locally but also holistically, and that misalignment disrupts the holistic processing of inverted faces. Subsequently computational modeling showed that in the congruent condition, the contributions of holistic and local information in inverted face processing performance were 24% and 76%, respectively, whereas in the incongruent condition, they were 10% and 90%, respectively. Together, the present study reveals that also inverted faces are processed holistically, albeit to a lower degree than upright faces.