Irene Leo | Università degli Studi di Padova (original) (raw)

Papers by Irene Leo

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns' Mooney-Face Percpetion

Research paper thumbnail of The time course of implicit processing of facial features: An event-related potential study

Research paper thumbnail of Congruency as a Nonspecific Perceptual Property Contributing to Newborns Face Preference

Child Development, 2008

Past research has shown that top-heaviness is a perceptual property that plays a crucial role in ... more Past research has shown that top-heaviness is a perceptual property that plays a crucial role in triggering newborns’ preference toward faces. The present study examined the contribution of a second configural property, congruency, to newborns’ face preference. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that when embedded in nonfacelike stimuli, congruency induces a preference of the same strength as that induced by facedness. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that the attentional biases toward facedness and congruency produce a cumulative effect on newborns’ visual preferences according to an additive model. These findings were extended by those of Experiment 5, showing that the additive model holds true when congruency is added to top-heaviness in nonfacelike stimuli displaying more elements in the upper portion.

Research paper thumbnail of Face processing at birth: a Thatcher illusion study

Developmental Science, 2009

The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within... more The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within real face images by testing newborns’ sensitivity to the Thatcher illusion. Using the habituation procedure, newborns’ ability to discriminate between an unaltered face image and the same face with the eyes and the mouth 180° rotated (i.e. thatcherized) was investigated. Newborns were able to discriminate an unaltered from the thatcherized version of the same face when stimuli were presented in the canonical upright orientation (Experiment 1), but failed to discriminate the same stimuli when they were presented upside-down (Experiment 2). The results indicate that sensitivity to fine spatial information (defined as second-order relational information) in processing upright faces is already present at birth.

Research paper thumbnail of Three-month-olds’ visual preference for faces and its underlying visual processing mechanisms

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Intersensory Perception at Birth: Newborns Match Nonhuman Primate Faces and Voices

Research paper thumbnail of The processing of social stimuli in early infancy

Progress in Brain Research, 2011

There are several lines of evidence which suggests that, since birth, the human system detects so... more There are several lines of evidence which suggests that, since birth, the human system detects social agents on the basis of at least two properties: the presence of a face and the way they move. This chapter reviews the infant research on the origin of brain specialization for social stimuli and on the role of innate mechanisms and perceptual experience in shaping the development of the social brain. Two lines of convergent evidence on face detection and biological motion detection will be presented to demonstrate the innate predispositions of the human system to detect social stimuli at birth. As for face detection, experiments will be presented to demonstrate that, by virtue of nonspecific attentional biases, a very coarse template of faces become active at birth. As for biological motion detection, studies will be presented to demonstrate that, since birth, the human system is able to detect social stimuli on the basis of their properties such as the presence of a semi-rigid motion named biological motion. Overall, the empirical evidence converges in supporting the notion that the human system begins life broadly tuned to detect social stimuli and that the progressive specialization will narrow the system for social stimuli as a function of experience.

Research paper thumbnail of How face specialization emerges in the first months of life

Progress in Brain Research, 2007

The present chapter deals with the topic of the ontogeny and development of face processing in th... more The present chapter deals with the topic of the ontogeny and development of face processing in the first months of life and is organized into two sections concerning face detection and face recognition. The first section focuses on the mechanisms underlying infants' visual preference for faces. Evidence is reviewed supporting the contention that newborns' face preferences is due to a set of non-specific constraints that stem from the general characteristics of the human visuo-perceptual system, rather than to a representational bias for faces. It is shown that infants' response to faces becomes more and more tuned to the face category over the first 3 months of life, revealing a gradual progressive specialization of the face-processing system. The second section sought to determine the properties of face recognition at birth. In particular, a series of experiments are presented to examine whether the inner facial part is processed and encoded when newborns recognize a face, and what kind of information--featural or configural--newborns' face recognition rely on. Overall, results are consistent with the existence of general constraints present at birth that tune the system to become specialized for faces later during development.

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptual Completion in Newborn Human Infants

Child Development, 2006

Despite decades of studies of human infants, a still open question concerns the role of visual ex... more Despite decades of studies of human infants, a still open question concerns the role of visual experience in the development of the ability to perceive complete shapes over partial occlusion. Previous studies show that newborns fail to manifest this ability, either because they lack the visual experience required for perceptual completion or because they fail to detect the pattern of motion. To distinguish these possibilities, newborns' perception of a center-occluded object was tested, using stroboscopic motion. Infants (mean age of 72 hr) perceived the object as a connected unit, providing the first evidence that the newborn is capable of filling in gaps in the visible surface layout when the relevant visual information can be detected by his or her immature visual system.

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns’ preference for goal-directed actions

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns' Face Recognition: Role of Inner and Outer Facial Features

Research paper thumbnail of Is the Face-Perception System Human-Specific at Birth

Developmental Psychology, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Face processing at birth: a Thatcher illusion study

Developmental Science, 2009

The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within... more The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within real face images by testing newborns’ sensitivity to the Thatcher illusion. Using the habituation procedure, newborns’ ability to discriminate between an unaltered face image and the same face with the eyes and the mouth 180° rotated (i.e. thatcherized) was investigated. Newborns were able to discriminate an unaltered from the thatcherized version of the same face when stimuli were presented in the canonical upright orientation (Experiment 1), but failed to discriminate the same stimuli when they were presented upside-down (Experiment 2). The results indicate that sensitivity to fine spatial information (defined as second-order relational information) in processing upright faces is already present at birth.

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns' Mooney-Face Percpetion

Research paper thumbnail of The time course of implicit processing of facial features: An event-related potential study

Research paper thumbnail of Congruency as a Nonspecific Perceptual Property Contributing to Newborns Face Preference

Child Development, 2008

Past research has shown that top-heaviness is a perceptual property that plays a crucial role in ... more Past research has shown that top-heaviness is a perceptual property that plays a crucial role in triggering newborns’ preference toward faces. The present study examined the contribution of a second configural property, congruency, to newborns’ face preference. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that when embedded in nonfacelike stimuli, congruency induces a preference of the same strength as that induced by facedness. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that the attentional biases toward facedness and congruency produce a cumulative effect on newborns’ visual preferences according to an additive model. These findings were extended by those of Experiment 5, showing that the additive model holds true when congruency is added to top-heaviness in nonfacelike stimuli displaying more elements in the upper portion.

Research paper thumbnail of Face processing at birth: a Thatcher illusion study

Developmental Science, 2009

The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within... more The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within real face images by testing newborns’ sensitivity to the Thatcher illusion. Using the habituation procedure, newborns’ ability to discriminate between an unaltered face image and the same face with the eyes and the mouth 180° rotated (i.e. thatcherized) was investigated. Newborns were able to discriminate an unaltered from the thatcherized version of the same face when stimuli were presented in the canonical upright orientation (Experiment 1), but failed to discriminate the same stimuli when they were presented upside-down (Experiment 2). The results indicate that sensitivity to fine spatial information (defined as second-order relational information) in processing upright faces is already present at birth.

Research paper thumbnail of Three-month-olds’ visual preference for faces and its underlying visual processing mechanisms

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Intersensory Perception at Birth: Newborns Match Nonhuman Primate Faces and Voices

Research paper thumbnail of The processing of social stimuli in early infancy

Progress in Brain Research, 2011

There are several lines of evidence which suggests that, since birth, the human system detects so... more There are several lines of evidence which suggests that, since birth, the human system detects social agents on the basis of at least two properties: the presence of a face and the way they move. This chapter reviews the infant research on the origin of brain specialization for social stimuli and on the role of innate mechanisms and perceptual experience in shaping the development of the social brain. Two lines of convergent evidence on face detection and biological motion detection will be presented to demonstrate the innate predispositions of the human system to detect social stimuli at birth. As for face detection, experiments will be presented to demonstrate that, by virtue of nonspecific attentional biases, a very coarse template of faces become active at birth. As for biological motion detection, studies will be presented to demonstrate that, since birth, the human system is able to detect social stimuli on the basis of their properties such as the presence of a semi-rigid motion named biological motion. Overall, the empirical evidence converges in supporting the notion that the human system begins life broadly tuned to detect social stimuli and that the progressive specialization will narrow the system for social stimuli as a function of experience.

Research paper thumbnail of How face specialization emerges in the first months of life

Progress in Brain Research, 2007

The present chapter deals with the topic of the ontogeny and development of face processing in th... more The present chapter deals with the topic of the ontogeny and development of face processing in the first months of life and is organized into two sections concerning face detection and face recognition. The first section focuses on the mechanisms underlying infants' visual preference for faces. Evidence is reviewed supporting the contention that newborns' face preferences is due to a set of non-specific constraints that stem from the general characteristics of the human visuo-perceptual system, rather than to a representational bias for faces. It is shown that infants' response to faces becomes more and more tuned to the face category over the first 3 months of life, revealing a gradual progressive specialization of the face-processing system. The second section sought to determine the properties of face recognition at birth. In particular, a series of experiments are presented to examine whether the inner facial part is processed and encoded when newborns recognize a face, and what kind of information--featural or configural--newborns' face recognition rely on. Overall, results are consistent with the existence of general constraints present at birth that tune the system to become specialized for faces later during development.

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptual Completion in Newborn Human Infants

Child Development, 2006

Despite decades of studies of human infants, a still open question concerns the role of visual ex... more Despite decades of studies of human infants, a still open question concerns the role of visual experience in the development of the ability to perceive complete shapes over partial occlusion. Previous studies show that newborns fail to manifest this ability, either because they lack the visual experience required for perceptual completion or because they fail to detect the pattern of motion. To distinguish these possibilities, newborns' perception of a center-occluded object was tested, using stroboscopic motion. Infants (mean age of 72 hr) perceived the object as a connected unit, providing the first evidence that the newborn is capable of filling in gaps in the visible surface layout when the relevant visual information can be detected by his or her immature visual system.

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns’ preference for goal-directed actions

Research paper thumbnail of Newborns' Face Recognition: Role of Inner and Outer Facial Features

Research paper thumbnail of Is the Face-Perception System Human-Specific at Birth

Developmental Psychology, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Face processing at birth: a Thatcher illusion study

Developmental Science, 2009

The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within... more The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within real face images by testing newborns’ sensitivity to the Thatcher illusion. Using the habituation procedure, newborns’ ability to discriminate between an unaltered face image and the same face with the eyes and the mouth 180° rotated (i.e. thatcherized) was investigated. Newborns were able to discriminate an unaltered from the thatcherized version of the same face when stimuli were presented in the canonical upright orientation (Experiment 1), but failed to discriminate the same stimuli when they were presented upside-down (Experiment 2). The results indicate that sensitivity to fine spatial information (defined as second-order relational information) in processing upright faces is already present at birth.