TOUR
Halberdier
(1896)
Ferdinand Hodler
Swiss / Suisse
327 x 108.3 cm
Oil on canvas / Huile sur toile
EN
Science notes
The face inversion effect. How the brain has working expertise in recognize faces that are not inverted. The edges are still there, but we do not recognize them. It has been shown by vision scientists that humans are extremely adept at face recognition. One could say that we are all face experts, in direct analogy to how trained Dog Show judges become dog experts. One hallmark of such expertise is that our accuracy declines radically when faces are shown upside down. This is because we have almost no experience recognizing faces this way. This phenomenon is called the face inversion effect. The following face illusions are a way of showing how inaccurate our perception of faces is when upside down, and the bias we have to see them normally. This is sometimes called the Margaret Thatcher Illusion, also shown well with Adele, below.
Art notes
The face inversion effect. How the brain has working expertise in recognize faces that are not inverted. The edges are still there, but we do not recognize them. It has been shown by vision scientists that humans are extremely adept at face recognition. One could say that we are all face experts, in direct analogy to how trained Dog Show judges become dog experts. One hallmark of such expertise is that our accuracy declines radically when faces are shown upside down. This is because we have almost no experience recognizing faces this way. This phenomenon is called the face inversion effect. The following face illusions are a way of showing how inaccurate our perception of faces is when upside down, and the bias we have to see them normally. This is sometimes called the Margaret Thatcher Illusion, also shown well with Adele, below.
FR
Science notes
The face inversion effect. How the brain has working expertise in recognize faces that are not inverted. The edges are still there, but we do not recognize them. It has been shown by vision scientists that humans are extremely adept at face recognition. One could say that we are all face experts, in direct analogy to how trained Dog Show judges become dog experts. One hallmark of such expertise is that our accuracy declines radically when faces are shown upside down. This is because we have almost no experience recognizing faces this way. This phenomenon is called the face inversion effect. The following face illusions are a way of showing how inaccurate our perception of faces is when upside down, and the bias we have to see them normally. This is sometimes called the Margaret Thatcher Illusion, also shown well with Adele, below.
Art notes
The face inversion effect. How the brain has working expertise in recognize faces that are not inverted. The edges are still there, but we do not recognize them. It has been shown by vision scientists that humans are extremely adept at face recognition. One could say that we are all face experts, in direct analogy to how trained Dog Show judges become dog experts. One hallmark of such expertise is that our accuracy declines radically when faces are shown upside down. This is because we have almost no experience recognizing faces this way. This phenomenon is called the face inversion effect. The following face illusions are a way of showing how inaccurate our perception of faces is when upside down, and the bias we have to see them normally. This is sometimes called the Margaret Thatcher Illusion, also shown well with Adele, below.