Behavioral and neural aspects of serial dependence in facial identity
Lidström, Anette LU
(2025)
- Abstract
- The visual environment can be dynamic and often changes from one moment to the next, causing sensory input to be noisy and uncertain. In addition, internal noise from neural activity in the brain contributes to this uncertainty. Despite these challenges, the brain’s visual system adeptly processes this noisy and uncertain information, creating a stable and continuous perceptual experience that allows us to navigate with a reliable sense of our environment. A phenomenon called serial dependence, in which the recent past is actively used to interpret what we are currently seeing, is thought to play a role in ensuring this perceptual stability and continuity.
Serial dependence occurs when current stimulus judgments are systematically... (More) - The visual environment can be dynamic and often changes from one moment to the next, causing sensory input to be noisy and uncertain. In addition, internal noise from neural activity in the brain contributes to this uncertainty. Despite these challenges, the brain’s visual system adeptly processes this noisy and uncertain information, creating a stable and continuous perceptual experience that allows us to navigate with a reliable sense of our environment. A phenomenon called serial dependence, in which the recent past is actively used to interpret what we are currently seeing, is thought to play a role in ensuring this perceptual stability and continuity.
Serial dependence occurs when current stimulus judgments are systematically
drawn towards recent stimulus history, so that a current stimulus is judged to be
more similar to a previous stimulus than it actually is. Serial dependence is known to occur for a variety of objects and features, including facial identity. Although serial dependence results in a misjudgment, it is thought to be beneficial and have a positive impact on facial recognition. The aim of my thesis was to investigate how perception and working memory contribute to serial dependence in facial identity. Paper I investigated the time course of serial dependence in facial identity from early perception to working memory stages in the context of task-related decisions. The main findings of Paper I show that merely perceiving a previous task-irrelevant face is sufficient to induce serial dependence and support the involvement of both perceptual and working memory processes in serial dependence in facial identity. Paper I further show that serial dependence in facial identity can be separated from
serial effects arising from stimulus interactions within working memory.
In Paper II, electroencephalogram was used to investigate the relation between serial dependence and working memory capacity. Results show that in the context of dual-task demands, individual differences in working memory capacity predict serial dependence in terms of selective suppression of task-irrelevant and selective maintenance of task-relevant information. Working memory is closely intertwined with perception. Electroencephalogram and a dual-task were also used in Paper III to investigate the interactive contribution of perception and working memory to serial dependence. The results further support selective suppression as a mechanism contributing to serial dependence as well as mechanisms such as perceptual capacity, recollection, post-retrieval monitoring and working memory maintenance, operating in part jointly and independently on different time scales.
The present thesis contributes to understanding how perceptual and working memory mechanisms underlying serial dependence operate to achieve stability and continuity by actively smoothing the appearance of faces across brief temporal delays, with the specific aim of stabilizing judgments of facial identity. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Den visuella omvärlden kan vara dynamisk och föränderlig vilket skapar otydlighet i sensorisk information. Dessutom genererar hjärnans neurala aktivitet ”brus” som bidrar till denna otydlighet. Trots dessa svårigheter kan det visuella systemet i hjärnan bearbeta denna otydliga information och skapa en kontinuerlig och stabil visuell upplevelse, vilket låter oss navigera i omvärlden med trygghet. Ett fenomen kallat ’serie beroende’, där nyligen upplevd sensorisk information används för att tolka det vi ser i nuet, tros bidra till denna stabila och kontinuerliga upplevelse.
Serie beroende uppstår när visuella bedömningar systematiskt dras mot stimuli vi nyligen sett. Ett nuvarande stimulus bedöms då vara mer likt ett tidigare sett... (More) - Den visuella omvärlden kan vara dynamisk och föränderlig vilket skapar otydlighet i sensorisk information. Dessutom genererar hjärnans neurala aktivitet ”brus” som bidrar till denna otydlighet. Trots dessa svårigheter kan det visuella systemet i hjärnan bearbeta denna otydliga information och skapa en kontinuerlig och stabil visuell upplevelse, vilket låter oss navigera i omvärlden med trygghet. Ett fenomen kallat ’serie beroende’, där nyligen upplevd sensorisk information används för att tolka det vi ser i nuet, tros bidra till denna stabila och kontinuerliga upplevelse.
Serie beroende uppstår när visuella bedömningar systematiskt dras mot stimuli vi nyligen sett. Ett nuvarande stimulus bedöms då vara mer likt ett tidigare sett
stimulus än vad det egentligen är. Fenomenet har visat sig för olika objekt och
egenskaper, inklusive ansiktsidentitet. Även om serie beroende kan leda till
felbedömningar, anses det vara fördelaktigt för ansiktsigenkänning. Syftet med min avhandling var att undersöka hur visuell perception och arbetsminne bidrar till serieberoende för ansiktsidentitet. I Artikel I undersökte jag hur serie beroende för ansiktsidentitet manifesteras över tid, från det tidiga perceptuella stadiet till det senare i arbetsminnet, inom ramen för uppgiftsrelaterade bedömningar. De huvudsakliga fynden visar att enbart exponering för ett ansikte, även om det inte är relevant för uppgiften, är tillräckligt för att serie beroende ska uppstå och att både perception och arbetsminne bidrar till fenomenet. Artikel I visar också att serieberoende för ansiktsidentitet skiljer sig från serieeffekter som uppstår från stimulusinteraktioner i arbetsminnet.
I Artikel II använde jag elektroencefalogram för att undersöka relationen mellan
serie beroende och arbetsminneskapacitet. Resultaten visar att vid simultana
uppgifter förutsäger individuella skillnader i arbetsminneskapacitet serie beroende. Detta beror på skillnader i selektiv inhibering av uppgiftsirrelevant och selektivt upprätthållande av uppgiftsrelevant information. Arbetsminne och perception är nära kopplade. Elektroencefalogram och en simultan uppgift användes även i Artikel III för att undersöka hur interaktioner mellan perception och arbetsminne bidrar till serie beroende. Resultaten ger ytterligare stöd för att selektiv inhibering, liksom perceptuell kapacitet, minnesåterkallelse och upprätthållande av minnen, delvis tillsammans och oberoende vid olika tidpunkter under stimulusbearbetning, bidrar till serie beroende.
Denna avhandling bidrar till förståelsen för hur mekanismer relaterade till
perception och arbetsminne arbetar för att skapa visuell stabilitet och kontinuitet. Detta görs genom att aktivt integrera ansiktsutseenden över korta tidsperioder via serie beroende, i syfte att stabilisera bedömningar av ansiktsidentitet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/c0305922-c878-49f9-9f76-9f742ea58bb5
- author
- Lidström, Anette
LU
- supervisor
-
- Geoff Patching LU
- Ines Bramao LU
- opponent
-
- Assistant Professor Manassi, Mauro, University of Aberdeen
- organization
- alternative title
- Beteendemässiga och neurala aspekter av serie beroende för ansiktsidentitet
- publishing date
- 2025-05
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Serial dependence, Facial identity, Perception, Working memory
- pages
- 116 pages
- publisher
- Lunds Universitet
- defense location
- Gamla Köket Sh128, Socialhögskolan, Lund
- defense date
- 2025-06-11 13:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8104-483-6
- 978-91-8104-484-3
- project
- Rethinking perceptual processes for the 21st century
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c0305922-c878-49f9-9f76-9f742ea58bb5
- date added to LUP
- 2025-05-05 16:39:24
- date last changed
- 2025-05-13 13:28:01
@phdthesis{c0305922-c878-49f9-9f76-9f742ea58bb5,
abstract = {{The visual environment can be dynamic and often changes from one moment to the next, causing sensory input to be noisy and uncertain. In addition, internal noise from neural activity in the brain contributes to this uncertainty. Despite these challenges, the brain’s visual system adeptly processes this noisy and uncertain information, creating a stable and continuous perceptual experience that allows us to navigate with a reliable sense of our environment. A phenomenon called serial dependence, in which the recent past is actively used to interpret what we are currently seeing, is thought to play a role in ensuring this perceptual stability and continuity.<br/><br/>Serial dependence occurs when current stimulus judgments are systematically <br/>drawn towards recent stimulus history, so that a current stimulus is judged to be <br/>more similar to a previous stimulus than it actually is. Serial dependence is known to occur for a variety of objects and features, including facial identity. Although serial dependence results in a misjudgment, it is thought to be beneficial and have a positive impact on facial recognition. The aim of my thesis was to investigate how perception and working memory contribute to serial dependence in facial identity. Paper I investigated the time course of serial dependence in facial identity from early perception to working memory stages in the context of task-related decisions. The main findings of Paper I show that merely perceiving a previous task-irrelevant face is sufficient to induce serial dependence and support the involvement of both perceptual and working memory processes in serial dependence in facial identity. Paper I further show that serial dependence in facial identity can be separated from <br/>serial effects arising from stimulus interactions within working memory.<br/><br/>In Paper II, electroencephalogram was used to investigate the relation between serial dependence and working memory capacity. Results show that in the context of dual-task demands, individual differences in working memory capacity predict serial dependence in terms of selective suppression of task-irrelevant and selective maintenance of task-relevant information. Working memory is closely intertwined with perception. Electroencephalogram and a dual-task were also used in Paper III to investigate the interactive contribution of perception and working memory to serial dependence. The results further support selective suppression as a mechanism contributing to serial dependence as well as mechanisms such as perceptual capacity, recollection, post-retrieval monitoring and working memory maintenance, operating in part jointly and independently on different time scales. <br/><br/>The present thesis contributes to understanding how perceptual and working memory mechanisms underlying serial dependence operate to achieve stability and continuity by actively smoothing the appearance of faces across brief temporal delays, with the specific aim of stabilizing judgments of facial identity.}},
author = {{Lidström, Anette}},
isbn = {{978-91-8104-483-6}},
keywords = {{Serial dependence; Facial identity; Perception; Working memory}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Lunds Universitet}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Behavioral and neural aspects of serial dependence in facial identity}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/218562617/Behavioral_and_neural_aspects_of_serial_dependence_in_facial_identity.pdf}},
year = {{2025}},
}