In the Eye of the Beholder: The Science of Face Perception - Hardcover

Bruce, Vicki; Young, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198524404 ISBN 13: 9780198524403

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Babies are born with an instant fascination with the human face, and this powerful natural attraction persists throughout our lives. In the Eye of the Beholder takes readers on an engaging tour of the science behind this all-too-human activity, revealing what happens inside our heads when we look at faces.
What can neuroscience tell us about how the brain perceives faces? How do facial proportions change as we age? Can one judge personality simply by looking at a face? Why are some faces more attractive to us? Psychologists Vicki Bruce and Andy Young provide thought-provoking answers to these questions, using state-of-the-art science, amazing computer-manipulated graphics, and colorful paintings from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
This lavishly illustrated volume--featuring over 200 pictures, including fifty in full color--takes us behind the scenes of something we do a hundred times a day, revealing how we look at, and judge, human faces.

About this title

About the Author

Vicki Bruce is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Stirling. Andrew Young is a Professor in the MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge University.

Reviews

One of the marvels of human perception is how quickly we recognize a face and read its expression. No less impressive is our ability to call a face up from memory without actually seeing it. Bruce and Young are British psychologists who analyze both the psychology and the physiology of face perception. They wrote the book to accompany an exhibition, "The Science of the Face," presented by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh last spring. A number of portraits from the gallery serve to illustrate points in the tale, as do computer manipulations of facial characteristics. One learns a great deal about what goes on in the brain as one looks at a face, but in the end the authors conclude that "many things remain mysterious" about the process.

Art and science join hands in this beautifully illustrated book on the subject of human facial perception. Bruce (psychology, Univ. of Stirling) and Young (applied psychology, Cambridge Univ.) describe the neurological processes that occur as we look at a face and suggest reasons for the almost universal reaction to beauty and certain features of facial "personality." Written to accompany a recent exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the book successfully illustrates psychological and neurological processes with pieces from the show. While emphasizing research in psychology, the authors also include relevant discoveries in the fields of medicine, biology, and engineering. Daniel McNeill's The Face (Little, Brown, 1998) covers similar ground in a slightly more engaging, accessible manner?though without the extensive and effective use of illustration found here. Both books are recommended for their organization, clarity of text, and unusual insight into human behavior.?Laurie Bartolini, Illinois State Lib., Springfield
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198524404
• ISBN 13: 9780198524403
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 290