Becoming a ''greeble'' expert: Exploring mechanisms for face recognition

Sensitivity to configural changes in face processing has been cited as evidence for face-exclusive mechanisms. Alternatively, general mechanisms could be fine-tuned by experience with homogeneous stimuli, We tested sensitivity to configural transformations far novices and experts with nonface stimuli (''Greebles''), Parts of transformed Greebles were identified via forced-choice recognition, Regardless of expertise level, the recognition of parts in the Studied configuration was better than in isolation, suggesting an object advantage, For experts, recognizing Greeble parts in a Transformed configuration was slower than in the Studied configuration, but only at upright. Thus, expertise with visually similar objects, not faces per se, may produce configural sensitivity. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.