Cognitive and Neural Processes Underlying Face Recognition and Spatial Navigation

One primary function of human perception, cognition, and action is to effecitvely interact with the environment.  My research aims to understand two fundamental aspects of these human-environment interactions: (a) how do we perceive, recognize, and interact with faces (i.e., interacting with our soical environment), and (b) how do we perceive, represent, and navigate in spaces (i.e., interacting with our physical environment).

The ulitmate goal of my research is to understand the cognitive and neural mechasnisms underlying the dynamic human-environment interactions (i.e., face recognition and spatial navigaiton), and more importantly, to imporve the way we interact with the dynamic physical and social environments (i.e., improve face- and space-related cognitive and social ability).

Other-Race Effect (ORE) in Face Memory

• Why do people have difficulty recognizing other-race faces?
• How to reduce such difficulty in eyewitness memory?

Holistic Processing of Faces and Non-Face Objects

• What type of information underlies holistic processing?
• Is holistic processing related to face recognition ability?

Naturalistic Face Recognition: Dynamic Faces

• How does facial motion affect holistic processing and ORE?
• What makes some natural faces more memorable than others?

Cue Interaction in Human Navigation

• How do people use visual and non-visual cues for navigation?
• What determines our sense of direction during navigation?

Neural Mechanisms Supporting Recognition and Navigation

• How does the brain represents faces and spaces?
• What brain networks support recognition and navigation?

EDUCATION

APPOINTMENTS

AFFILIATIONS & SERVICES

Association for Psychological Science;  Psychonomic Society;  Vision Sciences Society;

Spatial Network (SILC)

Grant proposal reviewer

Israel Science Foundation (ISF)

Ad hoc reviewer

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics;  Behavioral Brain Research;  British Journal of Psychology; Cognition; Cognitive Psychology; Experimental Brain Research;  Frontiers in Psychology (Review editor for Frontiers in Cognitive Science);  Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience;  Journal of Cognitive Psychology; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition;  Journal of Vision;  Perception;  PLoS ONE;  Psychonomic Bulletin & Review; Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology;  Vision Research;  Visual Cognition; 

Acta Psychologica Sinica (in Chinese);  Advance in Psychological Science (in Chinese).

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Face Perception and Recognition

Spatial Cognition and Navigation

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed articles

• Hinterecher, T., Leroy, C., Zhao, M., Butz, M. V., Bülthoff, H. H., & Meilinger, T.  (2017).  No advantage for remembering horizontal over vertical spatial locations learned from a single viewpoint. Memory & Cognition, in press .
• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2017). Holitic processing of static and moving faces. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(7), 1020-1035.
• Zhao, M., Bülthoff, H. H., & Bülthoff, I. (2016). Beyond faces and expertise: Facelike holitic processing of nonface objects in the absence of expertise. Psychological Science, 27(2), 213-222.
  
• Zhao, M., Bülthoff, H. H., & Bülthoff, I. (2016). A shape-based account for holistic face processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(4), 584-597.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2015). Environmental stability modulates the role of path integration in human navigation. Cognition, 142, 96-109.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2015). How you get there from here: Interaction of visual landmarks and path integration in human navigation. Psychological Science, 26(6), 915-924.
  
• Zhao, M., Hayward, W. G., & Bülthoff, I.(2014). Holistic processing, contact, and the other-race effect in face recognition.  Vision Research, 105, 61-69.
• Zhao, M., Hayward, W. G., & Bülthoff, I. (2014). Face format at encoding affects the other-race effect in face memory. Journal of Vision, 14(9):6, 1-13.
  
• Zhao, M., Cheung, S-H., Wong, A. C-N., Rhodes, G., Chan, E. K. S., Chan, W. W. L., & Hayward, W. (2014). Processing of configural and componential information in face-selective cortical areas. Cognitive Neuroscience, 5(3-4), 160-167.
• Zhao, M., & Hayward, W. G. (2013). Integrative processing of invariant aspects of faces: Effect of gender and race processing on identity analysis. Journal of Vision, 13(1):15, 1-18.
• Zhao, M., & Hayward, W. G. (2010). Holistic processing underlies gender judgments of faces. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 72, 591-596.
• Zhao, M., Zhou, G., Mou, W., Hayward, W. G., & Owen, C. B. (2007). Spatial updating during locomotion does not eliminate viewpoint dependence in visual object processing. Visual Cognition, 14, 402-419.
• Mou, W., Zhao, M., & McNamara, T. P. (2007). Layout geometry in the selection of intrinsic frames of reference from multiple viewpoints. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 145-154.

• Mou, W., Zhao, M., & Li, X. (2006). Human spatial memory and spatial navigation.  Advance in Psychological Science, 14, 497-504. (In Chinese).
• Zhao, M. (2006). Mental representation of locations and spatial relations of objects in a scene. Advance in Psychological Science, 14, 321-327. (In Chinese).
• Zhao, M., & Mou, W. (2005). Orientation specificity of spatial representation in multi-view learning. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 37, 308-313. (In Chinese).

Conference proceeding

• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2013). The other-race effect in face recognition is sensitive to face format at encoding. Visual Cognition, 26, 722-725.

Working Manuscripts

• Zhao, M., Rhodes, G., Cheung O. S., Zhou, G., Bülthoff, I., & Hayward, W. G. (in revision). Face recognition following study of scrambled face features.
• Zhao, M., Bülthoff, H. H., & Bülthoff, I. (in preparation). Long-term memory of own- and other-race faces.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (in preparation). Sensing environmental stability during navigation.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• Zhao, M., Srismith, D., & Bülthoff, I. (2017, May). How does representation of faces change with increasing familiarity?  Annual Meeting of Vision Science Society, St. Pete Beach, FL, USA.
• Zhao, M. (2016, September). Memory of own- and other-race faces: Influence of encoding and retention processes. Symposium on social categorization and face processing.  50th Conference of Germany Society for Psychology (DGPs), Leipzig, Germany
• Srismith, D., Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2016, August). Precise representation of persoanlly, but not visually familiar faces. Annual Meeting of European Conference on Visual Perception, Barcelona, Spain.
• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2016, August). Holistic processing of static and rigidly moving faces. Annual Meeting of European Conference on Visual Perception, Barcelona, Spain.
• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2016, May). Holistic processing of unfamiliar line patterns. Annual Meeting of Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, FL.
• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2015, May). Intrinsic face memorability predicts short- and long-term memory of static and dynamic faces. Annual Meeting of Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, FL.

• Bülthoff, I., & Zhao, M. (2015, May). What type of facial information underlies holistic face processing. Annual Meeting of Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, FL.

• Leroy, C., Zhao, M., Butz, M., Bülthoff, H.H. & Meilinger, T. (2015, March). Spatial memory in the horizontal and vertical plane.  The 57th Conference of Experimental Psychologists (Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen), March 8-11, Hildesheim, Germany

• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2014, August). Long-term memory of own-race and other-race faces. Annual Meeting of European Conference on Visual Perception, Belgrade, Serbia.

• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2014, May). Face race affects various types of face processing, but affects them differently. Annual Meeting of Vision Sciences Society, St Pete Beach, FL.

• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2013, November). The other-race effect in face recognition is sensitive to face format at encoding. Annual Workshop on OPAM, Toronto, Canada.
• Zhao, M., & Bülthoff, I. (2013, August). Learning faces from multiple viewpoints eliminates the other-race effect. Annual Meeting of European Conference on Visual Perception, Bremen, Germany.
• Zhao, M., &Warren, W. H. (2013, May). Visual and self-motion cues are integrated to improve navigation precision, but compete to determine navigation direction. Invited presentation at Spatial Memory Conference, Bayesian and Beyond, Richmond, VA.

• Warren, W. H., & Zhao, M. (2012, June). Interaction of visual landmarks and path integration in human navigation. Realism to Relevance:  An Ecological Approach to Perception, Action, and Cognition. A Festschrift to Honor the Scientific and Mentoring Contributions of Herbert L. Pick, Jr., Minneapolis, MN.
• Hayward, W., Zhao, M., Cheung, S., Wong, A., Rhodes, G., Chan, E., Chan, W. (2012, June). Perception of configural and component information in own-race and other-race faces: An fMRI study. Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Beijing, China.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2012, May). Does path integration serve as a ‘reference system’ for detecting landmark instability? Annual Meeting of Vision Sciences Society, Naples, FL.
• Warren, W. H., & Zhao, M. (2011, December). Interaction of visual landmarks and path integration in human navigation. Bravi Symposium: Visually guided navigation and scene perception, Boston, MA.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2011, November). How do humans detect landmark instability during navigation? Annual Meeting of Psychonomics Society, Seattle, WA.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2011, May). Is path integration an automatic process or a back-up system for landmark-based navigation? Annual Meetings of Vision Sciences Society, Naples, FL.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2010, November). Path integration and visual landmarks: Optimal combination or multiple systems? Annual Meeting of Psychonomics Society, St. Louis, MO.
• Zhao, M., & Warren, W. H. (2010, August). Are path integration and visual landmarks optimally combined in spatial navigation? Spatial Cognition 2010, Portland, OR.
• Zhao, M., & Hayward, W. G. (2009, May). Holistic perception of face gender for both own-race and other-race faces. Annual Meetings of Vision Sciences Society, Naples, FL.
• Hayward, W. G., Zhao, M., Cheung, O., Rhodes, G., & Gauthier, I. (2009, May). Dissociating contributions of configural and component information to the own-race advantage in face recognition. Annual Meetings of Vision Sciences Society, Naples, FL.
• Hayward, W. G., Zhao, M., & Rhodes, G. (2008, July). Configuration and component processing of own-race and other-race faces. The Asian-Pacific Conference on Vision, Brisbane, Australia.
• Mou, W., Zhao, M., & McNamara, T. P. (2006, November). Layout geometry affects the selection of intrinsic frames of reference in spatial memory. National Conference on Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Guilin, China.
• Mou, W. Hayward, W. G., Zhao, M., Zhou, G., & Owen, C. B. (2006, May). Spatial updating during locomotion does not eliminate viewpoint dependence in visual object processing. Annual Meetings of Vision Sciences Society, Sarasota, FL.
• Mou, W., Zhao, M., & McNamara, T. P. (2005, November). Layout geometry and viewing perspectives in the selection of intrinsic frames of reference. Annual Meeting of Psychonomics Society, Toronto, ON, Canada.