Chapter 1. Prototype Recognition

1.1 Introduction

This experiment is a replication of a study done to determine the role of average or prototypical facial appearance in our perception of beauty. The results showed how closely facial appearance and our perception of beauty are intertwined, which has implications for our understanding of natural selection. The effect in this study was shown to be even stronger when more faces were combined to make the composite (average or prototypical) face; the additional faces made the composite face even more attractive. Further studies have determined that bilateral symmetry is crucial for both humans and other species in the perception of attractiveness. These results can be seen within the larger context of work done in the field of evolutionary biology that has shown us that averageness and symmetry across species is a crucial determinant of reproductive success.

References:

Langlois, J.H. and Roggman, L.A. (1990) Attractive faces are only average. Psychological Science, 1(2), 115-121

Langlois, J.H., Roggman, L.A., Casey, R.J., Ritter, J.M., Rieser-Deaner, L.A., & Jenkins, V.Y. (1987). Infant preferences for attractive faces: rudiments of a stereotype? Developmental Psychology, 23, 363-369.

Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.

1.2 Experiment Setup

Figure 1.1

1.3 Instructions

You will need to press the space bar to start the experiment. A series of faces will be presented in the middle of the screen, one at a time. There will be 17 stimuli (faces) presented for 10 seconds each. Your task is to rate each of the faces for attractiveness on a scale from 1 to 5.

Keyboard Responses

1.4 Experiment

1.5 Results

1.6 Quiz