Face Perception

British psychologists Bruce and Young mark the 25th anniversary of their first joint paper on face recognition by presenting an introduction to it for students and professionals. They cover the face as an organ of communication, the science and methods of face perception research, social categories, messages from facial movements, gaze and attention, recognizing faces, person perception, and nature and nurture. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Vicki Bruce has taught and researched aspects of visual perception, particularly face perception, since completing her PhD in 1977. Vicki has held chairs in psychology at the universities of Nottingham, Stirling, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Andy Young has more than 35 years of experience researching different aspects of face perception. He has held posts at the universities of Aberdeen, Lancaster, Durham and York, and with the Medical Research Council.

The authors’ seminal paper on the theoretical framework for the field of face recognition was published in the British Journal of Psychology in 1986. A special issue of the British Journal of Psychology, entitled Person Perception 25 Years After Bruce and Young (1986), is due to be published in 2011.

The authors were awarded the 2001 BPS Book Award for their work on face perception.