Face and Object Perception¶
Scope: Processes that recover identity, category, or structure from sensory form: face identity, face perception, visual object recognition, visual form recognition, visual perception, pattern recognition, motion perception (including biological motion), depth perception; plus the non-visual object-perception rows (somatosensory, gustatory, olfactory, proprioceptive) that have no better home.
Out of scope: Faces and objects as stimulus categories — HED handles those on the stimulus axis.
This category contains 12 processes.
Biological motion perception
Process ID: hed_biological_motion_perception
Recognition of animate motion from sparse kinematic cues, such as point-light displays.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Fundamental references
Johansson (1973) Perception & Psychophysics 14:201–211
Recent references
Pavlova (2012) Cerebral Cortex 22:981–995
Depth perception
Process ID: hed_depth_perception
Perception of distance and three-dimensional structure from monocular and binocular cues.
No tasks in the current catalog are linked to this process.
Fundamental references
Julesz (1971) Foundations of Cyclopean Perception
Recent references
Parker (2007) Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8:379–391
Face identity recognition
Process ID: hed_face_identity_recognition
Identification of an individual from face-specific features.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Fundamental references
Bruce & Young (1986) British Journal of Psychology 77:305–327
Recent references
Duchaine & Yovel (2015) Annual Review of Vision Science 1:393–416
Face perception
Process ID: hed_face_perception
Recognition and processing of faces as a specialized perceptual category; N170-sensitive, FFA-dependent.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Fundamental references
Kanwisher, McDermott & Chun (1997) Journal of Neuroscience 17:4302–4311
Recent references
Tsao & Livingstone (2008) Annual Review of Neuroscience 31:411–437
Gustatory perception
Process ID: hed_gustatory_perception
Also known as: Gustation — Pre-reframe name; renamed 2026-04-15 for consistency with other modality-perception rows.
Perception of taste qualities (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami).
No tasks in the current catalog are linked to this process.
Recent references
Chandrashekar, Hoon, Ryba & Zuker (2006) Nature 444:288–294
Motion perception
Process ID: hed_motion_perception
Detection and interpretation of moving stimuli; includes global motion and optic flow.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Fundamental references
Newsome & Paré (1988) Journal of Neuroscience 8:2201–2211
Recent references
Nishida (2011) Vision Research 51:645–673
Olfactory perception
Process ID: hed_olfactory_perception
Perception of odor via the olfactory system.
No tasks in the current catalog are linked to this process.
Fundamental references
Buck & Axel (1991) Cell 65:175–187
Recent references
Wilson & Sullivan (2011) Neuron 72:506–519
Pattern recognition
Process ID: hed_pattern_recognition
Categorization of sensory input according to its structure.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Recent references
DiCarlo, Zoccolan & Rust (2012) Neuron 73:415–434
Somatosensory perception
Process ID: hed_somatosensory_perception
Also known as: Somatosensation — Pre-reframe name; renamed 2026-04-15 for consistency with other modality-perception rows.
Perception of bodily sensations, including touch, proprioception, temperature, and pain.
No tasks in the current catalog are linked to this process.
Recent references
Abraira & Ginty (2013) Neuron 79:618–639
Visual form recognition
Process ID: hed_visual_form_recognition
Assignment of visual input to a shape category prior to semantic identification.
No tasks in the current catalog are linked to this process.
Fundamental references
Biederman (1987) Psychological Review 94:115–147
Recent references
DiCarlo, Zoccolan & Rust (2012) Neuron 73:415–434
Visual object recognition
Process ID: hed_visual_object_recognition
Identification of objects from visual input, invariant over viewpoint, size, and lighting.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Recent references
DiCarlo, Zoccolan & Rust (2012) Neuron 73:415–434
Visual perception
Process ID: hed_visual_perception
Perception of visual information; includes form, motion, depth, color, and spatial layout.
Tasks
The following tasks engage this process:
Fundamental references
Hubel & Wiesel (1962) Journal of Physiology 160:106–154
Recent references
Kravitz, Saleem, Baker, Ungerleider & Mishkin (2013) Trends in Cognitive Sciences 17:26–49