Behavioural separation of face memory and face perception

Jan Kadlec; Catherine R. Walsh; Meytal Wilf; Jesse Rissman; Michal Ramot

doi:10.1101/2025.02.17.638018

Behavioural separation of face memory and face perception

Jan Kadlec, Catherine R. Walsh, Meytal Wilf, Jesse Rissman, Michal Ramot^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Brain Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

A long-standing debate in neuropsychology concerns whether perception and memory function as independent systems or interact to support cognition. To investigate this, we developed the Face Memory and Perception (FMP) task, a novel paradigm designed to systematically disentangle whether and how these processes interact under different conditions. Across four independent datasets with over 800 participants in total, we observed consistent evidence that face perception and working memory operate independently when task demands are low, but in more complex conditions, these processes appear to interact. Notably, this interaction emerged only when the interference directly involved face-processing mechanisms, and did not arise from a general increase in cognitive load. Rather than the use of shared resources by overlapping cognitive processes, this interaction was driven by a shift in behavioural strategy from holistic to feature-based face processing as a result of maintenance-disrupting interference. These results underscore the fundamental independence of perception and working memory while also explaining some of the conditions under which interactions might be observed.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Original language	English
Number of pages	37
Journal	BioRxiv
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.17.638018
Publication status	In preparation - 20 Feb 2025

Funding

We would like to thank all participants that took part in this study. We thank Sasha Devore for insightful comments during the writing process. J.K. would like to thank Dana Yakobi and Ron Rotkopf for their advice on statistics, Jan Soukup for advice on mathematical modelling and interpretation, and Anna Uzonyi for fruitful discussions about the design and results of the experiment and tips throughout the entire process. This work was generously supported by the European Research Council (ERC-2022-StG 101077921), Israel Science Foundation grant 829/22, the UCLA/Weizmann Collaboration in Neuroscience grant, and the Zuckerman STEM leadership program. M.R. is the incumbent of the Roel C. Buck Career Development Chair. C.R.W. was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-2034835. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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title = "Behavioural separation of face memory and face perception",

abstract = "A long-standing debate in neuropsychology concerns whether perception and memory function as independent systems or interact to support cognition. To investigate this, we developed the Face Memory and Perception (FMP) task, a novel paradigm designed to systematically disentangle whether and how these processes interact under different conditions. Across four independent datasets with over 800 participants in total, we observed consistent evidence that face perception and working memory operate independently when task demands are low, but in more complex conditions, these processes appear to interact. Notably, this interaction emerged only when the interference directly involved face-processing mechanisms, and did not arise from a general increase in cognitive load. Rather than the use of shared resources by overlapping cognitive processes, this interaction was driven by a shift in behavioural strategy from holistic to feature-based face processing as a result of maintenance-disrupting interference. These results underscore the fundamental independence of perception and working memory while also explaining some of the conditions under which interactions might be observed.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.",

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AB - A long-standing debate in neuropsychology concerns whether perception and memory function as independent systems or interact to support cognition. To investigate this, we developed the Face Memory and Perception (FMP) task, a novel paradigm designed to systematically disentangle whether and how these processes interact under different conditions. Across four independent datasets with over 800 participants in total, we observed consistent evidence that face perception and working memory operate independently when task demands are low, but in more complex conditions, these processes appear to interact. Notably, this interaction emerged only when the interference directly involved face-processing mechanisms, and did not arise from a general increase in cognitive load. Rather than the use of shared resources by overlapping cognitive processes, this interaction was driven by a shift in behavioural strategy from holistic to feature-based face processing as a result of maintenance-disrupting interference. These results underscore the fundamental independence of perception and working memory while also explaining some of the conditions under which interactions might be observed.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

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Behavioural separation of face memory and face perception

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