Sensitivity to horizontal and vertical spatial relations in younger and older adults' face perception.

Vertical 2nd order spatial relations showed much stronger age-related decrease than horizontal spatial relations in face perception.

• Thirty-one younger adults (M = 23.5 years) and fifty-seven older adults (M = 61.7 years) performed a change detection task in same/different format
• Face stimuli were manipulated in eye distance (horizontal, H) and eye height (vertical, V)
• V relations showed 'much stronger age-related decrease than H relations'
• H sensitivity was 'practically unaffected' by presence or absence of internal features in both age groups

Younger and older adults showed differential modulation of sensitivity to vertical changes by internal and external facial features.

• Younger adults showed 'cumulative improvement from additional facial cues' for vertical relations
• Older adults 'performed worse with isolated sets of internal features and relied solely on external features when they were available'
• Sensitivity to H changes 'improved modestly from external feature context' in both age groups
• This pattern indicates 'age-related impairment of internal feature coding and a loss of spatial cue integration' in older adults

Both age groups showed similar face inversion effects, which were of medium size for horizontal but strong for vertical spatial relations.

• Face inversion effects were 'of medium size in H but strong in V'
• Both younger and older adults showed 'similar effects of face inversion'
• Intact inversion effects suggest 'also the elderly process faces using category-specific modules'
• The stimuli were shown in isolation or with the embedding external feature context (face outline with ears, hairline and hairs)

Older adults showed serious impairment in vertical 2nd order spatial relations combined with internal feature weakness and reliance on external features.

• 'Serious impairment in vertical 2nd order relations and internal feature weakness, coupled with reliance on just external features, indicate age-related impairment of internal feature coding and a loss of spatial cue integration'
• Face stimuli were composed of different sets of internal features (eyes, nose and mouth)
• Stimuli were shown either in isolation or with embedding external feature context
• The older adult sample had M = 61.7 years and comprised 57 participants compared to 31 younger adults

The study used a change detection paradigm with manipulated 2nd order spatial relations to assess age-related decline in face perception.

• Participants performed a 'change detection task in same/different format'
• Face stimuli were manipulated in 'eye distance (horizontal, H) and eye height (vertical, V)'
• Stimuli included faces with different sets of internal features shown 'in isolation or with the embedding external feature context (face outline with ears, hairline and hairs)'
• The study addressed 'whether sensitivity to 2nd order spatial relations among facial features suffers from aging'