Cognitive Processing of Scrambled Faces

We propose a model, face-checking, that is based on first-order relational properties and discriminates between different faces (regular and scrambled) and predicts their similarity choice in 2 orientations: upright and inverted. The results of an experiment confirmed the model’s predictive ability. An alternative hypothesis, which is based on facial configural information, failed to provide an efficient explanation for these findings, as the proposed model does. The model shows how components of first-order relational properties are mathematically integrated and involved in face processing.