Dr Michael Lewis
Reader
- LewisMB@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29208 75399
- Tower Building, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Research summary
Faces are highly important in human communication and interaction. My research explores various issues surrounding the psychology of seeing faces.
These issues include:
- how we can distinguish between different faces so easily;
- how we perceive emotional expressions;
- how we detect faces are present in a scene;
- what happens when face recognition goes wrong such as in Capgras delusion;
- what makes faces attractive;
- and also the effect of cosmetic therapies.
Publication
2024
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2024. Rethinking the uncanny valley as a moderated linear function: Perceptual specialization increases the uncanniness of facial distortions. Computers in Human Behavior 157, article number: 108254. (10.1016/j.chb.2024.108254)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2024. Domain-general and -specific individual difference predictors of an uncanny valley and uncanniness effects. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans 2(1), article number: 100041. (10.1016/j.chbah.2024.100041)
- Hewer, E. and Lewis, M. B. 2024. Unveiling why race does not affect the mask effect on attractiveness – but gender and expression do. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 9, article number: 7. (10.1186/s41235-024-00534-0)
2023
- Lewis, M. 2023. Fixing the stimulus-as-a-fixed-effect-fallacy in forensically valid face-composite research. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (10.1037/mac0000128)
2022
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2022. The uncanniness of written text is explained by configural deviation. Perception 51(10), pp. 729-749. (10.1177/030100662211144)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. The deviation-from-familiarity effect: Expertise increases uncanniness of deviating exemplars. PLoS ONE 17(9), article number: e0273861. (10.1371/journal.pone.0273861)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. Structural deviations drive an uncanny valley of physical places. Journal of Environmental Psychology 82, article number: 101844. (10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101844)
- Birch-Hurst, K., Rychlowska, M., Lewis, M. B. and Vanderwert, R. E. 2022. Altering facial movements abolishes neural mirroring of facial expressions. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience 22, pp. 316-327. (10.3758/s13415-021-00956-z)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. Familiarity, orientation, and realism increase face uncanniness by sensitizing to facial distortions. Journal of Vision 22, article number: 14. (10.1167/jov.22.4.14)
- Lewis, M. and Hies, O. 2022. Beyond the beauty of occlusion: Medical masks increase facial attractiveness more than other face coverings. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 7, article number: 1. (10.1186/s41235-021-00351-9)
2020
- Gale, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2020. When the camera does lie: Selfies are dishonest indicators of dominance. Psychology of Popular Media 9(4), pp. 447-455. (10.1037/ppm0000260)
- Lewis, M. B. 2020. Challenges to both reliability and validity of masculinity-preference measures in menstrual-cycle-effects research. Cognition 197, article number: 104201. (10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104201)
- Catz, O. and Lewis, M. 2020. Exploring distinctiveness, attractiveness and sexual dimorphism in actualized face-spaces. Visual Cognition 28(9), pp. 453-469. (10.1080/13506285.2020.1797967)
2018
- Lewis, M. B. 2018. The interactions between botulinum-toxin-based facial treatments and embodied emotions. Scientific Reports 8, article number: 14720. (10.1038/s41598-018-33119-1)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2018. The development of face expertise: Evidence for a qualitative change in processing. Cognitive Development 48, pp. 1-18. (10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.05.003)
- Hills, P. J., Pake, J. M., Dempsey, J. R. and Lewis, M. B. 2018. Exploring the contribution of motivation and experience in the postpubescent own-gender bias in face recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 44(9), pp. 1426-1446. (10.1037/xhp0000533)
- Lewis, M. B. and Hills, P. J. 2018. Perceived race affects configural processing but not holistic processing in the composite-face task. Frontiers in Psychology 9, article number: 1456. (10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01456)
2017
- Lewis, M. 2017. Factors affecting the perception of 3D facial symmetry from 2D projections. Symmetry 9(10), article number: 243. (10.3390/sym9100243)
- Lewis, M. B. 2017. Fertility affects asymmetry detection not symmetry preference in assessments of 3D facial attractiveness. Cognition 166, pp. 130-138. (10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.034)
- Jones, S. P., Dwyer, D. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2017. The utility of multiple synthesized views in the recognition of unfamiliar faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 70(5), pp. 906-918. (10.1080/17470218.2016.1158302)
- Lewis, M. B. and Dunn, E. 2017. Instructions to mimic improve facial emotion recognition in people with sub-clinical autism traits. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 70(11), pp. 2357-2370. (10.1080/17470218.2016.1238950)
2016
- Valentine, T., Lewis, M. B. and Hills, P. J. 2016. Face-space: A unifying concept in face recognition research. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 69(10), pp. 1996-2019. (10.1080/17470218.2014.990392)
- Lewis, M. B. 2016. Arguing that black is white: racial categorization of mixed-race faces. Perception 45(5), pp. 505-514. (10.1177/0301006615624321)
2015
- Lewis, M. B. and Dawkins, G. 2015. Local Navon letter processing affects skilled behavior: A golf-putting experiment. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 22(2), pp. 420-428. (10.3758/s13423-014-0702-6)
- Jones, S. P., Dwyer, D. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2015. Learning faces: similar comparator faces do not improve performance. PLoS ONE 10(1), article number: e0116707. (10.1371/journal.pone.0116707)
2013
- Williams, E. J., Bott, L., Patrick, J. and Lewis, M. B. 2013. Telling lies: the irrepressible truth?. Plos One 8(4), article number: e60713. (10.1371/journal.pone.0060713)
- Bindemann, M. and Lewis, M. B. 2013. Face detection differs from categorization: Evidence from visual search in natural scenes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 20(6), pp. 1140-1145. (10.3758/s13423-013-0445-9)
2012
- Lewis, M. B. 2012. Exploring the positive and negative implications of facial feedback. Emotion 12(4), pp. 852-859. (10.1037/a0029275)
- Lewis, M. B. 2012. A facial attractiveness account of gender asymmetries in interracial marriage. PLoS ONE 7(2), article number: e31703. (10.1371/journal.pone.0031703)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2012. FIAEs in famous faces are mediated by type of processing. Frontiers in Psychology 3, article number: 256. (10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00256)
2011
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Sad people avoid the eyes or happy people focus on the eyes? Mood induction affects facial feature discrimination. British Journal of Psychology 102(2), pp. 260-274. (10.1348/000712610X519314)
- Lewis, M. B. 2011. Who is the fairest of them all? Race, attractiveness and skin color sexual dimorphism. Personality and Individual Differences 50(2), pp. 159-162. (10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.018)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 64(1), pp. 17-23. (10.1080/17470218.2010.537926)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by attentional shift using fixation crosses preceding the lower half of a face. Visual Cognition 19(3), pp. 313-339. (10.1080/13506285.2010.528250)
- Hills, P. J., Werno, M. A. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Sad people are more accurate at face recognition than happy people. Consciousness and Cognition 20(4), pp. 1502-1517. (10.1016/j.concog.2011.07.002)
- Hills, P. J., Ross, D. A. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Attention misplaced: The role of diagnostic features in the face-inversion effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 37(5), pp. 1396-1406. (10.1037/a0024247)
- Lewis, M. B. 2011. Hypodescent or exodescent: Visual racial categorisation of mixed-race faces [Abstract]. Perception 40(S), pp. 116. (10.1068/v110334)
2010
- Hills, P. J., Elward, R. L. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Cross-modal face identity aftereffects and their relation to priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 36(4), pp. 876-891. (10.1037/a0018731)
- Hills, P. J., Holland, A. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Aftereffects for face attributes with different natural variability: Children are more adaptable than adolescents. Cognitive Development 25(3), pp. 278-289. (10.1016/j.cogdev.2010.01.002)
- Ross, D. A., Hancock, P. J. B. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Changing faces: Direction is important. Visual Cognition 18(1), pp. 67-81. (10.1080/13506280802536656)
- Lewis, M. B. 2010. Why are mixed-race people perceived as more attractive?. Perception 39(1), pp. 136-138. (10.1068/p6626)
2009
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2009. A spatial frequency account of the detriment that local processing of Navon letters has on face recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 35(5), pp. 1427-1442. (10.1037/a0015788)
- Lewis, M. B., Seeley, J. and Miles, C. 2009. Processing Navon letters can make wines taste different. Perception 38(9), pp. 1341-1346. (10.1068/p6280)
- Lewis, M. B. and Bowler, P. J. 2009. Botulinum toxin cosmetic therapy correlates with a more positive mood. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 8(1), pp. 24-26. (10.1111/j.1473-2165.2009.00419.x)
- Lewis, M. B., Mills, C., Hills, P. J. and Weston, N. 2009. Navon Letters Affect Face Learning and Face Retrieval. Experimental Psychology 56(4), pp. 258-264. (10.1027/1618-3169.56.4.258)
2008
- Hills, P. J., Lewis, M. B. and Honey, R. C. 2008. Stereotype priming in face recognition: Interactions between semantic and visual information in face encoding. Cognition 108(1), pp. 185-200. (10.1016/j.cognition.2008.03.004)
- Hills, P. J., Elward, R. L. and Lewis, M. B. 2008. Identity adaptation is mediated and moderated by visualisation ability. Perception 37(8), pp. 1241-1257. (10.1068/p5834)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2008. Testing alternatives to Navon letters to induce a transfer-inappropriate processing shift in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 20(3), pp. 561-576. (10.1080/09541440701728524)
2007
- Edmonds, A. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2007. The effect of rotation on configural encoding in a face-matching task. Perception 36(3), pp. 446-460. (10.1068/p5530)
- Hilss, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2007. Temporal limitation of Navon effect on face recognition. Perceptual and Motor Skills 104(2), pp. 501-509. (10.2466/pms.104.2.501-509)
2006
- Lewis, M. B. 2006. Chasing psycholinguistic effects: a cautionary tale. Visual Cognition 13(7-8), pp. 1012-1026. (10.1080/13506280544000174)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2006. Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 59(6), pp. 996-1002. (10.1080/17470210600654750)
- Lewis, M. B. and Vladeanu, M. C. 2006. What do we know about psycholinguistic effects?. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 59(6), pp. 977-986. (10.1080/17470210600638076)
- Lewis, M. B. 2006. Eye-witnesses should not do cryptic crosswords prior to identity parades. Perception 35(10), pp. 1433-1436. (10.1068/p5666)
- Vladeanu, M. C., Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2006. Associative priming in faces: semantic relatedness or simple co-occurrence?. Memory & Cognition 34(5), pp. 1091-1101. (10.3758/BF03193255)
2005
- Pearson, R. and Lewis, M. B. 2005. Fear recognition across the menstrual cycle. Hormones and Behavior 47(3), pp. 267-271. (10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.11.003)
- Lewis, M. B. and Edmonds, A. 2005. Searching for faces in scrambled scenes. Visual Cognition 12(7), pp. 1309-1336. (10.1080/13506280444000535)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2005. Removing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention [Abstract]. Perception 34(S), pp. 206. (10.1068/v050088)
2004
- Ghyselinck, M., Lewis, M. B. and Brysbaert, M. 2004. Age of acquisition and the cumulative-frequency hypothesis: A review of the literature and a new multi-task investigation. Acta Psychologica 115(1), pp. 43-67. (10.1016/j.actpsy.2003.11.002)
- Lewis, M. B. 2004. Face-space-R: Towards a unified account of face recognition. Visual Cognition 11(1), pp. 29-69. (10.1080/13506280344000194)
2003
- Lewis, M. B. 2003. Thatcher's children: Development and the Thatcher illusion. Perception 32(12), pp. 1415-1421. (10.1068/p5089)
- Shah, R. and Lewis, M. B. 2003. Locating the neutral expression in the facial-emotion space. Visual Cognition 10(5), pp. 549-566. (10.1080/13506280244000203a)
- Lewis, M. B. and Glenister, T. E. 2003. A sideways look at configural encoding: Two different effects of face rotation. Perception 32(1), pp. 7-14. (10.1068/p3404)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2003. How we detect a face: A survey of psychological evidence. International Journal of Imaging Systems and Technology 13(1), pp. 3-7. (10.1002/ima.10040)
- Lewis, M. B. and Edmonds, A. J. 2003. Face detection: Mapping human performance. Perception 32(8), pp. 903-920. (10.1068/p5007)
2002
- Lewis, M. B., Chadwick, A. J. and Ellis, H. D. 2002. Exploring a neural-network account of age-of-acquisition effects using repetition priming of faces. Memory & Cognition 30(8), pp. 1228-1237. (10.3758/BF03213405)
2001
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. A two-way window on face recognition: Reply to Breen et al. [Letter]. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5(6), pp. 235. (10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01666-1)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Capgras delusion: A window on face recognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5(4), pp. 149-156. (10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01620-X)
- Lewis, M. B., Gerhand, S. J. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Re-evaluating age-of-acquisition effects: Are they simply cumulative-frequency effects?. Cognition 78(2), pp. 189-205. (10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00117-7)
- Lewis, M. B. 2001. The Lady's not for turning: Rotation of the Thatcher illusion. Perception 30(6), pp. 769-774. (10.1068/p3174)
- Lewis, M. B., Sherwood, S., Moselhy, H. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Autonomic responses to familiar faces without autonomic responses to familiar voices: Evidence for voice-specific Capgras delusion. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 6(3), pp. 217-228. (10.1080/13546800143000041)
2000
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. The effects of massive repetition on speeded recognition of faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 53(4), pp. 1117-1142. (10.1080/713755946)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. Satiation in name and face recognition. Memory & Cognition 28(5), pp. 783-788. (10.3758/BF03198413)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. Mistaken first impressions: A response [Letter]. International Journal of Clinical Practice 54(2), pp. 126-127.
- Ellis, H. D., Lewis, M. B., Moselhy, H. F. and Young, A. W. 2000. Automatic without autonomic responses to familiar faces: Differential components of covert face recognition in a case of Capgras delusion. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 5(4), pp. 255-269. (10.1080/13546800050199711)
1999
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 1999. Repeated repetition priming in face recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 52(4), pp. 927-955. (10.1080/713755867)
- Lewis, M. B. 1999. Discussion: Are age-of-acquisition effects cumulative-frequency effects in disguise? A reply to Moore, Valentine and Turner (1999). Cognition 72(3), pp. 311-316. (10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00043-8)
- Lewis, M. B. 1999. Age of acquisition in face categorisation: is there an instance-based account?. Cognition 71(1), pp. B23-B39. (10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00020-7)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1999. Are caricatures special? Evidence of peak shift in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 11(1), pp. 105-117. (10.1080/713752302)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1999. A unified account of the effects of caricaturing faces. Visual Cognition 6(1), pp. 1-42. (10.1080/713756800)
1998
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1998. Understanding caricatures of faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 51(2), pp. 321-346. (10.1080/713755758)
1997
- Lewis, M. B. 1997. Familiarity, target set and false positives in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9(4), pp. 437-459. (10.1080/713752567)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1997. The Thatcher illusion as a test of configural disruption. Perception 26(2), pp. 225-227. (10.1068/p260225)
Articles
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2024. Rethinking the uncanny valley as a moderated linear function: Perceptual specialization increases the uncanniness of facial distortions. Computers in Human Behavior 157, article number: 108254. (10.1016/j.chb.2024.108254)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2024. Domain-general and -specific individual difference predictors of an uncanny valley and uncanniness effects. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans 2(1), article number: 100041. (10.1016/j.chbah.2024.100041)
- Hewer, E. and Lewis, M. B. 2024. Unveiling why race does not affect the mask effect on attractiveness – but gender and expression do. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 9, article number: 7. (10.1186/s41235-024-00534-0)
- Lewis, M. 2023. Fixing the stimulus-as-a-fixed-effect-fallacy in forensically valid face-composite research. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (10.1037/mac0000128)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2022. The uncanniness of written text is explained by configural deviation. Perception 51(10), pp. 729-749. (10.1177/030100662211144)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. The deviation-from-familiarity effect: Expertise increases uncanniness of deviating exemplars. PLoS ONE 17(9), article number: e0273861. (10.1371/journal.pone.0273861)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. Structural deviations drive an uncanny valley of physical places. Journal of Environmental Psychology 82, article number: 101844. (10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101844)
- Birch-Hurst, K., Rychlowska, M., Lewis, M. B. and Vanderwert, R. E. 2022. Altering facial movements abolishes neural mirroring of facial expressions. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience 22, pp. 316-327. (10.3758/s13415-021-00956-z)
- Diel, A. and Lewis, M. 2022. Familiarity, orientation, and realism increase face uncanniness by sensitizing to facial distortions. Journal of Vision 22, article number: 14. (10.1167/jov.22.4.14)
- Lewis, M. and Hies, O. 2022. Beyond the beauty of occlusion: Medical masks increase facial attractiveness more than other face coverings. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 7, article number: 1. (10.1186/s41235-021-00351-9)
- Gale, A. and Lewis, M. B. 2020. When the camera does lie: Selfies are dishonest indicators of dominance. Psychology of Popular Media 9(4), pp. 447-455. (10.1037/ppm0000260)
- Lewis, M. B. 2020. Challenges to both reliability and validity of masculinity-preference measures in menstrual-cycle-effects research. Cognition 197, article number: 104201. (10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104201)
- Catz, O. and Lewis, M. 2020. Exploring distinctiveness, attractiveness and sexual dimorphism in actualized face-spaces. Visual Cognition 28(9), pp. 453-469. (10.1080/13506285.2020.1797967)
- Lewis, M. B. 2018. The interactions between botulinum-toxin-based facial treatments and embodied emotions. Scientific Reports 8, article number: 14720. (10.1038/s41598-018-33119-1)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2018. The development of face expertise: Evidence for a qualitative change in processing. Cognitive Development 48, pp. 1-18. (10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.05.003)
- Hills, P. J., Pake, J. M., Dempsey, J. R. and Lewis, M. B. 2018. Exploring the contribution of motivation and experience in the postpubescent own-gender bias in face recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 44(9), pp. 1426-1446. (10.1037/xhp0000533)
- Lewis, M. B. and Hills, P. J. 2018. Perceived race affects configural processing but not holistic processing in the composite-face task. Frontiers in Psychology 9, article number: 1456. (10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01456)
- Lewis, M. 2017. Factors affecting the perception of 3D facial symmetry from 2D projections. Symmetry 9(10), article number: 243. (10.3390/sym9100243)
- Lewis, M. B. 2017. Fertility affects asymmetry detection not symmetry preference in assessments of 3D facial attractiveness. Cognition 166, pp. 130-138. (10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.034)
- Jones, S. P., Dwyer, D. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2017. The utility of multiple synthesized views in the recognition of unfamiliar faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 70(5), pp. 906-918. (10.1080/17470218.2016.1158302)
- Lewis, M. B. and Dunn, E. 2017. Instructions to mimic improve facial emotion recognition in people with sub-clinical autism traits. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 70(11), pp. 2357-2370. (10.1080/17470218.2016.1238950)
- Valentine, T., Lewis, M. B. and Hills, P. J. 2016. Face-space: A unifying concept in face recognition research. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 69(10), pp. 1996-2019. (10.1080/17470218.2014.990392)
- Lewis, M. B. 2016. Arguing that black is white: racial categorization of mixed-race faces. Perception 45(5), pp. 505-514. (10.1177/0301006615624321)
- Lewis, M. B. and Dawkins, G. 2015. Local Navon letter processing affects skilled behavior: A golf-putting experiment. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 22(2), pp. 420-428. (10.3758/s13423-014-0702-6)
- Jones, S. P., Dwyer, D. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2015. Learning faces: similar comparator faces do not improve performance. PLoS ONE 10(1), article number: e0116707. (10.1371/journal.pone.0116707)
- Williams, E. J., Bott, L., Patrick, J. and Lewis, M. B. 2013. Telling lies: the irrepressible truth?. Plos One 8(4), article number: e60713. (10.1371/journal.pone.0060713)
- Bindemann, M. and Lewis, M. B. 2013. Face detection differs from categorization: Evidence from visual search in natural scenes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 20(6), pp. 1140-1145. (10.3758/s13423-013-0445-9)
- Lewis, M. B. 2012. Exploring the positive and negative implications of facial feedback. Emotion 12(4), pp. 852-859. (10.1037/a0029275)
- Lewis, M. B. 2012. A facial attractiveness account of gender asymmetries in interracial marriage. PLoS ONE 7(2), article number: e31703. (10.1371/journal.pone.0031703)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2012. FIAEs in famous faces are mediated by type of processing. Frontiers in Psychology 3, article number: 256. (10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00256)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Sad people avoid the eyes or happy people focus on the eyes? Mood induction affects facial feature discrimination. British Journal of Psychology 102(2), pp. 260-274. (10.1348/000712610X519314)
- Lewis, M. B. 2011. Who is the fairest of them all? Race, attractiveness and skin color sexual dimorphism. Personality and Individual Differences 50(2), pp. 159-162. (10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.018)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 64(1), pp. 17-23. (10.1080/17470218.2010.537926)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by attentional shift using fixation crosses preceding the lower half of a face. Visual Cognition 19(3), pp. 313-339. (10.1080/13506285.2010.528250)
- Hills, P. J., Werno, M. A. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Sad people are more accurate at face recognition than happy people. Consciousness and Cognition 20(4), pp. 1502-1517. (10.1016/j.concog.2011.07.002)
- Hills, P. J., Ross, D. A. and Lewis, M. B. 2011. Attention misplaced: The role of diagnostic features in the face-inversion effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 37(5), pp. 1396-1406. (10.1037/a0024247)
- Lewis, M. B. 2011. Hypodescent or exodescent: Visual racial categorisation of mixed-race faces [Abstract]. Perception 40(S), pp. 116. (10.1068/v110334)
- Hills, P. J., Elward, R. L. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Cross-modal face identity aftereffects and their relation to priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 36(4), pp. 876-891. (10.1037/a0018731)
- Hills, P. J., Holland, A. M. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Aftereffects for face attributes with different natural variability: Children are more adaptable than adolescents. Cognitive Development 25(3), pp. 278-289. (10.1016/j.cogdev.2010.01.002)
- Ross, D. A., Hancock, P. J. B. and Lewis, M. B. 2010. Changing faces: Direction is important. Visual Cognition 18(1), pp. 67-81. (10.1080/13506280802536656)
- Lewis, M. B. 2010. Why are mixed-race people perceived as more attractive?. Perception 39(1), pp. 136-138. (10.1068/p6626)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2009. A spatial frequency account of the detriment that local processing of Navon letters has on face recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 35(5), pp. 1427-1442. (10.1037/a0015788)
- Lewis, M. B., Seeley, J. and Miles, C. 2009. Processing Navon letters can make wines taste different. Perception 38(9), pp. 1341-1346. (10.1068/p6280)
- Lewis, M. B. and Bowler, P. J. 2009. Botulinum toxin cosmetic therapy correlates with a more positive mood. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 8(1), pp. 24-26. (10.1111/j.1473-2165.2009.00419.x)
- Lewis, M. B., Mills, C., Hills, P. J. and Weston, N. 2009. Navon Letters Affect Face Learning and Face Retrieval. Experimental Psychology 56(4), pp. 258-264. (10.1027/1618-3169.56.4.258)
- Hills, P. J., Lewis, M. B. and Honey, R. C. 2008. Stereotype priming in face recognition: Interactions between semantic and visual information in face encoding. Cognition 108(1), pp. 185-200. (10.1016/j.cognition.2008.03.004)
- Hills, P. J., Elward, R. L. and Lewis, M. B. 2008. Identity adaptation is mediated and moderated by visualisation ability. Perception 37(8), pp. 1241-1257. (10.1068/p5834)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2008. Testing alternatives to Navon letters to induce a transfer-inappropriate processing shift in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 20(3), pp. 561-576. (10.1080/09541440701728524)
- Edmonds, A. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2007. The effect of rotation on configural encoding in a face-matching task. Perception 36(3), pp. 446-460. (10.1068/p5530)
- Hilss, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2007. Temporal limitation of Navon effect on face recognition. Perceptual and Motor Skills 104(2), pp. 501-509. (10.2466/pms.104.2.501-509)
- Lewis, M. B. 2006. Chasing psycholinguistic effects: a cautionary tale. Visual Cognition 13(7-8), pp. 1012-1026. (10.1080/13506280544000174)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2006. Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 59(6), pp. 996-1002. (10.1080/17470210600654750)
- Lewis, M. B. and Vladeanu, M. C. 2006. What do we know about psycholinguistic effects?. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 59(6), pp. 977-986. (10.1080/17470210600638076)
- Lewis, M. B. 2006. Eye-witnesses should not do cryptic crosswords prior to identity parades. Perception 35(10), pp. 1433-1436. (10.1068/p5666)
- Vladeanu, M. C., Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2006. Associative priming in faces: semantic relatedness or simple co-occurrence?. Memory & Cognition 34(5), pp. 1091-1101. (10.3758/BF03193255)
- Pearson, R. and Lewis, M. B. 2005. Fear recognition across the menstrual cycle. Hormones and Behavior 47(3), pp. 267-271. (10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.11.003)
- Lewis, M. B. and Edmonds, A. 2005. Searching for faces in scrambled scenes. Visual Cognition 12(7), pp. 1309-1336. (10.1080/13506280444000535)
- Hills, P. J. and Lewis, M. B. 2005. Removing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention [Abstract]. Perception 34(S), pp. 206. (10.1068/v050088)
- Ghyselinck, M., Lewis, M. B. and Brysbaert, M. 2004. Age of acquisition and the cumulative-frequency hypothesis: A review of the literature and a new multi-task investigation. Acta Psychologica 115(1), pp. 43-67. (10.1016/j.actpsy.2003.11.002)
- Lewis, M. B. 2004. Face-space-R: Towards a unified account of face recognition. Visual Cognition 11(1), pp. 29-69. (10.1080/13506280344000194)
- Lewis, M. B. 2003. Thatcher's children: Development and the Thatcher illusion. Perception 32(12), pp. 1415-1421. (10.1068/p5089)
- Shah, R. and Lewis, M. B. 2003. Locating the neutral expression in the facial-emotion space. Visual Cognition 10(5), pp. 549-566. (10.1080/13506280244000203a)
- Lewis, M. B. and Glenister, T. E. 2003. A sideways look at configural encoding: Two different effects of face rotation. Perception 32(1), pp. 7-14. (10.1068/p3404)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2003. How we detect a face: A survey of psychological evidence. International Journal of Imaging Systems and Technology 13(1), pp. 3-7. (10.1002/ima.10040)
- Lewis, M. B. and Edmonds, A. J. 2003. Face detection: Mapping human performance. Perception 32(8), pp. 903-920. (10.1068/p5007)
- Lewis, M. B., Chadwick, A. J. and Ellis, H. D. 2002. Exploring a neural-network account of age-of-acquisition effects using repetition priming of faces. Memory & Cognition 30(8), pp. 1228-1237. (10.3758/BF03213405)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. A two-way window on face recognition: Reply to Breen et al. [Letter]. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5(6), pp. 235. (10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01666-1)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Capgras delusion: A window on face recognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5(4), pp. 149-156. (10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01620-X)
- Lewis, M. B., Gerhand, S. J. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Re-evaluating age-of-acquisition effects: Are they simply cumulative-frequency effects?. Cognition 78(2), pp. 189-205. (10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00117-7)
- Lewis, M. B. 2001. The Lady's not for turning: Rotation of the Thatcher illusion. Perception 30(6), pp. 769-774. (10.1068/p3174)
- Lewis, M. B., Sherwood, S., Moselhy, H. and Ellis, H. D. 2001. Autonomic responses to familiar faces without autonomic responses to familiar voices: Evidence for voice-specific Capgras delusion. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 6(3), pp. 217-228. (10.1080/13546800143000041)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. The effects of massive repetition on speeded recognition of faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 53(4), pp. 1117-1142. (10.1080/713755946)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. Satiation in name and face recognition. Memory & Cognition 28(5), pp. 783-788. (10.3758/BF03198413)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 2000. Mistaken first impressions: A response [Letter]. International Journal of Clinical Practice 54(2), pp. 126-127.
- Ellis, H. D., Lewis, M. B., Moselhy, H. F. and Young, A. W. 2000. Automatic without autonomic responses to familiar faces: Differential components of covert face recognition in a case of Capgras delusion. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 5(4), pp. 255-269. (10.1080/13546800050199711)
- Lewis, M. B. and Ellis, H. D. 1999. Repeated repetition priming in face recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 52(4), pp. 927-955. (10.1080/713755867)
- Lewis, M. B. 1999. Discussion: Are age-of-acquisition effects cumulative-frequency effects in disguise? A reply to Moore, Valentine and Turner (1999). Cognition 72(3), pp. 311-316. (10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00043-8)
- Lewis, M. B. 1999. Age of acquisition in face categorisation: is there an instance-based account?. Cognition 71(1), pp. B23-B39. (10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00020-7)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1999. Are caricatures special? Evidence of peak shift in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 11(1), pp. 105-117. (10.1080/713752302)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1999. A unified account of the effects of caricaturing faces. Visual Cognition 6(1), pp. 1-42. (10.1080/713756800)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1998. Understanding caricatures of faces. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Section A: Human Experimental Psychology 51(2), pp. 321-346. (10.1080/713755758)
- Lewis, M. B. 1997. Familiarity, target set and false positives in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9(4), pp. 437-459. (10.1080/713752567)
- Lewis, M. B. and Johnston, R. A. 1997. The Thatcher illusion as a test of configural disruption. Perception 26(2), pp. 225-227. (10.1068/p260225)
- Lewis, M. B. 1997. Familiarity, target set and false positives in face recognition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9(4), pp. 437-459. (10.1080/713752567)
Research
Cyclic-shifts in female face preferences
Previous research has shown that women's preferences for male faces change on over the menstrual cycle. This has been shown with shifts in symmetry preference and masculinity preference. My research suggests that these finding could be an artifact of the methods commonly used in this kind of research.
Lewis, M. B. (2017). Fertility affects asymmetry detection not symmetry preference in assessments of 3D facial attractiveness. Cognition, 166, 130-138.
Lewis, M. B. (2020). Challenges to both reliability and validity of masculinity-preference measures in menstrual-cycle-effects research. Cognition, 197, 104201.
Mixed-race faces
Quite often, black faces can all look the same to white people and the reverse effect can be observed for white people. How do mixed-race faces fit within this? Mixed-race faces offer interesting ways to look at how race is categorised by facial appearance. Further, genetic processes, such as hybrid vigour, have also been suggested to affect mixed-race faces making them appear more attractive.
Lewis, M.B. (2010). Why are mixed-race people perceived as more attractive? Perception, 69, 136 – 138.
Lewis, M. B. (2016). Arguing that black is white: racial categorization of mixed-race faces. Perception, 45(5), 505-514.
Lewis, M. B. (2011). Who is the fairest of them all? Race, attractiveness and skin color sexual dimorphism. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(2), 159-162.
Botox and mood
Smiling makes us feel happy whereas frowning makes us feel sad. People who have undergone chemical denervation of their frown muscles (as in the treatment known as Botox) cannot frown. We have found that these people (possibly because they can no longer get the feedback from frowning) are happier than people for have had other forms of cosmetic treatment. Current research is exploring other possible psychological implications of these increasingly common cosmetic treatments.
Lewis, M.B. and Bowler, P.J. (2009). Botulinum toxin cosmetic therapy correlates with a more positive mood. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 8, 24-26.
Lewis, M. B. (2018). The interactions between botulinum-toxin-based facial treatments and embodied emotions. Scientific reports, 8(1), 1-10.
Bias in face processing
Bias is observed in face processing such that unfamiliar race faces are processed differently to familiar race faces. This is also observed for faces of ages or genders different to the observer. My research has aimed to understand these biases in face processing.
Lewis, M. B., & Hills, P. J. (2018). Perceived race affects configural processing but not holistic processing in the composite-face task. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1456.
Hills, P. J., & Lewis, M. B. (2011). The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(1), 17-23.
Hills, P. J., & Lewis, M. B. (2006). Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by shifting attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(6), 996-1002.
Hills, P. J., & Lewis, M. B. (2018). The development of face expertise: Evidence for a qualitative change in processing. Cognitive Development, 48, 1-18.
Hills, P. J., Ross, D. A., & Lewis, M. B. (2011). Attention misplaced: the role of diagnostic features in the face-inversion effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37(5), 1396.
Navon effects
Reading the small letters of a large figure made out of small letters (a Navon figure) has unexpected effects. It makes people worse in face recognition tasks but it also makes wine recognition difficult.
My research tries to understand and apply these phenomena. For example, the same processes that cause this Navon effect might also explain why people are bad at recognising faces after they have been doing cryptic crosswords.
Lewis, M.B., Seeley, J. and Miles, C. (2009). Processing Navon letters can make wine taste different. Perception, 38, 1341-1346.
Lewis, M.B., Mills, C., Hills, P.J. and Weston, N. (2009). Navon letters affect face learning and face retrieval. Experimental Psychology, 56, 258-264.
Lewis, M.B. (2006). Last but not least: Eye-witnesses should not do cryptic crosswords prior to identity parades. Perception, 35, 1433-1436.
How can we spot a liar?
When people lie, do they first need to suppress the truth? If they do then can we use the additional time taken to do this to work out is someone is lying? Current research is looking at whether it takes longer to lie than to tell the truth. We are also exploring whether some people are particularly good at uncovering lies and trying to identify what cues they use.
Williams, E. J., Bott, L. A., Patrick, J., & Lewis, M. B. (2013). Telling lies: the irrepressible truth?. PLoS One, 8(4), e60713.
Face detection
While much is known about factors that affect face recognition, relatively little is know about face detection – that is the ability to spot a face in a scene. This is surprising as it is a pre-requisite of recognition in the natural world. Modern technological devices (eg cameras) often come with face detection software but these are often fooled in ways that a human observer would not be. My research in this area represents the first systematic analysis of the psychological processes of face detection.
Lewis, M.B. & Edmonds, A. J. (2005). Searching for faces in scrambled scenes. Visual Cognition, 12, 1309-1336.
Lewis, M.B. & Edmonds, A.J. (2003). Face detection: Mapping human performance, Perception. 32, 903-920.
Bindemann, M., & Lewis, M. B. (2013). Face detection differs from categorization: Evidence from visual search in natural scenes. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 20(6), 1140-1145.
Statistical methods in psycholinguistics
The word ‘cat’ is read faster than ‘aardvark’ but is this difference because it is shorter, more frequent, learnt at an earlier age, has more similar words or just more furry? This is a question that has taxed psycholinguists for time without resolution. The problem with this field of research is that experimental research (that is where, for example, the length of the word ‘cat’ is manipulated) is impossible. My research aimed to address this issue using structural equation modelling – a method that tests hypothetical causative relationships between a variety of observational variables just as you might use to see whether socioeconomic status or race predicts performance in school.
Lewis, M.B. and Vladeanu, M. (2006). What do we know about psycholinguistic effects? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 977-986.
Lewis, M.B. (2006). Chasing psycholinguistic effects: A cautionary tale. Visual Cognition, 13, 1012-1026.
Models of face recognition
We recognise faces very quickly, but the difference in the time taken to recognise some faces allow us to generate models of how the information is stored. Typical (or average) faces are recognised more slowly than distinctive faces. A caricatured face can be recognised faster than an accurate image of a person. Faces of races that we are unfamiliar with are slower to be recognised. I developed and tested a model of face memory (called face-space-r) which was based on a few simple principles but could explain a wide range of patterns in how we recognise faces.
Lewis, M.B. (2004). Face-Space-R: Towards a unified account of face recognition. Visual Cognition, 11, 29-69.
Valentine, T., Lewis, M. B., & Hills, P. J. (2016). Face-space: A unifying concept in face recognition research. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(10), 1996-2019.
Teaching
I am course directior of the MSc Psychology (Conversion) course and module co-ordinator the research design and statistics module on that course.
I teach research methods at Level 1 covering issues related to experimental design.
I run a level 2 practical on facial feedback supporting PS2007.
I supervise a wide range of final year projects many relating to the psychology of the face.
Biography
Undergraduate education
- BSc First Class Hons in Mathematics and Psychology from The University of Birmingham awarded in 1993.
Postgraduate education
- My PhD was conducted in Cardiff University supervised by Robert Johnston and Hadyn Ellis. The thesis discussed and evaluated various models of face memory using a mixture of empirical studies and computational modelling. The degree was awarded in 1998.
Professional memberships
- British Psychological Society
- Experimental Psychological Society.
Academic positions
- Ocober 2011: promoted to Reader, Cardiff University
- 1999-2011: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University
- 1997-1999 Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Working with Hadyn Ellis on Capgras delusion.
Committees and reviewing
- Grant reviewing: BBSRC; ESRC; EPSRC; Leverhulme trust
- Journal reviewing (30 different journals, including JEP:Applied, JEP:HPP, JEP:LMC and Psychological Science)
- BPS Cognitive Section Annual Conference 2010 organiser.
Examining
- external examiner for MSc course in University of Kent
- PhD examining (eg Lancaster University).
Supervisions
Faces are all very similar, yet we can distinguish among a large number of known faces and extract a wealth of information from them with remarkable speed and accuracy. My research explores this amazing ability from detecting a face in a visual scene, through recognition of a person, to retrieval of information concerning that person. I am also interested in the perception of emotional expressions, attractiveness and racial differences. While some experiments involve studying the learning of faces, other experiments explore facial illusions, caricatures, facial morphing or other visual manipulation of faces. Application of our understanding of face-related processes are important for studying dysfunctions of face recognition (eg, prosopagnosia, Capgras delusion) as well as within the forensic field.
If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly, or submit a formal application.
Current supervision
![Alexander Diel](https://cardiff.imgix.net/__data/assets/image/0014/10841/no-profile.jpg?w=40&h=40&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=40)
Alexander Diel
Research student