Contribution of shape and surface reflectance information to kinship detection in 3D face images.

Previous research has established that humans are able to detect kinship among strangers from facial images alone. The current study investigated what facial information is used for making those kinship judgments, specifically the contribution of face shape and surface reflectance information (e.g., skin texture, tone, eye and eyebrow color). Using 3D facial images, 195 participants were asked to judge the relatedness of 100 child pairs, half of which were related and half of which were unrelated. Participants were randomly assigned to judge one of three stimulus versions: face images with both surface reflectance and shape information present (reflectance and shape version), face images with shape information removed but surface reflectance present (reflectance version), or face images with surface reflectance information removed but shape present (shape version). Using binomial logistic mixed models, we found that participants were able to detect relatedness at levels above chance for all three stimulus versions. Overall, both individual shape and surface reflectance information contribute to kinship detection, and both cues are optimally combined when presented together. Preprint, preregistration, code, and data are available on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/7ftxd).

[1]  Randolph M. Nesse,et al.  Sex differences in ability to recognize family resemblance , 1990 .

[2]  Susan C. Roberts,et al.  Kin recognition signals in adult faces , 2009, Vision Research.

[3]  P Clark,et al.  A twin study of skin reflectance. , 1981, Annals of human biology.

[4]  A. R. Frisancho,et al.  Heritability and components of phenotypic expression in skin reflectance of Mestizos from the Peruvian lowlands. , 1981, American journal of physical anthropology.

[5]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Importance of genetic effects for characteristics of the human iris. , 2003, Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies.

[6]  Laurence T Maloney,et al.  Kin recognition and the perceived facial similarity of children. , 2006, Journal of vision.

[7]  G. Piérard,et al.  EEMCO guidance for the assessment of skin colour. , 1998, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV.

[8]  Ulrike Heinrich,et al.  Dietary carotenoids contribute to normal human skin color and UV photosensitivity. , 2002, The Journal of nutrition.

[9]  Giovanni Montana,et al.  Heritability maps of human face morphology through large-scale automated three-dimensional phenotyping , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[10]  J. Johnson,et al.  Physical training and the control of skin blood flow. , 1998, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[11]  Ian D. Stephen,et al.  Daily Consumption of a Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie Alters Facial Skin Color , 2015, PloS one.

[12]  M. Thornton.  The biological actions of estrogens on skin , 2002, Experimental dermatology.

[13]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[14]  L. Maloney,et al.  Allocentric kin recognition is not affected by facial inversion. , 2015, Journal of vision.

[15]  A. Kalla.  Parent-child relationship and sex differences in skin tanning potential in man , 2004, Humangenetik.

[16]  Bernard Tiddeman,et al.  Construction and visualisation of three-dimensional facial statistics , 2000, Comput. Methods Programs Biomed..

[17]  Sarah E Medland,et al.  A genome scan for eye color in 502 twin families: most variation is due to a QTL on chromosome 15q. , 2004, Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies.

[18]  L. DeBruine,et al.  FACIAL EXPRESSIONS INFLUENCE KIN RECOGNITION ACCURACY , 2018, Human Ethology Bulletin.

[19]  David I. Perrett,et al.  Carotenoid and melanin pigment coloration affect perceived human health , 2011 .

[20]  D. Barr,et al.  Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. , 2013, Journal of memory and language.

[21]  Mary L Marazita,et al.  Heritability of Face Shape in Twins: A Preliminary Study using 3D Stereophotogrammetry and Geometric Morphometrics. , 2013, Dentistry 3000.

[22]  Massimo Grassi,et al.  Parental resemblance in 1-year-olds and the Gaussian curve , 2004 .

[23]  S. Richmond,et al.  Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Facial Morphological Variation: A 3D Population-Based Twin Study , 2016, PloS one.

[24]  D. Perrett,et al.  You Are What You Eat: Within-Subject Increases in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Confer Beneficial Skin-Color Changes , 2012, PloS one.

[25]  Allan Mazur,et al.  Identification of visual paternity cues in humans , 2014, Biology Letters.

[26]  J. Blangero,et al.  Skin color variation in eastern Nepal. , 1991, American journal of physical anthropology.

[27]  D. Bates,et al.  Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4 , 2014, 1406.5823.

[28]  J. Johnson,et al.  Influence of female reproductive hormones on local thermal control of skin blood flow. , 1999, Journal of applied physiology.

[29]  D. Perrett,et al.  Fruit, Vegetable and Dietary Carotenoid Intakes Explain Variation in Skin-Color in Young Caucasian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study , 2015, Nutrients.

[30]  L. Maloney,et al.  Where are kin recognition signals in the human face? , 2006, Journal of vision.

[31]  Maria F. Dal Martello,et al.  Talis Pater, Talis Filius: Perceived Resemblance and the Belief in Genetic Relatedness , 2002, Psychological science.