Hoo Keat Wong

• PhD in Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus

The own-race bias (ORB) is a reliable phenomenon across cultural and racial groups where unfamiliar faces from other races are usually remembered more poorly than own-race faces (Meissner and Brigham, 2001). By adopting a yes–no recognition paradigm, we found that ORB was pronounced across race groups (Malaysian–Malay, Malaysian–Chinese, Malaysian–...

Previous cross‐cultural eye‐tracking studies examining face recognition discovered differences in the eye movement strategies that observers employ when perceiving faces. However, it is unclear (1) the degree to which this effect is fundamentally related to culture and (2) to what extent facial physiognomy can account for the differences in looking...

It is widely accepted that holistic processing is important for face perception. However, it remains unclear whether the other-race effect (ORE) (i.e. superior recognition for own-race faces) arises from reduced holistic processing of other-race faces. To address this issue, we adopted a cross-cultural design where Malaysian Chinese, African, Europ...

Although it is generally assumed that face recognition relies on holistic processing, whether face recognition deficits observed in Developmental Prosopagnosics (DPs) can be explained by impaired holistic processing is currently under debate. The mixed findings from past studies could be the consequence of DP's heterogeneous deficit nature and the...

Bi/multilingualism, or the ability to command two or more languages, is becoming the norm rather than the exception. The socioeconomic benefits this affords to individuals and communities are undeniable. Yet, in some countries, multilingual education and practices are not looked on favorably. Factors such as age, SES, education level and language p...

Although it is generally accepted that face recognition relies on holistic processing, it has been suggested that the simultaneous face matching task may depend on a more analytical or featural processing approach. However, empirical evidence supporting this claim is limited. In two experiments, we further explored the role of holistic and featural...

Body dissatisfaction—the negative subjective evaluation of one’s body—is associated with negative health outcomes, including eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. Eye-tracking studies consistently show that women with high body dissatisfaction, compared to women with low body dissatisfaction, direct more gaze toward low weight bodies. However,...

Successful face recognition is important for social interactions and public security. Although some preliminary evidence suggests that anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might modulate own- and other-race face identification, respectively, the findings are largely inconsistent. Hence, we examined the effect of both a...

Studies suggest that an attentional bias to thin bodies is common among those with high levels of body dissatisfaction, which is a risk factor for, and symptom of, various eating disorders. However, these studies have predominantly been conducted in Western countries with body stimuli involving images of White people. In a preregistered study, we r...

The retrieval of autobiographical memories involves the construction of mental representations of past personal events. Many researchers examining the processes underlying memory retrieval argue that visual imagery plays a fundamental role. Other researchers, however, have argued that working memory is an integral component involved in memory retri...

The functional role of the occipital face area (OFA) and the fusiform face area (FFA) in face recognition is inconclusive to date. While some research has shown that the OFA and FFA are involved in early (i.e., featural processing) and late (i.e., holistic processing) stages of face recognition respectively, other research suggests that both region...

Accepted for publication in Royal Society Open Science. 10.31234/osf.io/an59j

The Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) is one of the most important measures of individual differences in face recognition and for the diagnosis of prosopagnosia. Having two different CFMT versions using a different set of faces seems to improve the reliability of the evaluation. However, at the present time, there is only one Asian version of the t...

Based on the cross-channel connections between auditory and pictorial representations, it has been proposed that the presentation of coherent narration along with the picture and text content may enhance children’s story comprehension and vocabulary learning. The authors tested 40 four- to five-year-old Malaysian prereaders (17 Malays, 23 Chinese)...

Research on the effect of background music (BgM) on cognitive task performance is marked by inconsistent methods and inconclusive findings. In order to provide clarity to this area, we performed a systematic review on the impact of BgM on performances in a variety of tasks whilst considering the contributions of various task, music, and population...

Although putting on a mask over our nose and mouth is a simple but powerful way to protect ourselves and others during a pandemic, face masks may interfere with how we perceive and recognize one another, and hence, may have far-reaching impacts on communication and social interactions. To date, it remains relatively unknown the extent to which wear...

According to the processing bias account, global Navon-induced processing primes the adoption of a holistic strategy whereas local Navon-induced processing triggers featural processing. As faces are recognised at a holistic level, global Navon-induced processing would increase recognition accuracy of whole faces. In contrast, local Navon-induced pr...

Although the positive effects of congruency between stimuli are well replicated in face memory paradigms, mixed findings have been found in face matching. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, face masks are now very common during daily life outdoor activities. Thus, the present study aims to further explore congruency effects in matching faces par...

Studies suggest that an attentional bias to thin bodies is common amongst those with high levels of body dissatisfaction, which is a risk factor for, and symptom of, eating disorders. However, these studies have predominantly been conducted in Western countries with body stimuli involving images of White people. It is not known whether this relatio...

Many studies have been conducted on the development of young children; however, not many have explored the cognitive processes of prereaders. The eye-tracker has been used with success to investigate the cognitive processes of young children abroad, but such studies are lacking in Malaysia. This study used an experimental procedure created with eye...

In the forensic face matching task, observers are presented with two unfamiliar faces and must determine whether they depict the same identity. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some governmental authorities require the use of face masks in public spaces. However, recent research has shown that face masks impair face identification. The present study e...

The advantages of bilingualism on executive functioning have received intense attention over the past decade with recent research patterns converging on multilingualism rather than just bilingualism. However, whether an advantage exists is far from conclusive, with convincing evidence on both sides of the debate. The present study investigated whet...

General Audience Summary People working in security settings, such as passport control, are required to compare the picture of an ID card to the face of its bearer. This task is highly challenging even for people with years of experience. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, different governmental authorities require the use of face masks in public spaces...

In the forensic face matching task, observers are presented with two unfamiliar faces and must determine whether they depict the same identity. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some governmental authorities require the use of face masks in public spaces. However, face masks impair face identification by disrupting holistic processing of faces. The pre...

The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Items (PI-20) was recently introduced as a self-report measure of face recognition abilities and as an instrument to help the diagnosis of prosopagnosia. In general, studies using this questionnaire have shown that observers have moderate to strong insights into their face recognition abilities. However, it remains unknown...

The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Items (PI-20) was recently introduced as a self-report measure of face recognition abilities and as an instrument to help the diagnosis of prosopagnosia. In general, studies using this questionnaire have shown that observers have moderate to strong insights into their face recognition abilities. However, it remains unknown...

The own-race bias (ORB) is a reliable phenomenon across cultural and racial groups where unfamiliar faces from other races are usually remembered more poorly than own-race faces (Meissner and Brigham, 2001). By adopting a yes–no recognition paradigm, we found that ORB was pronounced across race groups (Malaysian–Malay, Malaysian–Chinese, Malaysian–...

Human behaviour is not only influenced by the physical presence of others, but also implied social presence. This study examines the impact of awareness of being eye-tracked on eye movement behaviour in a laboratory setting. During a classic yes/no face recognition task, participants were made to believe that their eye movements were recorded (or n...

To date, many face-related studies have used static images as stimuli; however, faces that we encounter in the real world involve dynamic motions that may affect the way how faces are processed. Previous face studies involving dynamic stimuli in naturalistic settings have revealed a different eye movement pattern, with more fixations directed towar...