Brimacombe
Bub
Costigan
Ehrenberg
Garcia-Barrera
Gifford
Gonzales
Grouzet
Holroyd
Hofer
Hultsch
Hunter
Kerns
Lalonde
Leadbeater
Lindsay
MacDonald
Masson
Mateer
Mueller
Piccinin
Robinson
Runtz
Skelton
Smith
Stinson
Stockwell
Strauss
Tanaka
Tuokko
Woodin

Jim Tanaka

Ph.D. 1989 (Oregon)
joined Department in 2003
Visual Object and Face Recognition

Jim TanakaMy research examines the cognitive and neurological processes underlying object and face recognition. I am particularly interested in questions related to how experience influences the way we perceive and recognize objects in the world. To address these questions, we have been studying the perceptual processes involved in expert object recognition, such as birdwatching, and face recognition - a kind of perceptual expertise in which we are all experts. In a related line of research, we have been working with children with autism in a program designed to improve their face recognition abilities.

Tanaka, J. W., Curran, T., Porterfield, A.L., & Collins, D. (2006). Activation of pre-existing and acquired face representations: The N250 ERP as an index of face familiarity, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18, 1488-1497.

Quinn, P. C. & Tanaka, J. W. (2007). Evidence for the early development of perceptual expertise: 6- to 7-month-old infants can be trained to form subordinate-level category representations. Memory & Cognition. 35, 1422-1431.

Tanaka, J. W. & Corneille, O. (2007). Atypicality bias in face and object perception: Further tests of an attractor model. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 619-627.

Bukach, C.M., Le Grand, R., Kaiser, M., Bub, D. & Tanaka, J.W. (2008). Preservation of mouth region processing in two cases of prosopagnosia. Journal of Neuropsychology, 2, 227-244.

Program Affiliations:   e-mail:  E-mail Dr. Tanaka
phone:  (250) 721-7541
office:  Cornett Building, Room A189
web:  web.uvic.ca/psyc/vizcoglab/



© Department of Psychology, University of Victoria
Last Update: September 9, 2009