Papers by Bernard Tiddeman
Ethology, 2012
Vocal and facial masculinity are cues to underlying testosterone in men and influence women's mat... more Vocal and facial masculinity are cues to underlying testosterone in men and influence women's mate preferences. Consistent with the proposal that facial and vocal masculinity signal common information about men, prior work has revealed correlated female preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity. Previous studies have assessed women's preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity by presenting faces and voices independently and using static face stimuli. By contrast, here we presented women with short video clips in which male faces and voices were simultaneously manipulated in masculinity. We found that women who preferred masculine faces also preferred masculine voices. Furthermore, women whose faces were rated as relatively more attractive preferred both facial and vocal masculinity more than did women whose faces were rated as less attractive. These findings complement other evidence for cross-modal masculinity preferences among women and demonstrate that preferences observed in studies using still images and ⁄ or independently presented vocal stimuli are also observed when dynamic faces and voices are displayed simultaneously in video format.
CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL BULLETIN, 1978
Studies of women's preferences for male faces have variously reported preferences for masculine f... more Studies of women's preferences for male faces have variously reported preferences for masculine faces, preferences for feminine faces and no effect of masculinity-femininity on male facial attractiveness. It has been suggested that these apparently inconsistent findings are, at least partly, due to differences in the methods used to manipulate the masculinity of face images or individual differences in attraction to facial cues associated with youth. Here, however, we show that women's preferences for masculinity manipulated in male faces using techniques similar to the three most widely used methods are positively inter-related. We also show that women's preferences for masculine male faces are positively related to ratings of the masculinity of their actual partner and their ideal partner. Correlations with partner masculinity were independent of real and ideal partner age, which were not associated with facial masculinity preference. Collectively, these findings suggest that variability among studies in their findings for women's masculinity preferences reflects individual differences in attraction to masculinity rather than differences in the methods used to manufacture stimuli, and are important for the interpretation of previous and future studies of facial masculinity.
Facial symmetry has been proposed as a marker of developmental stability that may be important in... more Facial symmetry has been proposed as a marker of developmental stability that may be important in human mate choice. Several studies have demonstrated positive relationships between facial symmetry and attractiveness. It was recently proposed that symmetry is not a primary cue to facial attractiveness, as symmetrical faces remain attractive even when presented as half faces (with no cues to symmetry). Facial sexual dimorphisms (`masculinity') have been suggested as a possible cue that may covary with symmetry in men following data on trait size/symmetry relationships in other species. Here, we use real and computer graphic male faces in order to demonstrate that (i) symmetric faces are more attractive, but not reliably more masculine than less symmetric faces and (ii) that symmetric faces possess characteristics that are attractive independent of symmetry, but that these characteristics remain at present unde¢ned.
... replicate the true average dimensions of these faces (Alley and Cunningham 1991, Rowland and ... more ... replicate the true average dimensions of these faces (Alley and Cunningham 1991, Rowland and Perrett 1995). ... 1998, Perrett et al. 1994, Rowland and Perrett 1995, Tiddeman et al. 2001) and others have employed similar approaches (Kujawa and Strzalko 1998, Rhodes et al. ...
... We predict that women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle would show relative ... RJ ... more ... We predict that women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle would show relative ... RJ 2003:Beauty in a smile: the role of the medial orbitofrontal cortex in facial attractiveness. ... CrossRef. Penton-Voak, IS & Perrett, DI 2000a: Female preference for male faces changes cyclically ...
Studies have shown that male faces high in symmetry are judged more attractive than faces low in ... more Studies have shown that male faces high in symmetry are judged more attractive than faces low in symmetry even in images where visual cues to facial symmetry are reduced. These findings suggest that there are correlates of facial symmetry that influence male facial attractiveness independently of symmetry itself. Apparent healthiness of facial skin is one factor that may influence male facial attractiveness and covary with facial symmetry. Here, using real and composite male faces, we found that males with symmetric faces were perceived as having healthier facial skin than males with relatively asymmetric faces (Study 1), and that facial colour and texture cues were sufficient to maintain an attractiveness -symmetry relationship when the influence of facial shape was minimised (Study 2). These findings suggest that colour and texture cues contribute to the relationship between attractiveness and symmetry in real faces. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
… of the Royal …, 2002
Kinloch and L. Barrett D. Perrett, IS Penton-Voak, AC Little, BP Tiddeman, DM Burt, N. Schmidt, R... more Kinloch and L. Barrett D. Perrett, IS Penton-Voak, AC Little, BP Tiddeman, DM Burt, N. Schmidt, R. Oxley, N. ... Facial attractiveness judgements reflect learning of parental ... Received 21 November 2001 Accepted 29 January 2002 Published online 9 April 2002
In some species, female condition correlates positively with preferences for male secondary sexua... more In some species, female condition correlates positively with preferences for male secondary sexual traits. Women's preferences for sexually dimorphic characteristics in male faces (facial masculinity) have recently been reported to covary with self-reported attractiveness. As women's attractiveness has been proposed to signal reproductive condition, the findings in human (Homo sapiens) and other species may reflect similar processes. The current study investigated whether the covariation between condition and preferences for masculinity would generalize to 2 further measures of female attractiveness: other-rated facial attractiveness and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Women with high (unattractive) WHR and/or relatively low other-rated facial attractiveness preferred more "feminine" male faces when choosing faces for a long-term relationship than when choosing for a short-term relationship, possibly reflecting diverse tactics in female mate choice.
The ''good genes'' explanation of attractiveness posits that mate preferences favour healthy indi... more The ''good genes'' explanation of attractiveness posits that mate preferences favour healthy individuals due to direct and indirect benefits associated with the selection of a healthy mate. Consequently, attractiveness judgements are likely to reflect judgements of apparent health. One physical characteristic that may inform health judgements is fluctuating asymmetry as it may act as a visual marker for genetic quality and developmental stability. Consistent with these suggestions, a number of studies have found relationships between facial symmetry and facial attractiveness. In Study 1, the interplay between facial symmetry, attractiveness, and judgements of apparent health was explored within a partial correlation design. Findings suggest that the attractiveness -symmetry relationship is mediated by a link between judgements of apparent health and facial symmetry. In Study 2, an opposite-sex bias in sensitivity to facial symmetry was observed when judging health. Thus, perceptual analysis of symmetry may be an adaptation facilitating discrimination between potential mates on the basis of apparent health. The findings of both studies are consistent with a ''good genes'' explanation of the attractiveness -symmetry relationship and problematic for the claim that symmetry is attractive as a by-product of the ease with which the visual recognition system processes symmetric stimuli. D
Computer Graphics Forum, 2005
The ability to transform facial images between groups (e.g. from young to old, or from male to fe... more The ability to transform facial images between groups (e.g. from young to old, or from male to female) has applications in psychological research, police investigations, medicine and entertainment. Current techniques suffer either from a lack of realism due to unrealistic or inappropriate textures in the output images, or a lack of statistical validity, e.g. by using only a single example image for training. This paper describes a new method for improving the realism and effectiveness of facial transformations (e.g. ageing, feminising etc.) of individuals. The method aims to transform low resolution image data using the mean differences between the two groups, but converges on more specific texture features at the finer resolutions. We separate high and low resolution information by transforming the image into a wavelet domain. At each point we calculate a mapping from the original set to the target set based on the probability distributions of the input and output wavelet values. These distributions are estimated from the example images, using the assumption that the distribution depends on the values in a local neighbourhood of the point (the Markov Random Field (MRF) assumption). We use a causal neighbourhood that spans multiple coarser scales of the wavelet pyramid. The distributions are estimated by smoothing the histogram of example values. By increasing the smoothing of the histograms at coarser resolutions we are able to maintain perceived identity across the transforms while producing realistic fine-scale textures. We use perceptual testing to validate the new method, and the results show that it can produce more accurate shifts in perceived age and an increase in realism.
This paper describes a new method for creating visually realistic moving facial image sequences t... more This paper describes a new method for creating visually realistic moving facial image sequences that retain an actor's personality (individuality, expression and characteristic movements) while altering the facial appearance along a certain specified facial dimension. We combine two existing technologies, facial feature tracking and facial image transformation, to create the sequences. Examples are given of transforming the apparent age, race and gender of a face. We also create 'virtual cartoons' by transforming image sequences into the style of famous artists. The results show that static 2D face models can be used to create realistic transformations of sequences that include changes in pose, expression and mouth shape.
Background: Many animals both display and assess multiple signals. Two prominently studied traits... more Background: Many animals both display and assess multiple signals. Two prominently studied traits are symmetry and sexual dimorphism, which, for many animals, are proposed cues to heritable fitness benefits. These traits are associated with other potential benefits, such as fertility. In humans, the face has been extensively studied in terms of attractiveness. Faces have the potential to be advertisements of mate quality and both symmetry and sexual dimorphism have been linked to the attractiveness of human face shape.
Evolution and Human Behavior, 2006
Although previous studies of individual differences in preferences for masculinity in male faces ... more Although previous studies of individual differences in preferences for masculinity in male faces have typically emphasized the importance of factors such as changes in levels of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle, other research has demonstrated that recent visual experience with faces also influences preferences for sexual dimorphism in faces. Adaptation to either masculine or feminine faces increases preferences for novel faces that are similar to those that were recently seen. Here, we replicate this effect and demonstrate that adaptation to masculine or feminine faces also influences the extent to which masculine faces are perceived as trustworthy. These adaptation effects may reflect a proximate mechanism that contributes to the development of face preferences within individuals, underpins phenomena such as imprinting-like effects and condition-dependent face preferences, and shapes personality attributions to faces that play an important role in romantic partner and associate 1090-5138/06/$ -see front matter D (B.C. Jones). Evolution and Human Behavior 27 (2006) 381 -389 choices. Furthermore, our findings also support the proposal that visual exposure alone cannot explain the context specificity of attitudes to self-resembling faces. D
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2005
Previous studies demonstrating changes in women's face preferences have emphasized increased attr... more Previous studies demonstrating changes in women's face preferences have emphasized increased attraction to cues to possible indirect benefits (e.g. heritable immunity to infection) that coincides with periods of high fertility (e.g. the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle). By contrast, here we show that when choosing between composite faces with raised or lowered apparent health, women's preferences for faces that are perceived as healthy are (i) stronger during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle than during the late follicular, fertile phase, (ii) stronger in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women and (iii) stronger in women using oral contraceptives than in women with natural menstrual cycles. Change in preference for male faces was greater for short-than long-term relationships. These findings indicate raised progesterone level is associated with increased attraction to facial cues associated with possible direct benefits (e.g. low risk of infection) and suggest that women's face preferences are influenced by adaptations that compensate for weakened immune system responses during pregnancy and reduce the risk of infection disrupting foetal development.
Evolution and Human Behavior, 2005
2005) 'Facial masculinity is related to perceived age, but not perceived health.', Evolution and ... more 2005) 'Facial masculinity is related to perceived age, but not perceived health.', Evolution and human behavior., 26 (5). pp. 417-431. Further information on publisher's website:
Ethology, 2012
Vocal and facial masculinity are cues to underlying testosterone in men and influence women's mat... more Vocal and facial masculinity are cues to underlying testosterone in men and influence women's mate preferences. Consistent with the proposal that facial and vocal masculinity signal common information about men, prior work has revealed correlated female preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity. Previous studies have assessed women's preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity by presenting faces and voices independently and using static face stimuli. By contrast, here we presented women with short video clips in which male faces and voices were simultaneously manipulated in masculinity. We found that women who preferred masculine faces also preferred masculine voices. Furthermore, women whose faces were rated as relatively more attractive preferred both facial and vocal masculinity more than did women whose faces were rated as less attractive. These findings complement other evidence for cross-modal masculinity preferences among women and demonstrate that preferences observed in studies using still images and ⁄ or independently presented vocal stimuli are also observed when dynamic faces and voices are displayed simultaneously in video format.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2010
Responding appropriately to gaze cues is essential for fluent social interaction, playing a cruci... more Responding appropriately to gaze cues is essential for fluent social interaction, playing a crucial role in social learning, collaboration, threat assessment and understanding others' intentions. Previous research has shown that responses to gaze cues can be studied by investigating the gaze-cuing effect (i.e. the tendency for observers to respond more quickly to targets in locations that were cued by others' gaze than to uncued targets). A recent study demonstrating that macaques demonstrate larger gaze-cuing effects when viewing dominant conspecifics than when viewing subordinate conspecifics suggests that cues of dominance modulate the gaze-cuing effect in at least one primate species. Here, we show a similar effect of facial cues associated with dominance on gaze cuing in human observers: at short viewing times, observers demonstrated a greater cuing effect for gaze cues from masculinized (i.e. dominant) faces than from feminized (i.e. subordinate) faces. Moreover, this effect of facial masculinity on gaze cuing decreased as viewing time was increased, suggesting that the effect is driven by involuntary responses. Our findings suggest that the mechanisms that underpin reflexive gaze cuing evolved to be sensitive to facial cues of others' dominance, potentially because such differential gaze cuing promoted desirable outcomes from encounters with dominant individuals.
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Papers by Bernard Tiddeman