Led by Caroline Blais and Daniel Fiset, the Social and Visual Perception Laboratory at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (LPVS-UQO) investigates how the brain extracts and uses visual information to understand other people and guide social behaviour.
Our research focuses mainly on the perception of faces and facial expressions (emotions, pain, social traits), especially when faces come from diverse ethnocultural groups, as well as on the recognition of other natural stimuli such as written words. Using advanced psychophysical methods (e.g., Bubbles, image classification, large-scale online experiments), eye-tracking, and neurophysiological measures (EEG/ERPs), we aim to identify which visual cues are used, when they are used, and how they shape social judgments and decisions.
We study these mechanisms in healthy adults and in populations with specific characteristics or vulnerabilities, notably individuals who differ widely in their ability to recognize faces. A central theme of our work is how experience, culture, attitudes, and personality traits influence face perception, pain recognition, and social biases, particularly in intercultural contexts, with implications for healthcare, education, sports, and public policy.
Our various projects are currently funded by NSERC, SSHRC, FRQSC, a Canada Research Chair (to C.B.) and institutional funds.
graphic design Lukasz Bober