On the Perceptual Salience of Features of Chernoff Faces for Representing Multivariate Data

Abstract

In order to assess the perceptual salience of features of Chernoff faces, a study was conducted in which subjects had to rate the similarity of pairs of Chernoff faces. It was found that the facial features differ con siderably in perceptual salience. Highly salient fea tures are the curvature of the mouth, the half-face height, the half-length of the eyes, and the length of the eyebrows, whereas the eccentricity of the lower el lipse of the face, the position of the center of the mouth, the separation and the slant of the eyes, and the height of the brows have little influence on the perception of Chemoff faces.