Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37005648›Full record

ArticleBMC psychology2023

Under the sun: adaptation effects to changes in facial complexion.

Sandra Utz, Ronja Mueller, Tilo Strobach, Claus-Christian Carbon

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Face adaptation: Investigating non-configural contrast alterations.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Sandra Utz *Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Markusplatz 3, 96047, Bamberg, Germany. sandra.utz@uni-bamberg.de.
Ronja MuellerBamberg Graduate School of Affective and Cognitive Sciences (BaGrACS), University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
Tilo StrobachDepartment of Psychology/Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ICAN), Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Claus-Christian Carbon *Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Markusplatz 3, 96047, Bamberg, Germany.
University of Bamberg · DEMSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical University · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft CA 917/7-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft STR 1223/4-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany Western people enjoy sunshine, and through the sun's stimulated increase in melanin, the skin tone or skin complexion will darken (and lighten again during winter). Although the initial salience of such a new look is remarkable - especially in the face - we seem to adapt to this new look relatively quickly. Research on face adaptation in general repeatedly showed that the inspection of manipulated versions of faces (so-called adaptor faces) leads to a change of the perception of subsequently presented faces. The present study investigates face adaptation to very natural changes in faces such as changes in complexion.

methodsDuring the adaptation phase in the present study, participants saw faces with either strongly increased or decreased complexion. After a pause of 5 min, participants had to identify the veridical (non-manipulated) face out of two faces (a face slightly manipulated in complexion combined with the non-manipulated face) during a test phase.

resultsResults show strong adaptation effects to decreased complexion intensities. DISCUSSION: It seems that we are updating our facial representations in memory quite quickly (i.e., optimizing our processing through adaptation) and seem to sustain those new representations over a certain timespan (at least 5 min). Our results demonstrate that changes in complexion draw our attention for deeper analysis (at least with decreased complexion). However, it loses its informative quality quickly via fast and relatively sustainable adaptation.

Indexed as

FaceHumansTime FactorsComplexionFace adaptationFace memoryFace perceptionFace recognitionSkin color

Identifiers

PMID37005648
PMCPMC10067251
OpenAlexW4362523150

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.