Putting the pieces together: Revealing face-voice integration through the facial overshadowing effect

Two experiments are reported which explore the limits of the facial overshadowing effect on voice recognition. In Experiment 1, the facial overshadowing effect was replicated. Voice recognition was significantly impaired when the voice had been studied in the presence of the face rather than when studied alone. However, this effect was removed when the accompanying face was inverted. In Experiment 2, the facial overshadowing effect was replicated using more realistic moving faces rather than static faces through presentation of a video sequence at study. Surprisingly, the magnitude of the facial overshadowing effect was not influenced by whether faces were static or dynamic. Moreover, the effect remained even under temporal asynchrony. Together, these results show the facial overshadowing effect to be a robust phenomenon. However, it appears to depend critically on one factor: the facial nature of the distraction. The results are discussed in terms of the integration of faces and voices in a recognition context, and in terms of a holistic view of face-voice processing in a more general person perception framework. This offers an explanation of current findings, and serves to guide predictions for future work.