Tzvi Ganel and Yonatan Goshen-Gottstein
Tel-Aviv University

Abstract
According to current face-recognition models, sex and identity of faces are processed
by parallel, independent routes. Using Garner's speeded-classification task, we
provide evidence that, contrary to this "parallel-route hypothesis", sex and identity are
processed within a single route. In four experiments, participants judged the sex or
the familiarity of faces while the other dimension either remained constant or varied
randomly. Critically, the results showed that participants failed to attend to each of
the dimensions while ignoring variations in the other, irrelevant dimension.
Furthermore, we showed that hairstyle heuristics can sometimes override the critical
processing of identity. The reported Garner interference suggests that the dimensions
of identity and sex are integral and therefore depend on a single source of
information.