Faces are ecologically significant stimuli central to social interaction and communication. Human observers possess a remarkable ability to recall great numbers of unique facial identities encountered in a lifetime. Observers can individuate faces seemingly effortlessly based on minor differences across exemplars, yet remain robust against tremendous variation across different images of the same identity. For these and other reasons face recognition is considered to be a form of specialized perceptual expertise. The last few decades have seen a flurry of research activity delineating the limits to this expertise. For example, face expertise fails to generalize to faces of unfamiliar races (“the other-race effect”) and to faces viewed in the inverted orientation (“the face inversion effect”). Despite this tremendous progress identifying the limits of specialized face perception, there is little consensus over the origins of this specialization and the forces that shape this extraordinary skill. Some researchers emphasize genetic and innate contributions. Others stress the key role played by experience during sensitive periods of early development. Yet others argue that face expertise is a dynamic ability continually reshaped by experience well into adulthood.

The primary goal of this special issue is to bring together current research on this topic. Questions we would like to address include but are not limited to: What are the main contributors to face expertise: experiencing a large number of individual exemplars even if only during brief encounters (e.g., unfamiliar faces in a bus) or prolonged experience with a small number of faces (e.g., family interactions)? Can the other-race effect be eliminated (or even reversed)? If so, is this possible during adulthood or limited to early development? How does experience alter perceptual representations of faces and neural mechanisms underlying face recognition? We seek research papers that address the emergence and maintenance of face expertise that span the entire life cycle from development to adulthood as well as aging. Behavioural, neuroimaging, naturalistic observation and modelling approaches are all welcome.