The impact of simulated cataract on face learning

Cataracts are a common visual impairment that directly affects visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, both of which constrain mid-level and high-level visual processes. Fortunately, cataracts are also relatively easy to treat, so many adults with impaired vision caused by cataract can have their vision restored successfully. This raises the question of how impaired vision due to cataract onset and the restoration of normal vision via surgery impact performance on recognition tasks. In the present study, we examined this question in the context of learning to recognize new faces: How well do observers establish useful representation of novel face identities in the context of cataracts and how do changes in vision associated with cataract onset and treatment affect recognition of recently-learned faces? We used cataract simulation goggles to vary the appearance of face stimuli during the learning and test phases of a simple novel face learning task and examined how recognition for learned and unlearned faces was affected by visual quality in each learning phase.