ArticlePDF Available

Towards a 'manifesto' for super-recognizer research

June 2019
British Journal of Psychology 110(1)

DOI:10.1111/bjop.12411

Project: Super-Recognizer

Authors:

Meike Ramon

University of Lausanne

David White

UNSW Sydney

This article provides a response to five excellent commentaries on our article ‘Super‐recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again’. Specifically, the response summarizes commonalities between these commentaries. Based on this consensus, we propose a flexible framework for the assessment of superior face recognition and outline guiding principles to advance future work in the field.

Available via license: CC BY 4.0

Content may be subject to copyright.

British Journal of Psychology (2019)

John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society

www.wileyonlinelibrary.com

Response article

Towards a ‘manifesto’ for super-recognizer

research

Meike Ramon

1,a

, Anna K. Bobak

2,a

* and David White

3,a

Applied Face Cognition Lab, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK

School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

This article provides a response to ﬁve excellent commentaries on our article ‘Super-

recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again’. Speciﬁcally, the response

summarizes commonalities between these commentaries. Based on this consensus, we

propose a ﬂexible framework for the assessment of superior face recognition and outline

guiding principles to advance future work in the ﬁeld.

Bridging the gap between the laboratory and the world

Our target article was intended to encourage greater synergy between face recognition

researchers and practitioners to develop knowledge of super-recognizers (SRs) in the

future. This is critical because the application of knowledge in this area has preceded

development of a solid theoretical knowledge base. Collaboration between practitioners

and academics is vital to redress this and in order to implement and evaluate procedures to

meet current and future real-world demands (Ramon, Bobak, & White, 2019).

Twelve respected researchers took the time to respond thoughtfully to our article, and

to extend the ideas we put forward. Together, these responses reﬂect the vast interest in

this topic over recent years and the positive steps that are already underway to address the

gap between the laboratory and the world (e.g., in test development; Robertson &

Bindemann, 2019; Bate, Portch, Mestry, & Bennetts, 2019; Devue, 2019), including the

emergence of collaborative groups comprising academics and experienced face

identiﬁcation practitioners (Moreton, Pike, & Havard, 2019).

Substantial agreement emerged on the following key points. First, there is broad

consensus that caution should be exercised in deploying SRs to perform real-world tasks,

given the limited level of scientiﬁc understanding, and paucity of data on validity and

reliability of selection tasks for diverse real-world deployments. Second, others shared our

speciﬁc concerns that the quasi-scientiﬁc claims made by commercial organizations and in

popular media are likely to exacerbate this problem (Bate et al., 2019; Robertson &

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Correspondence should be addressed to Anna K. Bobak, Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling’, Cottrell

Building, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK (email: annakbobak@gmail.com).

All authors contributed equally to this work.

DOI:10.1111/bjop.12411

Bindemann, 2019). Third, there is an unequivocal agreement that closer collaboration

between practitioners and academics is required to establish and ensure rigorous and

reliable testing practices.

While it is not possible to give all points raised in the commentaries the full

consideration that they deserve here, our hope is that these aspects will be

expanded upon in future work. In the following sections, we attempt to draw out

some key issues and areas of overlap, in an attempt to map out a potential direction

for this research effort in the future. Our aim is to work towards a framework and

set of common goals whilst preserving the healthy, diverse approach that has

characterized research in this area.

The need for a ﬂexible and efﬁcient framework to assess face processing

abilities

The opinions voiced in this scientiﬁc exchange indicate that aiming for a standard battery

of speciﬁc tests to identify SRs would be a suboptimal approach. The main reason is that

any such potential agreement is insufﬁciently ﬂexible to accommodate the continuously

changing demands of real-world challenges that practitioners are confronted with.

Therefore, the more realistic and pragmatic approach is to conceptualize a framework for

assessing discrete and distinguishable cognitive (sub)processes (Bate et al., 2019; Devue,

2019; Ramon et al., 2019), as well as clearly deﬁned tasks of interest (Devue, 2019;

Moreton et al., 2019; Ramon et al., 2019). Ideally, this framework would be adopted by

researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines interested in identifying

individuals with superior processing abilities –be it for deployment or fundamental

research purposes.

On a practical level, this framework should consider the nature of superior

processing that is aimed to be identiﬁed (face vs. person identity processing? Bate

et al., 2019), as well as the speciﬁc roles which to-be-selected individuals are

expected to perform (e.g., passport control or crowd search? Moreton et al., 2019;

Ramon et al., 2019). The framework should also incorporate guidelines to ensure

selection of experimental procedures most suitable for assessing speciﬁc roles and

identifying abilities that are critical in that speciﬁc operational context. These

procedures for assessment must (1) incorporate multiple tests and measures within

these tests (e.g., accuracy and reaction time (see Stacchi, Huguenin-Elie, Caldara, &

Ramon, 2019), and (2) ensure that individuals are identiﬁed accurately and reliably

as SRs (Bate et al., 2019; Young & Noyes, 2019; cf. Wilmer et al., 2012). That is, all

adopted procedures require sufﬁcient psychometric calibration to meet the criterion

of valid and reliable diagnostic sensitivity (see also Bate et al., 2018; Bobak,

Pampoulov, & Bate, 2016; Stacchi, et al., 2019).

The practices developed under this framework will ultimately serve to characterize the

boundaries and biases associated with superior ability, in order to best match individuals

with the highly varied roles and contexts that characterize real-world tasks (Bate et al.,

2019; Devue, 2019). To the extent that the tests are reliable, this approach can also

provide theoretical insights into associated and dissociated abilities within the person

perception system (Young & Noyes, 2019; cf. Bate et al., 2018). Developing such a

framework in the years ahead will inevitably rely on scientists and practitioners’

willingness to communicate and share knowledge and practices.

2Meike Ramon et al.

Setting knowledge free

Researchers and practitioners may, in principle, agree on conceptual aspects and speciﬁc

working frameworks, which, however, may not always translate into working practices.

To ensure progress in this ﬁeld, we propose the following guidelines, with the common

goal of making the work more transparent and replicable. These recommendations to

academics, practitioners and other end-users, and the government are neither exhaustive,

nor provided in order of importance, but are offered as a guide for future practice in

theoretical and applied SR research.

Firstly, the research into superior face processing abilities should proceed via a long-

term collective goal of expanding the body of knowledge and improving practices.We

echo the view that if individuals with exceptional face or person recognition skills are,

indeed, superior to typical perceivers, they should be deployed in professions where their

abilities may help make societies fairer and safer (cf, Yo ung & Noyes, 2019). This should be

in service of improving scientiﬁc understanding and lead to the betterment of society by

achieving measurable practical gains in, for example, policing, rather than serving private

interests. Practitioners and scientists have a shared power to achieve such goals and, as

pointed out by our peers, should work together to avoid ﬁlling this vacuum by private

enterprise whose prerogative is a ﬁnancial gain (see also Robertson & Bindemann, 2019).

This endeavour can be accomplished through close collaboration between scientists

and practitioners (see also Moreton et al., 2019). Working groups and consortiums with

academics and practitioners and other end-users foster collaborations which are at the

core of progress of this ﬁeld. Such knowledge exchange is critical for developing of valid

and reliable tasks that reﬂect cognitive processes employed in real-world assignments

(Devue, 2019; Young & Noyes, 2019). This, in turn, would allow researchers to identify

the best people for various roles ‘in the wild’. Additionally, multilaboratory collaborations

involving large groups of individuals with superior processing skills can help identify

patterns and provide a more detailed understanding of individual differences, which is

currently lacking.

Such projects must not be constrained by the boundaries of speciﬁc laboratories or

research collaborations, but beneﬁt from sharing of knowledge, procedures, and data.

Given the paucity of SRs, it is pertinent that detailed information concerning procedures is

accessible for researchers outside a speciﬁc laboratory. With adherence to local data

protection laws and practices, individual cases and procedures should be scrutinized by

researchers and practitioners worldwide. Such collaborative work should always be

open to critique; the ﬁeld of superior face processing should represent no exception.

Academic peer review plays an important role in controlling the quality of science and can

provide an objective means of quality control in non-academic settings.

Finally, we acknowledge that full transparency in the context of collaborations with

non-academic partners is not always feasible. For example, some research contracts in

police and security agencies often hold complete discretion over the publication and

dissemination of results. This is a signiﬁcant challenge for researchers that aim to improve

knowledge of SRs through the reverse-translational approach we argue for in our target

article. Nevertheless, scientists have a shared responsibility to act as advocates for ‘setting

knowledge free’: our actions can help ensure that (potential) research partners appreciate

that the ‘real world’ is not the end-point of the knowledge cycle. We hope that the

framework outlined in our initial proposal, as well as our colleagues’ independent calls for

transparency, can help researchers, practitioners, and other end-users to make this

approach a ‘gold standard’ in the years ahead.

Towards a manifesto for super-recognizer research 3

The science of SRs will have a substantial impact on the way that facial identity

information is processed in organizations of the future. Our research decisions and the

way we communicate our ﬁndings will all have tangible effects on a variety of critical legal,

quasi-legal, and security processes. For now, this collection of articles appears to be a

useful starting point for academics and practitioners to work towards the common goals

that have been identiﬁed here.

Acknowledgements

MR is supported by a Swiss National Science Foundation PRIMA (Promoting Women in

Academia) grant (PR00P1_179872). This work was supported by an Australian Research

Council Linkage Project (LP160101523) and a UNSW Scientia Fellowship to DW. AB is funded

by an EPSRC Programme Grant number (EP/N007743/1).

References

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Applied screening tests for the detection of superior face recognition. Cognitive Research:

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Bate, S., Portch, E., Mestry, N., & Bennetts, R. J. (2019). Redeﬁning super recognition in the real

world: Skilled face or person identity recognizers? British Journal of Psychology. https://doi.

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Bobak, A. K., Pampoulov, P., & Bate, S. (2016). Detecting superior face recognition skills in a large

sample of young British adults. Frontiers in Psychology,7, 1378. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.

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Devue, C. (2019). Breaking face processing tasks apart to improve their predictive value in the real

world: A comment on Ramon, Bobak, and White (2019). British Journal of Psychology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12391

Moreton, R., Pike, G., & Havard, C. (2019). A task- and role-based perspective on super-recognizers:

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British Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12395

Received 14 May 2019; revised version received 21 May 2019

4Meike Ramon et al.

Normative data for two challenging tests of face matching under ecological conditions

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2020

Background: Unfamiliar face processing is an ability that varies considerably between individuals. Numerous studies have aimed to identify its underlying determinants using controlled experimental procedures. While such tests can isolate variables that influence face processing, they usually involve somewhat unrealistic situations and optimized face images as stimulus material. As a consequence, the extent to which the performance observed under laboratory settings is informative for predicting real-life proficiency remains unclear. Results: We present normative data for two ecologically valid but underused tests of face matching: the Yearbook Test (YBT) and the Facial Identity Card Sorting Test (FICST). The YBT (n = 252) measures identity matching across substantial age-related changes in facial appearance, while the FICST (n = 218) assesses the ability to process unfamiliar facial identity despite superficial image variations. To determine the predictive value of both tests, a subsample of our cohort (n = 181) also completed a commonly used test of face recognition and two tests of face perception (the long form of the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT+), the Expertise in Facial Comparison Test (EFCT) and the Person Identification Challenge Test (PICT)). Conclusions: Focusing on the top performers identified independently per test, we made two important observations: 1) YBT and FICST performance can predict CFMT+ scores and vice versa; and 2) EFCT and PICT scores neither reliably predict superior performance in ecologically meaningful and challenging tests of face matching, nor in the most commonly used test of face recognition. These findings emphasize the necessity for using challenging and ecologically relevant, and thus highly sensitive, tasks of unfamiliar face processing to identify high-performing individuals in the normal population.

When experience does not promote expertise: security professionals fail to detect low prevalence fake IDs

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Professional screeners frequently verify photograph IDs in such industries as professional security, bar tending, and sales of age-restricted materials. Moreover, security screening is a vital tool for law enforcement in the search for missing or wanted persons. Nevertheless, previous research demonstrates that novice participants fail to spot fake IDs when they are rare (i.e., the low prevalence effect; LPE). To address whether this phenomenon also occurs with professional screeners, we conducted three experiments. Experiment 1 compared security professional and non-professionals. Experiment 2 compared bar-security professionals, access-security professionals, and non-professionals. Finally, Experiment 3 added a newly created Professional Identity Training Questionnaire to determine whether and how aspects of professionals’ employment predict ID-matching accuracy. Across all three experiments, all participants were susceptible to the LPE regardless of professional status. Neither length/type of professional experience nor length/type of training experience affected ID verification performance. We discuss task performance and survey responses with aims to acknowledge and address this potential problem in real-world screening scenarios.

Differences between and within individuals, and sub-processes of face cognition – implications for theory, research, and personnel selection

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2020

Recent investigations of individual differences in face matching and face memory have demonstrated striking variability in performance within the same sub-process (i.e. face memory), but also between two different sub-processes (i.e. face matching vs. face memory). Such differences between and within individuals between and within laboratory tests raise practical challenges. This applies in particular to the development of screening tests for the selection of personnel in real-world settings where faces are routinely processed, such as at passport control. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the performance profiles of individuals within and across different sub-processes of face cognition. To this end, 146 individuals completed four tests of face matching – one novel tool for assessing proficiency in this sub-process, as well as three established measures – and two benchmark tests of face memory. In addition to correlational analyses, we further scrutinized individual performance profiles of the highest and lowest performing observers identified per test, as well as across all tests. Overall, a number of correlations emerged between tests. However, there was limited evidence at the individual level to suggest that high proficiency in one test generalised to other tests measuring the same sub-process, as well as those that measured a different sub-process. Beyond emphasizing the need to honour inter-individual differences through careful multivariate assessment in the lab, our findings have real world implications: combinations of tests that most accurately map the task(s) of interest are required for personnel selection.

Face processing in police service: the relationship between laboratory-based assessment of face processing abilities and performance in a real-world identity matching task

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

In the present study, we investigated whether police officers’ performance in searching for unfamiliar faces in a video-based real-world task is predicted by laboratory-based face processing tests that are typically used to assess individual differences in face processing abilities. Specifically, perceptual performance in the field was operationalized via the identification of target individuals in self-made close-circuit television (CCTV) video tapes. Police officers’ abilities in the laboratory were measured by the Cambridge Face Memory Test long form (CFMT+). We hypothesized that the CFMT+ predicts individual differences in the CCTV task performance. A total of N = 186 police officers of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Police participated in the study (i.e., N = 139 novice and advanced cadets with either 3 months, 15 months or 24 months of pre-service experience; N = 47 experienced police officers with three years of pre-service experience and at least two years of full-service experience, who participated in the assessment center of the special police forces, specifically the surveillance and technical unit). Results revealed that the CFMT+ explained variance in the CCTV task. In sample 1, CFMT+ scores predicted hits, but not false alarms. In contrast, in sample 2, CFMT+ scores were correlated with both hits and false alarms. From a theoretical perspective, we discuss factors that might explain CCTV task performance. From a practical perspective, we recommend that personnel selection processes investigating individual differences of police officers’ face processing abilities should comprise of two steps. At first, laboratory-based tests of face processing abilities should be applied. Subsequently, to validate laboratory-based individual differences in face processing abilities, we recommend that work samples such as CCTV tasks from the field should be added.

Forensic face matching: Procedures and application

Preprint

Full-text available

Dec 2020

Reuben Moreton

Forensic face matching evidence has been presented in UK courts for over 30 years to provide crucial identification evidence in criminal investigations. To be admissible as evidence in UK courts, this evidence must be conducted by a suitably qualified expert using scientifically validated procedures. Contrary to this notion, however, the field has been largely self-regulated, with little empirical investigation into the validity of face matching procedures, with extensive criticism of forensic face matching procedures in the academic literature. Practitioner working groups are now addressing these criticisms and standardising working practices, but further effort is required to ensure that the procedures used for forensic face matching are reliable and the limitations known. This chapter will provide a critical analysis of the forensic face matching procedures used in the UK and internationally by forensic face examiners, alongside studies and case examples that have challenged and tested the reliability and accuracy of these procedures.

Low prevalence match and mismatch detection in simultaneous face matching: Influence of face recognition ability and feature focus guidance

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2021

Simultaneous face matching to verify identity is key to security and policing. However, matching is error-prone, particularly when target-item prevalence is low. Two experiments examined whether superior face recognition ability and the use of internal or external facial feature guidance scales would reduce low prevalence effects. In Experiment 1, super-recognisers (n = 317) significantly outperformed typical-ability controls (n = 452), while internal feature guidance enhanced accuracy across all prevalence conditions. However, an unexpected effect in controls revealed higher accuracy in low prevalence conditions, probably because no low-match or low-mismatch prevalence information was provided. In Experiment 2, top-end-of-typical range ability participants (n = 841) were informed of their low prevalence condition and demonstrated the expected low-prevalence effects. Findings and implications are discussed.

Image or identity? Only Super-Recognizers' (memor)ability is consistently viewpoint-invariant

Preprint

Mar 2021

A face’s memorability refers to the unique combination of its intrinsic visual features facilitating its later recognition. Despite considerable variation in face recognition ability amongst the general population, individuals show substantial concordance regarding the memorability of various faces. And, when the viewpoints across which identities are seen at encoding and recognition differ, such agreement persists, though to a lesser extent. Consequently, face recognition cannot rely solely on image-dependent encoding; individuals must extract some invariant facial information, robust to changes in viewpoint, to do so consistently. However, whether such consistency covaries with overall face processing ability is unclear. Here, therefore, in two experiments we tested recognition of (i) implicitly encoded face images and (ii) explicitly encoded identities in a group of normal control observers against a group of “Super-Recognizers” (SRs) who possess exceptional face processing skills. When implicit encoding was surreptitiously solicited, recognition of studied images was comparable between groups. Yet, when encoding was explicitly solicited, SRs more accurately recognized studied identities across viewpoint changes than normal observers. Critically, image-dependent information could only inform recognition in the first experiment, whereas viewpoint-invariant information could inform recognition consistently in both. Individualized profiles of observers’ performance (as a function of stimulus memorability) reveal that only SRs performed consistently between experiments. We suggest that SRs’ unique capacity for utilizing viewpoint-invariant information for recognition, regardless of encoding conditions, is rooted in fundamentally more accurate and robust representations of identity-based memorability. These results invite a reinterpretation of face memorability that describes viewpoint-invariant information, diagnostic of facial identity representations in memory.

Super-Recognizers as an example for innovation in policing through science. [Super-Recognizer als Beispiel für polizeiliche Innovation durch Wissenschaft.]

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2021

Recognizing individuals based on their face represents a critical component of police work – from identity checks to image intelligence. This capacity, which is at best trainable to a limited extent, varies from person to person and represents one of the greatest challenges for the human brain. In particular processing of unfamiliar faces is extremely error-prone. At the same time, the demand for this task is steadily increasing due to increasing availability of video and image material. To address this, some police agencies are interested in deploying so-called Super-Recognizers: individuals who have a natural propensity for processing faces, and who do so extremely proficiently without any form of training. Super-Recognizers were first scientifically introduced in 2009 – their future lies in the collaboration between police and scientific research. [Personen anhand ihres Gesichts zu erkennen, stellt einen wesentlichen Bestandteil der polizeilichen Arbeit dar – von der Personenkontrolle bis hin zur Bildfahndung. Diese Fähigkeit, die sich nur bedingt trainieren lässt, variiert von Person zu Person und ist eine der herausforderndsten Aufgaben für das menschliche Gehirn. Vor allem die Verarbeitung unbekannter Gesichter ist extrem fehleranfällig. Gleichzeitig ist dies eine Aufgabe, die aufgrund der Zunahme an zu bearbeitendem Video- und Bildmaterial stetig wächst. Um dieser Situation gerecht zu werden, setzen einige Behörden deshalb auf sogenannte Super-Recognizer: Personen, die von Natur aus und ohne Training Gesichter extrem gut verarbeiten und wiedererkennen können. Super-Recognizer wurden von der Wissenschaft erstmals 2009 thematisiert – die Zukunft liegt in der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Polizei und Forschung.]

Low prevalence match and mismatch detection in simultaneous face matching: Influence of face recognition ability and feature focus guidance

Preprint

Full-text available

Jan 2021

Accurate simultaneous face matching of photos of unfamiliar faces to verify identity is key to many security and policing operations. However, matching is error-prone, especially when the prevalence of target items is low. In two experiments, the current research examined whether the use of internal or external facial feature guidance scales, and recruitment of participants with superior face recognition ability would reduce low prevalence effect impact. In Experiment 1, no information as to low prevalence of items was provided. Super-recognisers (n = 317) significantly outperformed typical-range-ability controls (n = 452), while internal feature guidance significantly enhanced accuracy in all prevalence conditions (10-90%, 50-50%, 90-10% mismatched-matched). However, an unexpected paradoxical prevalence criterion shift effect in controls meant accuracy tended to be highest in low prevalence conditions. In Experiment 2, top-end-of-typical range ability participants (n = 567) were informed as to low matched or mismatched item prevalence, and this time, the expected low prevalence effects were observed. No facial feature focus guidance effects were significant. The results enhance theoretical understanding of low prevalence effects while offering support for the deployment of super-recognisers, and the use of facial feature guidance scales in the identity verification workplace.

Normative data for two challenging tests of face matching under ecological conditions

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2020

A task‐ and role‐based perspective on super‐recognizers: Commentary on ‘Super‐recognizers: From the laboratory to the world and back again’

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2019

This article provides a commentary on recent work by Ramon et al. (2019, PLoS ONE, in press) on super‐recognizers. The commentary advocates a task‐ and role‐based approach to SR research and greater collaboration between researchers and the applied community.

Super-Recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2018

The recent discovery of individuals with superior face processing ability has sparked considerable interest amongst cognitive scientists and practitioners alike. These ‘Super-recognizers’ (SRs) offer clues to the underlying processes responsible for high levels of face processing ability. It has been claimed that they can help make societies safer and fairer by improving accuracy of facial identity processing in real-world tasks, for example when identifying suspects from CCTV, or performing security-critical identity verification tasks. Here, we argue that the current understanding of superior face processing does not justify widespread interest in SR deployment: there are relatively few studies of SRs, and no evidence that high accuracy on lab-based tests translates directly to operational deployment. Using simulated data, we show that modest accuracy benefits can be expected from deploying SRs on the basis of ideally calibrated laboratory tests. Attaining more substantial benefits will require greater levels of communication and collaboration between psychologists and practitioners. We propose that translational and reverse-translational approaches to knowledge development are critical to advance current understanding and to enable optimal deployment of SRs in society. Finally, we outline knowledge gaps that this approach can help to address.

Applied screening tests for the detection of superior face recognition

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2018

In recent years there has been growing interest in the identification of people with superior face recognition skills, for both theoretical and applied investigations. These individuals have mostly been identified via their performance on a single attempt at a tightly controlled test of face memory—the long form of the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT+). The consistency of their skills over a range of tests, particularly those replicating more applied policing scenarios, has yet to be examined systematically. The current investigation screened 200 people who believed they have superior face recognition skills, using the CFMT+ and three new, more applied tests (measuring face memory, face matching and composite-face identification in a crowd). Of the sample, 59.5% showed at least some consistency in superior face recognition performance, although only five individuals outperformed controls on overall indices of target-present and target-absent trials. Only one participant outperformed controls on the Crowds test, suggesting that some applied face recognition tasks require very specific skills. In conclusion, future screening protocols need to be suitably thorough to test for consistency in performance, and to allow different types of superior performer to be detected from the outset. Screening for optimal performers may sometimes need to directly replicate the task in question, taking into account target-present and target-absent performance. Self-selection alone is not a reliable means of identifying those at the top end of the face recognition spectrum. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s41235-018-0116-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Detecting Superior Face Recognition Skills in a Large Sample of Young British Adults

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2016

The Cambridge Face Memory Test Long Form (CFMT+) and Cambridge Face Perception Test (CFPT) are typically used to assess the face processing ability of individuals who believe they have superior face recognition skills. Previous large-scale studies have presented norms for the CFPT but not the CFMT+. However, previous research has also highlighted the necessity for establishing country-specific norms for these tests, indicating that norming data is required for both tests using young British adults. The current study addressed this issue in 254 British participants. In addition to providing the first norm for performance on the CFMT+ in any large sample, we also report the first UK specific cut-off for superior face recognition on the CFPT. Further analyses identified a small advantage for females on both tests, and only small associations between objective face recognition skills and self-report measures. A secondary aim of the study was to examine the relationship between trait or social anxiety and face processing ability, and no associations were noted. The implications of these findings for the classification of super-recognisers are discussed.

Breaking face processing tasks apart to improve their predictive value in the real world: A comment on Ramon, Bobak, and White (2019)

Article

Mar 2019

Christel Devue

In this commentary, I will expand on three aspects suggested by Ramon et al. (British Journal of Psychology, 2019) to improve the predictive value of laboratory‐based tasks in real‐world applications. There are potential benefits that may arise from three interrelated considerations, particularly in terms of predicting agents’ susceptibility to errors in operational settings. The first is a proposal to conduct a detailed examination of performance on face processing tests rather than only analysing overall accuracy scores. The second involves considering non‐face‐related cognitive and meta‐cognitive sub‐processes involved in face processing tasks. The third highlights the contribution of superior recognisers in creating challenging tests that simulate difficult real‐world situations.

Consolidation, wider reflection, and policy: Response to ‘Super‐recognisers: From the lab to the world and back again’

Article

Mar 2019

Here, David Robertson and Markus Bindemann respond to a recent BJP Target Article on ‘super‐recognisers’ (SRs). They outline the need to consider human factors that could influence SR performance after selection and the need for a co‐ordinated effort to ensure best practice in the implementation of SRs in applied contexts.

We need to talk about super-recognizers : Invited commentary on: Ramon, M., Bobak, A. K., & White, D. (2019). Super-recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again. British Journal of Psychology.

Article

Mar 2019

Whilst we agree with much of what Ramon et al. (2019, British Journal of Psychology) say, we emphasize the additional importance of taking into account the often‐neglected psychometric properties of existing and future techniques.

Redefining super recognition in the real world: Skilled face or person identity recognizers?

Article

Mar 2019

While there has been growing interest in the deployment of superior face recognizers in policing and security settings, it is likely that most real‐world tasks tap person rather than face recognition skills. We suggest that changes in real‐world screening tasks and terminology are required to distinguish these individuals from laboratory‐identified superior face recognizers, who have more potential in developing our theoretical understanding of the face recognition system.

Normative data for two tests of face matching under ecological conditions

Preprint

Jan 2019

How do humans process unfamiliar faces, and how can we reliably identify individuals that are most proficient at it? Motivated by its relevance in applied contexts, much empirical work has sought to answer these questions. Controlled laboratory tests have been developed to understand the contribution of different variables and inter-individual differences. However, such face processing tests involving stimuli derived from ideal conditions, or manipulations and tasks that are not representative of real life, may lack ecological validity. This crucial consideration is often overlooked when laboratory tests are used to predict real-life proficiency. The present study followed the rationale that traditionally used controlled tests should be paired with more realistic, and ecologically meaningful ones – in terms of the stimuli and tasks performed. Testing large and heterogenous samples, we standardized two underused tests of facial identity matching: the Yearbook Test (YBT; Bruck et al., 1991) and the Face Identity Card Sorting Test (FICST; Jenkins et al., 2011). These procedurally simple tests mimic real-life challenges in face perception, as they assess unfamiliar facial identity matching across superficial image changes, or substantial age-related change in appearance. Beyond providing normative data, we describe how performance measured by these tests relates to that observed on more commonly used tests of face recognition (CFMT+; Russell et al., 2009) and perception (EFCT; PICT; White et al., 2015). Our findings suggest that (i) the YBT and FICST are easy-to-use, preferable alternatives to pairwise face matching tasks, which are prone to speed-accuracy trade-offs; (ii) challenging and ecologically valid tests should complement highly controlled measures when aiming to identify individuals with superior face processing abilities for real-life purposes.