Sarah Bate

Super‐recognisers in Action: Evidence from Face‐matching and Face Memory Tasks

Summary Individuals employed in forensic or security settings are often required to compare faces of ID holders to document photographs, or to recognise the faces of suspects in closed‐circuit television footage. It has long been established that both tasks produce a high error rate amongst typical perceivers. This study sought to determine the performance of individuals with exceptionally good face memory (‘super‐recognisers’) on applied facial identity matching and memory tasks. In experiment 1, super‐recognisers were significantly better than controls when matching target faces to simultaneously presented line‐ups. In experiment 2, super‐recognisers were also better at recognising faces from video footage. These findings suggest that super‐recognisers are more accurate at face matching and face memory tasks than typical perceivers, and they could be valuable expert employees in national security and forensic settings.

Eye-Movement Strategies in Developmental Prosopagnosia and “Super” Face Recognition:

Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a cognitive condition characterized by a severe deficit in face recognition. Few investigations have examined whether impairments at the early stages of processing may underpin the condition, and it is also unknown whether DP is simply the “bottom end” of the typical face-processing spectrum. To address these issues, we monitored the eye-movements of DPs, typical perceivers, and “super recognizers” (SRs) while they viewed a set of static images displaying people engaged in naturalistic social scenarios. Three key findings emerged: (a) Individuals with more severe prosopagnosia spent less time examining the internal facial region, (b) as observed in acquired prosopagnosia, some DPs spent less time examining the eyes and more time examining the mouth than controls, and (c) SRs spent more time examining the nose—a measure that also correlated with face recognition ability in controls. These findings support previous suggestions that DP is a heterogeneous condition, but suggest that at least the most severe cases represent a group of individuals that qualitatively differ from the typical population. While SRs seem to merely be those at the “top end” of normal, this work identifies the nose as a critical region for successful face recognition.

Solving the border control problem: Evidence of enhanced face matching in individuals with extraordinary face recognition skills

Photographic identity documents (IDs) are commonly used despite clear evidence that unfamiliar face matching is a difficult and error-prone task. The current study set out to examine the performance of seven individuals with extraordinary face recognition memory, so called “super recognisers” (SRs), on two face matching tasks resembling border control identity checks. In Experiment 1, the SRs as a group outperformed control participants on the “Glasgow Face Matching Test”, and some case-by-case comparisons also reached significance. In Experiment 2, a perceptually difficult face matching task was used: the “Models Face Matching Test”. Once again, SRs outperformed controls both on group and mostly in case-by-case analyses. These findings suggest that SRs are considerably better at face matching than typical perceivers, and would make proficient personnel for border control agencies.

The rehabilitation of face recognition impairments: A critical review and future directions

While much research has investigated the neural and cognitive characteristics of face recognition impairments (prosopagnosia), much less work has examined their rehabilitation. In this paper, we present a critical analysis of the studies that have attempted to improve face-processing skills in acquired and developmental prosopagnosia, and place them in the context of the wider neurorehabilitation literature. First, we examine whether neuroplasticity within the typical face-processing system varies across the lifespan, in order to examine whether timing of intervention may be crucial. Second, we examine reports of interventions in acquired prosopagnosia, where training in compensatory strategies has had some success. Third, we examine reports of interventions in developmental prosopagnosia, where compensatory training in children and remedial training in adults have both been successful. However, the gains are somewhat limited—compensatory strategies have resulted in labored recognition techniques and limited generalization to untrained faces, and remedial techniques require longer periods of training and result in limited maintenance of gains. Critically, intervention suitability and outcome in both forms of the condition likely depends on a complex interaction of factors, including prosopagnosia severity, the precise functional locus of the impairment, and individual differences such as age. Finally, we discuss future directions in the rehabilitation of prosopagnosia, and the possibility of boosting the effects of cognitive training programmes by simultaneous administration of oxytocin or non-invasive brain stimulation. We conclude that future work using more systematic methods and larger participant groups is clearly required, and in the case of developmental prosopagnosia, there is an urgent need to develop early detection and remediation tools for children, in order to optimize intervention outcome.

Covert face recognition relies on affective valence in congenital prosopagnosia.

Dominant accounts of covert recognition in prosopagnosia assume subthreshold activation of face representations created prior to onset of the disorder. Yet, such accounts cannot explain covert recognition in congenital prosopagnosia, where the impairment is present from birth. Alternatively, covert recognition may rely on affective valence, yet no study has explored this possibility. The current study addressed this issue in 3 individuals with congenital prosopagnosia, using measures of the scanpath to indicate recognition. Participants were asked to memorize 30 faces paired with descriptions of aggressive, nice, or neutral behaviours. In a later recognition test, eye movements were monitored while participants discriminated studied from novel faces. Sampling was reduced for studied–nice compared to studied–aggressive faces, and performance for studied–neutral and novel faces fell between these two conditions. This pattern of findings suggests that (a) positive emotion can facilitate processing in prosopagnosia, and (b) covert recognition may rely on emotional valence rather than familiarity.

Movement Cues Aid Face Recognition in Developmental Prosopagnosia

OBJECTIVE Seeing a face in motion can improve face recognition in the general population, and studies of face matching indicate that people with face recognition difficulties (developmental prosopagnosia; DP) may be able to use movement cues as a supplementary strategy to help them process faces. However, the use of facial movement cues in DP has not been examined in the context of familiar face recognition. This study examined whether people with DP were better at recognizing famous faces presented in motion, compared to static. METHODS Nine participants with DP and 14 age-matched controls completed a famous face recognition task. Each face was presented twice across 2 blocks: once in motion and once as a still image. Discriminability (A) was calculated for each block. RESULTS Participants with DP showed a significant movement advantage overall. This was driven by a movement advantage in the first block, but not in the second block. Participants with DP were significantly worse than controls at identifying faces from static images, but there was no difference between those with DP and controls for moving images. CONCLUSIONS Seeing a familiar face in motion can improve face recognition in people with DP, at least in some circumstances. The mechanisms behind this effect are unclear, but these results suggest that some people with DP are able to learn and recognize patterns of facial motion, and movement can act as a useful cue when face recognition is impaired.

First Report of Generalized Face Processing Difficulties in Möbius Sequence

Reverse simulation models of facial expression recognition suggest that we recognize the emotions of others by running implicit motor programmes responsible for the production of that expression. Previous work has tested this theory by examining facial expression recognition in participants with Möbius sequence, a condition characterized by congenital bilateral facial paralysis. However, a mixed pattern of findings has emerged, and it has not yet been tested whether these individuals can imagine facial expressions, a process also hypothesized to be underpinned by proprioceptive feedback from the face. We investigated this issue by examining expression recognition and imagery in six participants with Möbius sequence, and also carried out tests assessing facial identity and object recognition, as well as basic visual processing. While five of the six participants presented with expression recognition impairments, only one was impaired at the imagery of facial expressions. Further, five participants presented with other difficulties in the recognition of facial identity or objects, or in lower-level visual processing. We discuss the implications of our findings for the reverse simulation model, and suggest that facial identity recognition impairments may be more severe in the condition than has previously been noted.

The Definition and Diagnosis of Developmental Prosopagnosia

Over the last 20 years much attention in the field of face recognition has been directed towards the study of developmental prosopagnosia (DP), with some authors investigating the behavioural characteristics of the condition, and many others using these individuals to further our theoretical understanding of the typical face-processing system. It is broadly agreed that the term “DP” refers to people who have failed to develop the ability to recognize faces in the absence of neurological illness or injury, yet more precise terminology in relation to potential subtypes of the population are yet to be confirmed. Furthermore, specific diagnostic techniques and inclusion and exclusion criteria have yet to be uniformly accepted across the field, making cross-paper comparisons and meta-analyses very difficult. This paper presents an overview of the current challenges that face research into DP and introduces a series of papers that attempt to further our understanding of the conditions characteristics. It is hoped that this special issue will provide a springboard for further research addressing these issues, improving the current state of the art by ensuring the quality of theoretical investigations into DP, and by posing advances that will assist those who have the condition.

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

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-recognizers are discussed.

Angry faces are special too: evidence from the visual scanpath

Traditional models of face processing posit independent pathways for the processing of facial identity and facial expression (e.g., Bruce & Young, 1986). However, such models have been questioned by recent reports that suggest positive expressions may facilitate recognition (e.g., Baudouin et al., 2000), although little attention has been paid to the role of negative expressions. The current study used eye movement indicators to examine the influence of emotional expression (angry, happy, neutral) on the recognition of famous and novel faces. In line with previous research, the authors found some evidence that only happy expressions facilitate the processing of famous faces. However, the processing of novel faces was enhanced by the presence of an angry expression. Contrary to previous findings, this paper suggests that angry expressions also have an important role in the recognition process, and that the influence of emotional expression is modulated by face familiarity. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to (1) current models of face processing, and (2) theories of oculomotor control in the viewing of facial stimuli.