Recovering faces from memory: The distracting influence of external facial features.

• DOI: 10.1037/a0027393
• Publication Date: 2012-04-30T18:30:10Z
• Authors: Charlie D. Frowd; Faye Skelton; Chris Atherton; Melanie Pitchford; Gemma Hepton; Laura Holden; Alex H. McIntyre; Peter J. B. Hancock
• Keywords: Adult; Male; BF Psychology; Face perception; witness memory; 150; facial composites; 158 Applied psychology; Recognition memory; Facial composites; Humans; Attention; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; 05 social sciences; hair; Recognition, Psychology; Face Psysiology; 16. Peace & justice; C800; Facial Expression; Pattern Recognition, Visual; EvoFit; EvoFIT; unfamiliar faces; Face; victim recall; Female; Cues; Photic Stimulation

Recognition memory for unfamiliar faces is facilitated when contextual cues (e.g., head pose, background environment, hair and clothing) are consistent between study test. By contrast, inconsistencies in external features, especially hair, promote errors face-matching tasks. For the construction of facial composites, as carried out by witnesses victims crime, role features (hair, ears, neck) less clear, although research does suggest their involvement. Here, over three experiments, we investigate impact recovering memories using a modern, recognition-based composite system, EvoFIT. Participant-constructors inspected an target face and, one day later, repeatedly selected items from arrays whole faces, with "breeding," to "evolve" EvoFIT; further participants (evaluators) named resulting composites. In Experiment 1, important internal-features (eyes, brows, nose, mouth) were constructed more identifiably visual presence was decreased Gaussian blur during construction: higher yielded identifiable internal-features. 2, increasing visible extent (to match target's) presented face-arrays also improved quality, so than masked throughout construction. 3 demonstrated that masking external-features promoted substantially images previous method blurring external-features. Overall, indicates distractive rather beneficial cue construction; results provide much better construct should dramatically increase identification offenders.