Abstract
Wrongful convictions continue to occur through eyewitness misidentification. Recognising what factors, or interaction between factors, affect face-recognition is therefore imperative. Extensive research indicates that face-recognition accuracy is impacted by anxiety and by race. Limited research, however, has examined how these factors interact to potentially exacerbate face-recognition deficits. Brigham (2008) suggests that anxiety exacerbates other-race face-recognition deficits. Conversely, Attentional Control Theory predicts that anxiety exacerbates deficits for all faces. This systematic review examined existing studies investigating the possible interaction between anxiety and face-race to compare these theories. Recent studies included in this review found that both anxiety and race influence face-recognition accuracy but found no interaction. Potential moderators existing in reviewed studies, however, might have influenced their results. Separately, in some studies reviewed, anxiety induced during retrieval impacted recognition, contrasting with the conclusions of previous reviews. Recommendations for future research are given to address moderators potentially impacting results observed previously.
Highlights
The ability to accurately recognise a face is a vital skill needed for daily functioning
It must be noted that after peer-review of this article, an additional inclusion criterion was added, such that we have only included studies that examined the interaction between anxiety and race
Studies included in this review suggest that anxiety, under certain circumstances, can either increase [30, 47] or decrease [67] own-race or other-race face-recognition accuracy
Summary
The ability to accurately recognise a face is a vital skill needed for daily functioning. Facial recognition ability can be dissociated from both general intelligence and other types of recognition memory, such as memory for objects [2]. Human beings are considered experts at recognising faces; this ability is fallible [3, 4]. Because accurately recognising faces is important, extensive research has investigated what affects this ability [3]. Two factors extensively researched regarding their influence on face-recognition accuracy are anxiety [5] and race [6].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
