Masters of disguise: Super-recognisers' superior memory for concealed unfamiliar faces

Abstract

The deployment of police super-recognisers (SRs) with exceptional face recognition ability, has transformed the manner in which some forces manage CCTV evidence. In London, SRs make high numbers of sometimes disguised suspect identifications from CCTV. In two experiments measuring immediate and one-week memory of unfamiliar faces in disguise, SRs were more accurate and confident than controls at correctly identifying targets, and ruling out faces not seen before. Accuracy and confidence were highest when targets wore no disguise, followed by hat and plaster, sunglasses, and balaclavas respectively. Even in the balaclava condition, SRs were more accurate than chance levels. These findings add to an accumulating body of empirical evidence demonstrating that SRs possess wide-ranging enhanced face processing abilities, and their deployment should complement ever advancing computerised face recognition systems.