Abstract
BackgroundMatching unfamiliar faces to photographic identification (ID) documents occurs across many domains, including financial transactions (e.g., mortgage documents), controlling the purchase of age-restricted goods (e.g., alcohol sales), and airport security. Laboratory research has repeatedly documented the fallibility of this process in novice observers, but little research has assessed individual differences based on occupational expertise (cf. White et al., PLoS One 9:e103510, 2014; White et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282(1814):20151292, 2015). In the present study, over 800 professional notaries (who routinely verify identity prior to witnessing signatures on legal documents), 70 bank tellers, and 35 undergraduate students completed an online unfamiliar face-matching test. In this test, observers made match/nonmatch decisions to 30 face ID pairs (half of which were matches), with no time constraints and no trial-by-trial feedback.ResultsResults showed that all groups performed similarly, although age was negatively correlated with accuracy. Critically, weekly and yearly experience with unfamiliar face matching did not impact performance.ConclusionsThese results suggest that accumulated occupational experience has no bearing on unfamiliar face ID abilities and that cognitive declines associated with aging also manifest in unfamiliar face matching.
Highlights
Matching unfamiliar faces to photographic identification (ID) documents occurs across many domains, including financial transactions, controlling the purchase of age-restricted goods, and airport security
The results reveal that occupational experience does not improve unfamiliar face-matching ability, and that ability declines with age
The notary public failed to spot that the man in front of him did not match the presented ID, he recorded a fingerprint in his notary journal as additional identity verification, which eventually led to the conviction of six co-conspirators
Summary
Matching unfamiliar faces to photographic identification (ID) documents occurs across many domains, including financial transactions (e.g., mortgage documents), controlling the purchase of age-restricted goods (e.g., alcohol sales), and airport security. Over 800 professional notaries (who routinely verify identity prior to witnessing signatures on legal documents), 70 bank tellers, and 35 undergraduate students completed an online unfamiliar face-matching test. In this test, observers made match/ nonmatch decisions to 30 face ID pairs (half of which were matches), with no time constraints and no trial-by-trial feedback. After befriending and subsequently murdering Mr Lambert, two of the co-conspirators requested a notary public to witness a power of attorney transfer, giving one of the accomplices power over an impersonated Mr Lambert’s bank account. The estate of Mr Lambert was granted a US$10,000 settlement against the notary’s insurance because of the mistaken identity
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