Abstract
ABSTRACTThe ability to recognize an unfamiliar individual on the basis of prior exposure to a photograph is notoriously poor and prone to errors, but recognition accuracy is improved when multiple photographs are available. In applied situations, when only limited real images are available (e.g., from a mugshot or CCTV image), the generation of new images might provide a technological prosthesis for otherwise fallible human recognition. We report two experiments examining the effects of providing computer-generated additional views of a target face. In Experiment 1, provision of computer-generated views supported better target face recognition than exposure to the target image alone and equivalent performance to that for exposure of multiple photograph views. Experiment 2 replicated the advantage of providing generated views, but also indicated an advantage for multiple viewings of the single target photograph. These results strengthen the claim that identifying a target face can be improved by providing multiple synthesized views based on a single target image. In addition, our results suggest that the degree of advantage provided by synthesized views may be affected by the quality of synthesized material.
Highlights
The ability to recognize an unfamiliar individual on the basis of prior exposure to a photograph is notoriously poor and prone to errors, but recognition accuracy is improved when multiple photographs are available
The problem posed by variability with unfamiliar faces is illustrated by the fact that observers tend to underestimate the within-person variability for unfamiliar face images, in that they commonly attributed different images of a single person to different identities
Because the processing of unfamiliar faces is negatively affected by changes in viewpoint, we examined whether exposure to these multiple views aided identification performance in a sequential matching task that involved a viewpoint change: Participants were presented with a line-up procedure that required selecting a target from a test array of images presented at a novel angle (Table 1 summarizes the design, and Figure 1 shows an example of the test array)
Summary
The ability to recognize an unfamiliar individual on the basis of prior exposure to a photograph is notoriously poor and prone to errors, but recognition accuracy is improved when multiple photographs are available. A number of studies have reported that even when provided with the most helpful conditions (e.g., photographs taken on the same day in relatively similar conditions), people are remarkably poor at identifying the target individual (Bruce, Henderson, Newman, & Burton, 2001; Clutterbuck & Johnston, 2002; Megreya & Bindemann, 2009; Megreya & Burton, 2006) This fallibility extends outside the laboratory as demonstrated by Kemp, Towell, and Pike (1997) who found that supermarket staff failed more than 50% of the time to notice that customers had presented photo identification that did not depict that individual—despite being informed that they were under observation and taking part in a study (see Davis & Valentine, 2009; Megreya & Burton, 2008; White, Kemp, Jenkins, Matheson, & Burton, 2014). Recent evidence suggests that even without explicit feedback, individuals are better able to remember an individual after exposure to a range of variable images; compared to a limited number of images, exposed numerous times (Murphy, Ipser, Gaigg, & Cook, 2015)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
