Abstract
We present a new test-the UNSW Face Test (www.unswfacetest.com)-that has been specifically designed to screen for super-recognizers in large online cohorts and is available free for scientific use. Super-recognizers are people that demonstrate sustained performance in the very top percentiles in tests of face identification ability. Because they represent a small proportion of the population, screening large online cohorts is an important step in their initial recruitment, before confirmatory testing via standardized measures and more detailed cognitive testing. We provide normative data on the UNSW Face Test from 3 cohorts tested via the internet (combined n = 23,902) and 2 cohorts tested in our lab (combined n = 182). The UNSW Face Test: (i) captures both identification memory and perceptual matching, as confirmed by correlations with existing tests of these abilities; (ii) captures face-specific perceptual and memorial abilities, as confirmed by non-significant correlations with non-face object processing tasks; (iii) enables researchers to apply stricter selection criteria than other available tests, which boosts the average accuracy of the individuals selected in subsequent testing. Together, these properties make the test uniquely suited to screening for super-recognizers in large online cohorts.
Highlights
People show a surprising degree of variation in their ability to identify faces, ranging from chance-level to perfect accuracy. These individual differences are stable over repeated testing (e.g. [1]), generalise from one face identification task to another (e.g. [2]), and represent a domain-specific cognitive skill that is dissociable from general intelligence (e.g. [3]) and visual object processing ability (e.g. [4]; c.f. [5])
We find that the UNSW Face Test is a valid and reliable test that is uniquely suited to screening for super-recognizers
We examined the accuracy of participants on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT)+ and Glasgow Face Matching Test (GFMT), selected using progressively stricter selection criteria on the UNSW Face Test (1.7, 2, 2.5, and 3 SDs above the mean)
Summary
People show a surprising degree of variation in their ability to identify faces, ranging from chance-level to perfect accuracy. These individual differences are stable over repeated testing Twin studies reveal this ability is highly heritable [6, 7]. Together, this evidence indicates that face identification ability is a stable cognitive trait with a biological basis, which means it can be reliably measured. Face identification ability is normally distributed, and people at the very top end–‘superrecognizers’–demonstrate extraordinary abilities [8, 9]. Super-recognizers could make substantial contributions to the theoretical understanding of face identification, by helping to pinpoint the cognitive, perceptual, and neural mechanisms underlying accurate
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