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. 2016 Feb 1;11(2):e0148148.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148148. eCollection 2016.

Solving the Border Control Problem: Evidence of Enhanced Face Matching in Individuals with Extraordinary Face Recognition Skills

Anna Katarzyna Bobak  1 , Andrew James Dowsett  2 , Sarah Bate  1
Affiliations

Solving the Border Control Problem: Evidence of Enhanced Face Matching in Individuals with Extraordinary Face Recognition Skills

Anna Katarzyna Bobak et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Photographic identity documents (IDs) are commonly used despite clear evidence that unfamiliar face matching is a difficult and error-prone task. The current study set out to examine the performance of seven individuals with extraordinary face recognition memory, so called "super recognisers" (SRs), on two face matching tasks resembling border control identity checks. In Experiment 1, the SRs as a group outperformed control participants on the "Glasgow Face Matching Test", and some case-by-case comparisons also reached significance. In Experiment 2, a perceptually difficult face matching task was used: the "Models Face Matching Test". Once again, SRs outperformed controls both on group and mostly in case-by-case analyses. These findings suggest that SRs are considerably better at face matching than typical perceivers, and would make proficient personnel for border control agencies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Correlation between GFMT and MFMT performance for all control participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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