Why are some people’s names easier to learn than others? The effects of face similarity on memory for face-name associations (original) (raw)
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Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2010
In social interactions, it is often necessary to rapidly encode the association between visually presented faces and auditorily presented names. The present study used event-related potentials to examine the neural correlates of associative encoding for multimodal face-name pairs. We assessed study-phase processes leading to high-confidence recognition of correct pairs (and consistent rejection of recombined foils) as compared to lower-confidence recognition of correct pairs (with inconsistent rejection of recombined foils) and recognition failures (misses). Both high- and low-confidence retrieval of face-name pairs were associated with study-phase activity suggestive of item-specific processing of the face (posterior inferior temporal negativity) and name (fronto-central negativity). However, only those pairs later retrieved with high confidence recruited a sustained centro-parietal positivity that an ancillary localizer task suggested may index an association-unique process. Additionally, we examined how these processes were influenced by massed repetition, a mnemonic strategy commonly employed in everyday situations to improve face-name memory. Differences in subsequent memory effects across repetitions suggested that associative encoding was strongest at the initial presentation, and thus, that the initial presentation has the greatest impact on memory formation. Yet, exploratory analyses suggested that the third presentation may have benefited later memory by providing an opportunity for extended processing of the name. Thus, although encoding of the initial presentation was critical for establishing a strong association, the extent to which processing was sustained across subsequent immediate (massed) presentations may provide additional encoding support that serves to differentiate face-name pairs from similar (recombined) pairs by providing additional encoding opportunities for the less dominant stimulus dimension (i.e., name).
Effects of Face and Name Presentation on Memory for Associated Verbal Descriptors
American Journal of Psychology, 2003
Sixty-four participants were tested on immediate and delayed recall of verbal information about people accompanied by photographs of them, in comparison to verbal information about people accompanied by written names of them. Forty-two descriptive sentences were shown in a fixed random order, each associated with a photograph of one of 6 people (7 facts per depicted person), and another 42 sentences were paired with the written name of one of 6 people (7 facts per named person). Participants had to recall as many facts about each face or name as they could, 5 min after the presentation and then a week later. More information was recalled when paired with a photographic image than when paired with a name, especially in the delayed recall condition. Facts referring to a certain face or name were not attributed to a different face or name. Females excelled males on both short- and long-term retention of information. Face-related performance improved significantly when participants became aware of the precise design and memory demands of the task, but name-related performance did not improve.
Resemblance to familiar faces is exaggerated in memory
Japanese Psychological Research, 2014
Recognition memory performance for familiar faces is better than that for unfamiliar faces. However, it is unclear whether this "familiarity effect" also occurs for unfamiliar faces which resemble familiar faces. In Experiment 1, we tested recognition memory for unfamiliar faces, and showed that unfamiliar faces that resemble familiar faces are recognized more accurately than are unfamiliar faces that do not. In Experiment 2, we attempted to measure how accurately the degree of resemblance is remembered. We had participants remember unfamiliar faces that resembled either familiar faces or unfamiliar faces. Then the participants were asked to choose the face that they thought they had seen from an array of faces whose degree of resemblance was systematically varied. The results demonstrated that resemblance to familiar faces enhances encoding of facial information, and that the degree of resemblance to familiar faces is exaggerated in memory. Experiment 3 indicated that people perceive mild anti-caricatures to be most like the real faces that are familiar to them. This finding suggests that exaggerated resemblance in memory is not due to exaggerated representations of familiar faces.
Recognition memory for faces: when familiarity supports associative recognition judgments
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 1999
Recognition memory for single items can be dissociated from recognition memory for the associations between items. For example, recognition tests for single words produce curvilinear receiver operating characteristics (ROCs), but associative recognition tests for word pairs produce linear ROCs. These dissociations are consistent with dual-process theories of recognition and suggest that associative recognition relies on recollection but that item recognition relies on a combination of recollection and assessments of familiarity. In the present study, we examined associative recognition ROCs for facial stimuli by manipulating the central and external features, in order to determine whether linear ROCs would be observed for stimuli other than arbitrary word pairs. When the faces were presented upright, familiarity estimates were significantly above zero, and the associative ROCs were curvilinear, suggesting that familiarity contributed to associative judgments. However, presenting the...
A dissociation between similarity effects in episodic face recognition.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2009
Unstudied test items that are judged to be perceptually or conceptually similar to study items produce increased false recognition for a wide range of stimuli (e.g., words, numbers, shapes, and pictures). The resulting negative correlation between similarity and accuracy, which we call the memory similarity effect, 1 is a general regularity in recognition memory tested by either yes/no or two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) procedures (e.g., . A second regularity, a positive correlation between recognition accuracy and retrospective confidence (i.e., confidence judgments given at test) is attributed to memory trace strength's being the common basis for both decisions ; stronger traces cause greater confidence and are associated with more accurate recognition decisions.
Face Familiarity and Image-Specific Memory
Perception, 2020
Face familiarity produces advantages for both memory and matching. By developing an internal representation through repeated experience, viewers extract identity-specific information that aids subsequent recognition. However, researchers have recently argued that this process may also result in a familiarity disadvantage, whereby specific instances of the face are more difficult to remember, perhaps due to this process of prioritising identity- over image-specific information. Although previous experiments found no evidence of this disadvantage in working memory, initial research has demonstrated an effect in longer term storage. Here, we attempted to replicate this finding by focussing on the ability to learn images of a single (un)familiar identity. Our results failed to demonstrate a familiarity disadvantage while replicating the finding that familiarity influences response bias. As researchers continue to investigate how familiarity alters both internal representations and assoc...
The Face–Name Mnemonic Strategy from a Different Perspective
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 1997
Prior research has demonstrated that the face-name mnemonic strategy is useful for facilitating memory for names in response to true-to-life representations of faces (e.g., photographs). In Experiment 1, we successfully extended this finding to a situation in which the stimuli cuing name memory were caricatures. In Experiment 2, photographs and caricatures alternated as the stimulus materials prompting either name recall or recognition. Students using the mnemonic strategy again outperformed students using their own best method of study on both immediate and delayed tests. Because caricatures exaggerate prominent features, we had anticipated that the mnemonic approach might be relatively more effective with caricatures than with photographs. However, students using the face-name mnemonic strategy derived comparable benefits with both types of material. ᭧ 1997 Academic Press A task we all face is the task of faces-that is, the task of remembering people's names in response to their faces. In many occupations and everyday social situations, remembering names is an important social skill that brings confidence to the daily interactions of both children and adults. To put a human face on history and current events, students are frequently provided with pictures of individuals to accompany the written text-in both textbooks and now computer compact disks. Although students are Experiment 1 was presented at the 1994 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association and Experiment 2 was presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
The Face-Name Mnemonic Strategy: Learning Face-Name Pairs Using Abstract and Concrete Keywords
The face-name mnemonic strategy: Learning face-name pairs using abstract and concrete keywords, The Researcher, 26(1), 14-17. Abstract: In using mnemonic techniques, such as the face-name mnemonic, individuals are often encouraged to generate concrete (vs. abstract) keywords. To examine this recommendation, we applied the face-name mnemonic strategy to learning a set of 30 face-name pairs using both abstract and concrete keywords. Participants remembered significantly more with concrete keywords. Keywords: face-name mnemonic, memory strategy, abstract and concrete keywords In everyday life, we are often faced with the task of remembering people's names. The face-name mnemonic strategy has been shown to be effective in aiding in the recall of names when prompted with faces (McCarty, 1980). This strategy is a specific mnemonic system that deals with associating a person's face with their name by using a keyword. Traditionally, experiments involved creating a keyword that sounded like the individual's name and was typically concrete. Next, a prominent feature of the individual's face was identified. Finally, a visual image was produced that relates the keyword to the identified prominent feature (Carney, Levin, & Morrison, 1988) Take, for example, a man whose surname is Reid. A concrete keyword could be reed, a wooden mouthpiece that goes to a musical instrument. Next, you identify that Mr. Reid has a large mouth. Finally, you create an interactive image such as imagining Mr. Reid has a wooden reed sticking out of his big mouth. This study investigates whether concrete keywords always provide better recall than abstract ones when employing the face-name mnemonic strategy. Surnames pose a particular memory problem because they are often meaningless and do not naturally evoke an image to aid the subject with recall. Take, for example, the surname Freedman. An abstract keyword could be freedom, which likely comes to mind quicker than any concrete keyword such as fritos because of the match in visual similarity. The abstract keyword of freedom is closer in spelling and perhaps could provide better recall for the surname Freedman. Previous studies have found that concrete nouns are generally easier to recall than abstract nouns (Paivio & Madigan, 1970). The superior recall of concrete words is believed to be the result of additional coding at the visual level. According to Paivio's dual-coding hypothesis, concrete words are not only coded at the verbal level but they also have a visually coded component as well (Paivio, 1971). However, studies examining paired-associative memory have only used noun pairs, whereas the face-name mnemonic involves a unique pair consisting of a surname and an individual's face (picture). It is unclear whether concrete keywords will result in better recall of face-name pairs, which was examined in this study. In addition, we sought to examine response times. That is, we examined how quickly participants responded to items that have been associated with either a concrete or abstract
Why It’s Easier to Remember Seeing a Face We Already Know Than One We Don’t
Psychological Science, 2013
In two experiments, we provided support for the hypothesis that stimuli with preexisting memory representations (e.g., famous faces) are easier to associate to their encoding context than are stimuli that lack long-term memory representations (e.g., unknown faces). Subjects viewed faces superimposed on different backgrounds (e.g., the Eiffel Tower). Face recognition on a surprise memory test was better when the encoding background was reinstated than when it was swapped with a different background; however, the reinstatement advantage was modulated by how many faces had been seen with a given background, and reinstatement did not improve recognition for unknown faces. The follow-up experiment added a drug intervention that inhibited the ability to form new associations. Context reinstatement did not improve recognition for famous or unknown faces under the influence of the drug. The results suggest that it is easier to associate context to faces that have a preexisting long-term mem...