Memory for faces: Encoding and retrieval operations (original) (raw)
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Deep--deeper--deepest? Encoding strategies and the recognition of human faces
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1991
Various encoding strategies that supposedly promote deeper processing of human faces (e.g., character judgments) have led to better recognition than more shallow processing tasks (judging the width of the nose). However, does deeper processing actually lead to an improvement in recognition, or, conversely, does shallow processing lead to a deterioration in performance when compared with naturally employed encoding strategies? Three experiments systematically compared a total of 8 different encoding strategies manipulating depth of processing, amount of elaboration, and self-generation of judgmental categories. All strategies that required a scanning of the whole face were basically equivalent but no better than natural strategy controls. The consistently worst groups were the ones that rated faces along preselected physical dimensions. This can be explained by subjects' lesser task involvement as revealed by manipulation checks. Factors determining the recognition of human faces have been classified into variables operative at encoding (e.g., exposure time; social stereotypes), during the retention interval (e.g., effects of delay; rehearsal), and at the retrieval stage (e.g., the principle of encoding specificity; for reviews, see Ellis, 1984; Kohnken & Sporer, 1990; Shapiro & Penrod, 1986; Sporer, 1989). The present research focuses on processes of encoding. In particular, we address the question How should faces best be encoded to lead to optimal memory performance? The major theoretical impetus for this research has been derived from the levels-of-processing approach developed in research on verbal learning (Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Craik & Tulving, 1975). Applying the theoretical notions of the levels-of-processing approach to human faces, Bower and Karlin (1974) reasoned that judging the inferred character of stimulus faces (e.g., honesty) would induce deeper processing of faces and hence an increase in performance, whereas judg-Data from Experiments 1 and 2 were presented at the 27th annual meeting of experimental psychologists in Wuppertal in April 1985, and a summary of these and other experiments on facial recognition at the 36th Congress of the German Psychological Association in Berlin in September 1983. The manuscript was completed while I was a research fellow at the University of Marburg. This work was made possible by a travel grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (444/698/83) and by three research grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sachbeihilfen Sp 262/ 1-1 and Sp 262/1-2 and Me 777/2-1). I thank Dr. Roy Malpass for challenging discussions about this research. I also thank Carina Lotter, Sabine Kiichler, Heidrun Engelhardt, Michael Basten, and Gerd Mager, who helped at various stages of this project in the preparation of the stimulus materials, conduct of the experiments, data management, and typing of the manuscript.
The face typicality-recognizability relationship: Encoding or retrieval locus?
Memory & Cognition, 2000
Using a crossover recognition memory testing paradigm, we tested whether the effects on face recognition of the memorability component of face typicality are due primarily to the encoding process occurring during study or to the retrieval process occurring at test. At study, faces were either veridical in form or at moderate (Experiment 1) or extreme (Experiment 2) levels of caricature. The variable of degree of facial caricature at study was crossed with the degree of caricature at test. The primary contribution of increased memorability to increased hit rate was through increased distinctiveness at study. Increased distinctiveness at test contributed to substantial reductions in the false alarm rate, too. Signal detection analyses confirmed that the mirror effects obtained were primarily stimulus/memory-based, rather than decision-based. Contrary to the conclusion of Vokey and Read (1992), we found that increments in face memorability produced increments in face recognition that were due at least as much to enhanced encoding of studied faces as they were to increased rejection of distractor faces.
Memory for faces: the effect of facial appearance and the context in which the face is encountered
Psychological Research, 2014
We investigated the effects of appearance of emotionally neutral faces and the context in which the faces are encountered on incidental face memory. To approximate real-life situations as closely as possible, faces were embedded in a newspaper article, with a headline that specified an action performed by the person pictured. We found that facial appearance affected memory so that faces perceived as trustworthy or untrustworthy were remembered better than neutral ones. Furthermore, the memory of untrustworthy faces was slightly better than that of trustworthy faces. The emotional context of encoding affected the details of face memory. Faces encountered in a neutral context were more likely to be recognized as only familiar. In contrast, emotionally relevant contexts of encoding, whether pleasant or unpleasant, increased the likelihood of remembering semantic and even episodic details associated with faces. These findings suggest that facial appearance (i.e., perceived trustworthiness) affects face memory. Moreover, the findings support prior evidence that the engagement of emotion processing during memory encoding increases the likelihood that events are not only recognized but also remembered.
Individual differences in recognition memory for faces
1994
Contemporary research on human memory has tended to disregard individual differences (Eysenck, 1977, 1983; Sternberg & French, 1990). However, there seems to be no empirical justification for this practice, especially in experimental situations where the stimuli that are used are 'socially relevant'. Human faces constitute one such category. Although there is strong evidence which suggests that people differ substantially in their ability to recognise faces in laboratory experiments (Baddeley & Woodhead, 1983) and in everyday situations (Schweich, van der Linden, Bredart, Bruyer, Neils & Schills, 1991), the sources of these differences are not clearly understood at present. In this thesis, individual differences in recognition memory for faces were examined using standard laboratory experimental techniques. Part I of this thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One provides a general introduction to face recognition research. In Chapter Two, past research on individual dif...
The effect of encoding strategy on the neural correlates of memory for faces
Neuropsychologia, 2002
Encoding and recognition of unfamiliar faces in young adults were examined using positron emission tomography to determine whether different encoding strategies would lead to encoding/retrieval differences in brain activity. Three types of encoding were compared: a ‘deep’ task (judging pleasantness/unpleasantness), a ‘shallow’ task (judging right/left orientation), and an intentional learning task in which subjects were instructed to learn the faces
European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2008
Verbal descriptions can sometimes impair (or ''overshadow'') and other times facilitate subsequent attempts at perceptual identification of faces; however, understanding the relationship between these two tasks and the theoretical mechanisms that bridge this relationship has often proven difficult. Furthermore, studies that have attempted to assess the description-identification relationship have varied considerably in demonstrating significant and null results, often across a variety of paradigms and design parameters. In the present paper we review the relevant literatures and theoretical positions proposed to explain this relationship, and we present the first meta-analysis of this effect across 33 research papers and a total of 4278 participants. Our results suggest that there does appear to be a small, but significant, relationship between the description measures of accuracy, number of incorrect descriptors, and congruence with that of subsequent identification accuracy. Furthermore, certain conditions were found to strengthen the magnitude of this relationship, including the use of face recognition versus eyewitness identification paradigms and the length of delays between relevant tasks. We discuss both the theoretical and practical implications of this relationship for understanding memory for faces. In 1972, the United States Supreme Court addressed the admissibility of eyewitness identification obtained under suggestive circumstances in Neil v. Biggers. Biggers, the defendant, was convicted of rape based primarily upon his identification by the victim who testified that she had ''no doubt'' that Biggers was the assailant. Shortly after the crime, the victim had provided Correspondence should be addressed to Christian A
Facial Memory: The Role of the Pre-Existing Knowledge in Face Processing and Recognition
Faces are visual stimuli full of information. Depending upon the familiarity with a face, the information we can extract will differ, so the more familiarity with a face, the more information that can be extracted from it. The present article reviews the role that pre-existing knowledge of a face has in its processing. Here, we focus on behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging evidence. The influence of familiarity in early stages (attention, perception and working memory) and in later stages (pre-semantic and semantic knowledge) of the processing are discussed. The differences in brain anatomy for familiar and unfamiliar faces are also considered. As it will be shown, experimental data seems to support that familiarity can affect even the earliest stages of the recognition.
The relations between facial features, facial impression, and recognition memory for faces
The Japanese Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2004
The present study investigated relationships among physical features, impressions, and recognition memory for faces. The stimuli were pictures of male and female faces. First, the sizes, lengths, and angles of physical features of the faces were measured, and then a principal components analysis was performed. Second, 108 university students evaluated the impressions of the faces by the semantic differential technique, and then a factor analysis was performed. Third, 80 university students performed recognition memory tasks for the faces. Subsequently, the analyses of correlations, partial correlations, and ANOVA were performed on the principal component scores of the physical features, the factor scores of impressions, and the recognition performance. The results of the analyses showed that: (a) the impression of facial uniqueness formed from eyes and eyebrows facilitated recognition memory for the faces and (b) the physical features of a small mouth and a round jaw facilitated recognition memory.
Memory processes in facial recognition and recall
Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1978
The encoding processes of recognition and recall for line-drawn faces were investigated. Subjects randomly received three-alternative forced-choice tests of recognition and probe recall of 20 male faces. Between each inspection and test, subjects performed an interference task for 10 sec. The interference tasks consisted of either identifying the missing facial feature in line drawings or in photographs, or correctly identifying the misspelled words describing different facial features. The results indicate that recognition performance was higher than proberecall performance for all groups. The analysis of the recognition data suggests that recognition ability decreased as the similarity of the interference task to the target increased. This finding suggests that faces are encoded using visual rather than verbal imagery.