The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers

Noyes, Eilidh, Davis, Josh P., Petrov, Nikolay , Gray, Katie L. H. and Ritchie, Kay (2021) The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers. Royal Society Open Science, 8 . p. 201169. ISSN 2054-5703

Full content URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201169

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The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers
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Abstract

Face masks present a new challenge to face identification (here
matching) and emotion recognition in Western cultures. Here,
we present the results of three experiments that test the effect
of masks, and also the effect of sunglasses (an occlusion that
individuals tend to have more experienced with) on
(i) familiar face matching, (ii) unfamiliar face matching and
(iii) emotion categorization. Occlusion reduced accuracy in all
three tasks, with most errors in the mask condition; however,
there was little difference in performance for faces in masks
compared with faces in sunglasses. Super-recognizers, people
who are highly skilled at matching unconcealed faces, were
impaired by occlusion, but at the group level, performed
with higher accuracy than controls on all tasks. Results
inform psychology theory with implications for everyday
interactions, security and policing in a mask-wearing society.

Keywords:face recognition, emotion recognition, Masks, super-recognizers, face matching
Subjects:C Biological Sciences > C800 Psychology
C Biological Sciences > C850 Cognitive Psychology
C Biological Sciences > C810 Applied Psychology
Divisions:College of Social Science > School of Psychology
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ID Code:44464
Deposited On:09 Apr 2021 13:30

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