Super recogniser
Super recogniser is a term coined in 2009 by Harvard and University College London researchers for people with significantly better-than-average face recognition ability. Super recognisers are able to memorise and recall thousands of faces, often having seen them only once. Some super recognisers do not have increased ability to remember facial information. Rather, they are exceptional at comparing two juxtaposed images of faces, and can discriminate significant visual information about them, such as if they are the same person or not.
| Super recogniser | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Psychology, cognitive neuroscience |
| Frequency | ~2% "Super Recognisers". |
Super recogniser is a term coined in 2009 by Harvard and University College London researchers for people with significantly better-than-average face recognition ability.[1][2] Super recognisers are able to memorise and recall thousands of faces, often having seen them only once.[3]
Some super recognisers do not have increased ability to remember facial information. Rather, they are exceptional at comparing two juxtaposed images of faces, and can discriminate significant visual information about them, such as if they are the same person or not.[4]
Causes
[edit]The genes contributing to the ability are mostly unknown, although facial recognition skills are highly heritable.[5] For a long time, it was believed that the general population had similar levels of facial recognition, and that anyone could be taught to be a super recogniser. However, this has long been proved false, as genetics play the dominant role in the highly variable degrees of facial perception the population has.[6]
Skill
[edit]It is estimated that 1 to 2% of the population are super recognisers[3] who can remember 80% of faces they have seen compared to 20% in the general population,[7] but these figures are disputed, as other sources may put the frequency closer to 90%.[8][9] It is the extreme opposite of prosopagnosia. Super recognisers can match faces better than computer recognition systems in some circumstances.[3][10][11] The science behind this is poorly understood but may be related to the fusiform face area part of the brain.[3]
Practical applications
[edit]The skill is recognised and employed among the British intelligence community.[12]
In May 2015, the London Metropolitan Police officially formed a team made up of people with this heightened capability for recognising people and put them to work identifying individuals whose faces are captured on CCTV.[3] As of 2013, Scotland Yard has a squad of over 200 super recognisers.[13] In August 2018, it was reported that the Metropolitan Police had used two super recognisers to identify the suspects of the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, after trawling through up to 5,000 hours of CCTV footage from Salisbury and numerous airports across the country.[14][15] Other police forces using super recognisers include Thames Valley Police, City of London Police, Jersey Police, and West Midlands Police.[16]
German police forces have made increasing use of super recognisers for suspect identification, such as in the wake of the 2020 Stuttgart riot.[17]
Glasgow Face Matching Test
[edit]Super recognisers performed well in the Glasgow Face Matching Test in comparison with a control group.[8]
See also
[edit]- Cognitive neuropsychology – Relation of brain structure to psychological processes
- Face perception – Cognitive process of visually interpreting the human face
- Fusiform face area – Part of the human visual system that is specialized for facial recognition
- Prosopagnosia – Cognitive disorder of face perception
- Prosopamnesia – Impairment in the ability to learn new faces
References
[edit]- ^ Russell, Richard; Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken (April 2009). "Super-recognizers: People with extraordinary face recognition ability". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 16 (2): 252–257. doi:10.3758/PBR.16.2.252. PMC 3904192. PMID 19293090.
- ^ Dahl, Melissa (13 August 2020). "What Does It Mean If You're Really Really Good at Recognizing Faces?". The Cut. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Moshakis, Alex (11 November 2018). "Super recognisers: the people who never forget a face". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Super-recognisers | Bournemouth University". www.bournemouth.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
- ^ "Super-recognisers | Bournemouth University". www.bournemouth.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
- ^ "Who is the world's best super-recognizer? This test could help us find them". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
- ^ "I put names to faces as a police super-recogniser". www.ft.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ a b Robertson, David James (24 March 2016). "Could super recognisers be the latest weapon on the war on terror?". The Conversation. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ Ramon, Meike; Bobak, Anna K.; White, David (August 2019). "Super-recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again". British Journal of Psychology. 110 (3): 461–479. doi:10.1111/bjop.12368. PMC 6767378. PMID 30893478.
- ^ Barry, Ellen (6 September 2018). "From Mountain of CCTV Footage, Pay Dirt: 2 Russians Are Named in Spy Poisoning". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (15 August 2016). "The Detectives Who Never Forget a Face". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "Super Recognisers". Crime + Investigation. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ Jaslow, Ryan (27 September 2013). "London police using 200 super-recognizers: What makes them "super"?". CBS News. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ Hopkins, Nick; Harding, Luke; MacAskill, Ewen (6 August 2018). "UK poised to ask Russia to extradite Salisbury attack suspects". the Guardian.
- ^ Brunt, Martin (28 August 2018). "Super recogniser squad tracks Skripal novichok attackers". news.sky.com.
- ^ "Thames Valley Police: 'Super-recognisers' used to patrol for sex offenders". BBC News. 25 August 2023.
- ^ "Jeder zweite Verdächtige wiedererkannt – dank »Super-Recogniser«" [One in two suspects identified - thanks to 'super recognisers']. Der Spiegel (in German). 25 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Gaidos, Susan (7 September 2013). "Familiar faces: 'Super recognizers' never forget a visage, an unusual ability that can be put to good use". Science News. 184 (5): 16–20. doi:10.1002/scin.5591840515.
- Robertson, David J.; Noyes, Eilidh; Dowsett, Andrew J.; Jenkins, Rob; Burton, A. Mike (26 February 2016). "Face Recognition by Metropolitan Police Super-Recognisers". PLOS ONE. 11 (2) e0150036. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1150036R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150036. PMC 4769018. PMID 26918457.
- Williams, Caroline (September 2012). "'Super-recognisers' have amazing memory for faces". New Scientist. 215 (2882): 36–39. Bibcode:2012NewSc.215...36W. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(12)62392-6.
- Ring, Tim (April 2016). "Humans vs machines: the future of facial recognition". Biometric Technology Today. 2016 (4): 5–8. doi:10.1016/S0969-4765(16)30067-4.
External links
[edit]- Brodwin, Erin (11 October 2016). "Meet the 'super-recognisers,' an elite squad of police officers who are paid to never, ever forget a face". Business Insider.
- Bate, Sarah (27 September 2016). "Never forget a face? You might be a super recogniser". The Telegraph.
- Rice, Xan (2 August 2016). "The super-recognisers of Scotland Yard". New Statesman.
- "Police to deploy 'super-recognisers' to scan CCTV to pick out offenders and trouble makers at Notting Hill Carnival". ITV News. 26 August 2016.
- Greenwich University - Could You be A Super Recognizer