The Impact of Disguise on the Identification of Familiar Faces

Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology - Tập 38 - Trang 483-492 - 2022
David F. Ross1, Emily Pica2, Joanna Pozzulo3, Malynda Clark1, Sally Swanson4, Amye R. Warren1, Richard Metzger5, Christopher Silver6, Haleigh Sinclair2
1Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, USA
2Department of Psychological Science and Counseling, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, USA
3Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
4Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, USA
5Department of Psychology, Stevenson University, Stevenson, USA
6Learning and Leadership, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, USA

Tóm tắt

Two studies examined the impact of disguise on recognizing familiar faces. Participants viewed the faces of male celebrities and unfamiliar male faces seen disguised or undisguised. Familiar face recognition accuracy decreased significantly with an increase in the degree of disguise and concealment of facial features. In study 1, participants in the high disguise group (n = 75) viewed faces wearing dark, tight-fitting pantyhose that distorted facial features. Participants in the low disguise group (n = 78) viewed faces wearing a pantyhose more opaque and looser fitting, providing less concealment of the face. Recognition accuracy in the high disguise group was significantly lower (.27) than the low disguise group (.51). In study 2, participants (N = 252) viewed celebrity and unfamiliar faces wearing one of three disguises: (1) a hat, glasses, and fake mustache, (2) a ski mask, or (3) a pantyhose from the high disguise group in study 1. Recognition accuracy in the ski mask group was significantly lower (.21) than the hat, glasses, and fake mustache group (.44) and the high disguise pantyhose group (.29). When presented with disguised and undisguised control faces that were unfamiliar, participants in both studies were accurate at identifying them as unfamiliar. Lastly, the impact of disguise on familiar face recognition decreased significantly in both studies when controlled for, as was done above, whether a participant could identify a celebrity face when seen undisguised.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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