scholarly journals A grey area: How does image hue affect unfamiliar face matching?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna K Bobak ◽  
Viktoria Roumenova Mileva ◽  
Peter Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Matching Task ◽  
Mixed Condition ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Matching Test ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Matching Performance ◽  
Small Decline ◽  
Clear Shift

The role of image colour in face identification has received little attention in research despite the importance of identifying people from photographs in identity documents (IDs). Here, in two experiments, we investigated whether colour congruency of two photographs shown side by side affects face matching accuracy. Participants were presented with two images from the Models Face Matching Test (Experiment 1) and a newly devised matching task incorporating female faces (Experiment 2) and asked to decide whether they show the same person, or two different people. The photographs were either both in colour, both in grayscale, or mixed (one in grayscale and one in colour). Participants were more likely to accept a pair of images as a “match”, i.e. same person, in the mixed condition, regardless of whether the identity of the pair was the same or not. This demonstrates a clear shift in bias between “congruent” colour conditions and the mixed trials. In addition, there was a small decline in accuracy in the mixed condition, relative to when the images were presented in colour. Our study provides the first evidence that the hue of document photographs matters for face matching performance. This finding has important implications for the design and regulation of photographic ID worldwide.

scholarly journals Unfamiliar face matching with photographs of infants and children

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin S.S. Kramer ◽  
Jerrica Mulgrew ◽  
Michael G. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Infants And Children ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Matching Test ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Image Set ◽  
Low Levels

Background Infants and children travel using passports that are typically valid for five years (e.g. Canada, United Kingdom, United States and Australia). These individuals may also need to be identified using images taken from videos and other sources in forensic situations including child exploitation cases. However, few researchers have examined how useful these images are as a means of identification. Methods We investigated the effectiveness of photo identification for infants and children using a face matching task, where participants were presented with two images simultaneously and asked whether the images depicted the same child or two different children. In Experiment 1, both images showed an infant (<1 year old), whereas in Experiment 2, one image again showed an infant but the second image of the child was taken at 4–5 years of age. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we asked participants to complete shortened versions of both these tasks (selecting the most difficult trials) as well as the short version Glasgow face matching test. Finally, in Experiment 4, we investigated whether information regarding the sex of the infants and children could be accurately perceived from the images. Results In Experiment 1, we found low levels of performance (72% accuracy) for matching two infant photos. For Experiment 2, performance was lower still (64% accuracy) when infant and child images were presented, given the significant changes in appearance that occur over the first five years of life. In Experiments 3a and 3b, when participants completed both these tasks, as well as a measure of adult face matching ability, we found lowest performance for the two infant tasks, along with mixed evidence of within-person correlations in sensitivities across all three tasks. The use of only same-sex pairings on mismatch trials, in comparison with random pairings, had little effect on performance measures. In Experiment 4, accuracy when judging the sex of infants was at chance levels for one image set and above chance (although still low) for the other set. As expected, participants were able to judge the sex of children (aged 4–5) from their faces. Discussion Identity matching with infant and child images resulted in low levels of performance, which were significantly worse than for an adult face matching task. Taken together, the results of the experiments presented here provide evidence that child facial photographs are ineffective for use in real-world identification.

scholarly journals Unfamiliar Face Matching With Driving Licence and Passport Photographs

Perception ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin S. S. Kramer ◽  
Sophie Mohamed ◽  
Sarah C. Hardy
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Driving Licence ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face

Matching two different images of an unfamiliar face is difficult, although we rely on this process every day when proving our identity. Although previous work with laboratory photosets has shown that performance is error-prone, few studies have focussed on how accurately people carry out this matching task using photographs taken from official forms of identification. In Experiment 1, participants matched high-resolution, colour face photos with current UK driving licence photos of the same group of people in a sorting task. Averaging 19 mistaken pairings out of 30, our results showed that this task was both difficult and error-prone. In Experiment 2, high-resolution photographs were paired with either driving licence or passport photographs in a typical pairwise matching paradigm. We found no difference in performance levels for the two types of ID image, with both producing unacceptable levels of accuracy (around 75%–79% correct). The current work benefits from increased ecological validity and provides a clear demonstration that these forms of official identification are ineffective and alternatives should be considered.

scholarly journals Unfamiliar Face Matching With Frontal and Profile Views

Perception ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin S. S. Kramer ◽  
Michael G. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Matching Accuracy ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Matching Test ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces

Research has systematically examined how laboratory participants and real-world practitioners decide whether two face photographs show the same person or not using frontal images. In contrast, research has not examined face matching using profile images. In Experiment 1, we ask whether matching unfamiliar faces is easier with frontal compared with profile views. Participants completed the original, frontal version of the Glasgow Face Matching Test, and also an adapted version where all face pairs were presented in profile. There was no difference in performance across the two tasks, suggesting that both views were similarly useful for face matching. Experiments 2 and 3 examined whether matching unfamiliar faces is improved when both frontal and profile views are provided. We compared face matching accuracy when both a frontal and a profile image of each face were presented, with accuracy using each view alone. Surprisingly, we found no benefit when both views were presented together in either experiment. Overall, these results suggest that either frontal or profile views provide substantially overlapping information regarding identity or participants are unable to utilise both sources of information when making decisions. Each of these conclusions has important implications for face matching research and real-world identification development.

scholarly journals Hyper-realistic Face Masks in a Live Passport-Checking Task

Perception ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-309
Author(s):  
David J. Robertson ◽  
Jet G. Sanders ◽  
Alice Towler ◽  
Robin S. S. Kramer ◽  
Josh Spowage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Science Museum ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Identity Verification ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Close Range ◽  
Matching Performance

Hyper-realistic face masks have been used as disguises in at least one border crossing and in numerous criminal cases. Experimental tests using these masks have shown that viewers accept them as real faces under a range of conditions. Here, we tested mask detection in a live identity verification task. Fifty-four visitors at the London Science Museum viewed a mask wearer at close range (2 m) as part of a mock passport check. They then answered a series of questions designed to assess mask detection, while the masked traveller was still in view. In the identity matching task, 8% of viewers accepted the mask as matching a real photo of someone else, and 82% accepted the match between masked person and masked photo. When asked if there was any reason to detain the traveller, only 13% of viewers mentioned a mask. A further 11% picked disguise from a list of suggested reasons. Even after reading about mask-related fraud, 10% of viewers judged that the traveller was not wearing a mask. Overall, mask detection was poor and was not predicted by unfamiliar face matching performance. We conclude that hyper-realistic face masks could go undetected during live identity checks.

scholarly journals Redesigning photo-ID to improve unfamiliar face matching performance.

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
David White ◽  
A. Mike Burton ◽  
Rob Jenkins ◽  
Richard I. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Matching Performance

Exploring Levels of Face Familiarity by Using an Indirect Face-Matching Measure

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p3335 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 985-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Clutterbuck ◽  
Robert A Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
External Feature ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Matching Performance ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces

An experiment is reported in which participants matched complete images of unfamiliar, moderately familiar, and highly familiar faces with simultaneously presented images of internal and external features. Participants had to decide if the two images depicted same or different individuals. Matches to internal features were made faster to highly familiar faces than both to moderately familiar and to unfamiliar faces, and matches to moderately familiar faces were made faster than to unfamiliar faces. For external feature matches, this advantage was only found for “different” decision matches to highly familiar faces compared to unfamiliar faces. The results indicate that the differences in familiar and unfamiliar face processing are not the result of all-or-none effects, but seem to have a graded impact on matching performance. These findings extend the earlier work of Young et al (1985 Perception14 737–746), and we discuss the possibility of using the matching task as an indirect measure of face familiarity.

Steps Towards a Cognitive Theory of Unfamiliar Face Matching

2021 ◽  
pp. 38-61
Author(s):  
Markus Bindemann ◽  
A. Mike Burton
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Person Identification ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
The Face ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces

The visual comparison of unfamiliar faces—or ‘face matching’—is utilized widely for person identification in applied settings and has generated substantial research interest in psychology, but a cognitive theory to explain how observers perform this task does not exist. This chapter outlines issues of importance to support the development of a cognitive account of unfamiliar face matching. Characteristics of the face, such as within-person variability and between-person similarity in appearance, are considered as the visual input upon which identification must build. The cognitive mechanisms that observers may bring to bear on faces during identity comparison are analysed, focusing on attention, perception, evaluation, and decision processes, including sources of individual differences at each of these stages. Finally, the role of different experimental and occupational contexts in understanding face matching and for optimizing theory development is discussed.

scholarly journals GFMT2: A psychometric measure of face matching ability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David White ◽  
Daniel Guilbert ◽  
Victor Perrone de Lima Varela ◽  
Rob Jenkins ◽  
Mike Burton
Keyword(s):  
Short Form ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Face Matching ◽  
Matching Test ◽  
Unfamiliar Face Matching ◽  
Unfamiliar Face ◽  
Short Versions ◽  
Equal Difficulty

We present an expanded version of a widely used measure of unfamiliar face matching ability, the Glasgow Face Matching Test (GFMT). The GFMT2 is created using the same source database as the original test but makes five key improvements. First, the test items include variation in head angle, pose, expression and subject-to-camera distance, making the new test more difficult and more representative of challenges in everyday face identification tasks. Second, short and long versions of the test each contain two forms that are calibrated to be of equal difficulty, allowing repeat tests to be performed to examine effects of training interventions. Third, the short form tests contain no repeating face identities, thereby removing any confounding effects of familiarity that may have been present in the original test. Fourth, separate short versions are created to target exceptionally high performing or exceptionally low performing individuals using established psychometric principles. Fifth, all tests are implemented in an executable program, allowing them to be administered automatically. All tests are available free for scientific use via www.gfmt2.org.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document