super recogniser
{{Short description|Significantly better-than-average face recognition ability}}
{{use dmy dates |date=August 2021}}
"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.{{cite journal |last1=Russell |first1=Richard |last2=Duchaine |first2=Brad |last3=Nakayama |first3=Ken |title=Super-recognizers: People with extraordinary face recognition ability |journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |date=April 2009 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=252–257 |doi=10.3758/PBR.16.2.252 |pmid=19293090 |pmc=3904192 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thecut.com/article/good-at-recognizing-faces.html |date=August 13, 2020 |title=What Does It Mean If You're Really Really Good at Recognizing Faces? |last=Dahl|first=Melissa|work=The Cut|access-date=2018-09-27|language=en}} Super recognisers are able to memorise and recall thousands of faces, often having seen them only once.{{cite web|first1=Alex|last1=Moshakis|access-date=2018-11-13|title=Super recognisers: the people who never forget a face|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/11/super-recognisers-police-the-people-who-never-forget-a-face|date=11 November 2018|website=The Guardian}}
Skill
It is the extreme opposite of prosopagnosia. It is estimated that 1 to 2% of the population are super recognisers who can remember 80% of faces they have seen compared to 20% in the general population,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/667a65d6-d4fe-11e5-8887-98e7feb46f27|title=I put names to faces as a police super-recogniser|website=www.ft.com|access-date=17 February 2020|url-access=subscription}} but these figures are disputed.{{cite journal |last1=Ramon |first1=Meike |last2=Bobak |first2=Anna K. |last3=White |first3=David |title=Super-recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again |journal=British Journal of Psychology |date=August 2019 |volume=110 |issue=3 |pages=461–479 |doi=10.1111/bjop.12368 |pmid=30893478 |pmc=6767378 }} Super recognisers can match faces better than computer recognition systems in some circumstances.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/world/europe/salisbury-novichok-poisoning.html|title=From Mountain of CCTV Footage, Pay Dirt: 2 Russians Are Named in Spy Poisoning|access-date=6 September 2018|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2018-09-06|last1=Barry|first1=Ellen}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/londons-super-recognizer-police-force |magazine=The New Yorker |first=Patrick Radden |last=Keefe |title=The Detectives Who Never Forget a Face|date=15 August 2016|access-date=6 September 2018}} The science behind this is poorly understood but may be related to the fusiform face area part of the brain.
Practical applications
The skill is recognised and employed among the British intelligence community.{{Cite news|url=https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/article/super-recognisers|title=Super Recognisers|date=2017-07-05|work=Crime + Investigation|access-date=2018-09-27|language=en}}
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. Scotland Yard has a squad of over 200 super recognisers.{{cite web | last=Jaslow | first=Ryan | title=London police using 200 super-recognizers: What makes them "super"? | website=CBS News | date=2013-09-27 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/london-police-using-200-super-recognizers-what-makes-them-super/ | access-date=2020-01-23}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/06/uk-poised-to-ask-russia-to-extradite-salisbury-attack-suspects|title=UK poised to ask Russia to extradite Salisbury attack suspects|first1=Nick|last1=Hopkins|first2=Luke|last2=Harding|first3=Ewen|last3=MacAskill|date=6 August 2018|website=the Guardian}}{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/super-recognisers-help-identify-skripal-suspects-11483995 |first=Martin |last=Brunt |work=news.sky.com |date=28 August 2018 |title=Super recogniser squad tracks Skripal novichok attackers}} Other police forces using super recognisers include Thames Valley Police, City of London Police, Jersey Police, and West Midlands Police.{{ cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66609161 | title = Thames Valley Police: 'Super-recognisers' used to patrol for sex offenders | date = 25 August 2023 | work = BBC News }}
German police forces have made increasing use of super recognisers for suspect identification, such as in the wake of the 2020 Stuttgart riot.{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/stuttgart-nach-krawallnacht-jeder-zweite-verdaechtige-wiedererkannt-dank-super-recogniser-a-b2d13120-0e5a-4e4c-a941-19bffd491314 |title=Jeder zweite Verdächtige wiedererkannt – dank »Super-Recogniser« |work=Der Spiegel |date=25 August 2021 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |language=de |trans-title=One in two suspects identified - thanks to 'super recognisers' }}
Glasgow Face Matching Test
Super recognisers performed well in the Glasgow Face Matching Test in comparison with a control group.{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=David James |url=https://theconversation.com/could-super-recognisers-be-the-latest-weapon-in-the-war-on-terror-56772 |title=Could super recognisers be the latest weapon on the war on terror? |work=The Conversation |date=24 March 2016 |access-date=31 August 2021 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite journal |last1=Gaidos |first1=Susan |title=Familiar faces: 'Super recognizers' never forget a visage, an unusual ability that can be put to good use |journal=Science News |date=7 September 2013 |volume=184 |issue=5 |pages=16–20 |doi=10.1002/scin.5591840515 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/scin.5591840515 }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=David J. |last2=Noyes |first2=Eilidh |last3=Dowsett |first3=Andrew J. |last4=Jenkins |first4=Rob |last5=Burton |first5=A. Mike |title=Face Recognition by Metropolitan Police Super-Recognisers |journal=PLOS ONE |date=26 February 2016 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=e0150036 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0150036 |pmid=26918457 |pmc=4769018 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1150036R |doi-access=free }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Caroline |title='Super-recognisers' have amazing memory for faces |journal=New Scientist |date=September 2012 |volume=215 |issue=2882 |pages=36–39 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(12)62392-6 |bibcode=2012NewSc.215...36W }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Ring |first1=Tim |title=Humans vs machines: the future of facial recognition |journal=Biometric Technology Today |date=April 2016 |volume=2016 |issue=4 |pages=5–8 |doi=10.1016/S0969-4765(16)30067-4 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0969476516300674 }}
External links
- {{cite news |last=Brodwin |first=Erin |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/london-police-super-recognisers-id-faces-surveillance-2016-10 |title=Meet the 'super-recognisers,' an elite squad of police officers who are paid to never, ever forget a face |work=Business Insider |date=11 October 2016 }}
- {{cite news |last=Bate |first=Sarah |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/never-forget-a-face-you-might-be-a-super-recogniser/ |title=Never forget a face? You might be a super recogniser |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=27 September 2016 }}
- {{cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/08/super-recognisers-scotland-yard |title=The super-recognisers of Scotland Yard |work=New Statesman |date=2 August 2016 }}
- {{cite news |url=https://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-08-26/police-to-deploy-super-recognisers-to-scan-cctv-to-pick-out-offenders-and-trouble-makers-at-notting-hill-carnival/ |title=Police to deploy 'super-recognisers' to scan CCTV to pick out offenders and trouble makers at Notting Hill Carnival |work=ITV News |date=26 August 2016 }}
- Greenwich University - [https://greenwichuniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3xDuCccGAdgbfT Could You be A Super Recognizer]