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Facial Recognition & Super Recognisers / Recognizers

I'm quite good at recognising different faces - I work with customers and have to 'differentiate' quite quickly in order to know what to say to them. But there are a couple who are very similar (not related) and I sometimes get them mixed up - it's as if my brain has got a setting for 'tall, lanky man, not much hair' and anyone who slots into that setting must be one person?
 
Reports today that "super recogniser" detectives have been scrutinising CCTV footage of Salisbury and have identified two Russian suspects, thought to be ex-colleagues of Sergei Skripal.

The highly specialised detectives apparently never forget a face and there has been some speculation (see below) as to whether their particular ability is a form of autism.

https://superrecognizer.wordpress.c...ecognizer-ability-or-am-i-reading-this-wrong/
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Reports today that "super recogniser" detectives have been scrutinising CCTV footage of Salisbury and have identified two Russian suspects, thought to be ex-colleagues of Sergei Skripal.

The highly specialised detectives apparently never forget a face and there has been some speculation (see below) as to whether their particular ability is a form of autism.

https://superrecognizer.wordpress.c...ecognizer-ability-or-am-i-reading-this-wrong/
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You can take a test to see if you might be a Super Recogniser! Here it is:
https://www.superrecognisers.com/
I learned about it at Gurney's EXCELLENT blog:
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2020/11/super-recognizer.html
I beat Gurney, and might be a super recogniser.. :)
 
Mythopoeika said:
I got 10 out of 14 on their short test!
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That's very good! :) I just got an 11:
Superrecognizer.jpg
 
I just got 13 out of 14 on the short test. I thought I would do well as I have an almost photographic memory for faces.
 
David Plankton said:
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Ditto.

I recall being in the scouts.

We were told that we were going to have an observation test later on, and the scout-master began to discuss the various features of a human subject that it was worth noting, and in what order.

Part way through, two unfamiliar women walked in behind us, and one asked after another of the leaders. Our leader politely pointed them to the room at the end of the next corridor (we were then meeting in a primary school).

The scout master then completed his mini-lecture and told us to describe the two women that had passed through the room five minutes earlier.

Results were, in general, appalling.

My point is that the real skill is when it becomes instinct, and you do not know in advance whether and when your observations will need to be recalled.
 
Yes well I got 11, and I usually score quite high on tests for not having good facial recognition. I think all this facial recognition business might be a bit complicated. (that, or it's not a very discriminating test?!)
 
Stillill said:
I just got 13 out of 14 on the short test. I thought I would do well as I have an almost photographic memory for faces.
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:oops: Damn! That's amazing!! You should contact them... You have to be one, for sure.
 
Eponastill said:
Yes well I got 11, and I usually score quite high on tests for not having good facial recognition. I think all this facial recognition business might be a bit complicated. (that, or it's not a very discriminating test?!)
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That's great!!
 
feinman said:
But, you are involved in the visual arts Mythopoeika, right?
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Kinda. My original career choice was to become a graphic designer, but that didn't work out (none of the colleges offered me a place).
I am a self-taught technical writer and illustrator these days. Occasional hobby is art (more looking at it than doing it for some time now).
 
Yithian said:
Ditto.

I recall being in the scouts.

We were told that we were going to have an observation test later on, and the scout-master began to discuss the various features of a human subject that it was worth noting, and in what order.

Part way through, two unfamiliar women walked in behind us, and one asked after another of the leaders. Our leader politely pointed them to the room at the end of the next corridor (we were then meeting in a primary school).

The scout master then completed his mini-lecture and told us to describe the two women that had passed through the room five minutes earlier.

Results were, in general, appalling.

My point is that the real skill is when it becomes instinct, and you do not know in advance whether and when your observations will need to be recalled.
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But observation and recognition are quite different. Suppose your scout master showed you a photographic line-up of possible suspects rather than asking you to describe them.
That's what super-recognisers do, pick out faces from cctv and photos, not tell you what they were wearing, what they said or were holding at the time.
 
David Plankton said:
But observation and recognition are quite different. Suppose your scout master showed you a photographic line-up of possible suspects rather than asking you to describe them.
That's what super-recognisers do, pick out faces from cctv and photos, not tell you what they were wearing, what they said or were holding at the time.
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You're quite right. I'm off on a tangent.

My line of thought was that the test above and this super-cop only 'work one way'.

Looking out for specific faces is one very specific and useful skill, but it's not the same as being able to see a face in the street and recall whether and where you have seen it before. That's potentially much more powerful.
 
Im pretty much face blind and don't worry about it.

Recognising people isn't that important, isn't it?
 
Kondoru said:
Im pretty much face blind and don't worry about it.

Recognising people isn't that important, isn't it?
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Guess not, if you don't mind having no social life, job, friends...
 
Kondoru said:
Thats a harsh thing to say if you might like those things.
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Sorry, I was simply pointing out that recognising faces is pretty useful.
 
If I fretted over it I wouldn't do my mental health much good.
 
I have never been 'good with faces'.
It's okay if it's someone I have got to know quite well, but not so much somebody I have only met infrequently, or only a couple of times if recently. It's even harder for me if they don't have anything particularly noticeable about them, like a wonky nose, a scar, or a birthmark or mole etc.
People have often said 'Hello Trev' to me and I haven't got a danny who they are!
It seeems to be getting worse as I get older too, but maybe that's more because I don't really care much for people, lol.
Oh, I got 9/14 on the test, but that's probably more because it's a test of 'can you remember what the person you only just saw looked like?'.
If you showed me pictures of 14 people today and then asked me tomorrow to pick those 14 people out of a field of 30 candidates I doubt whether I'd exceed that which would be possible purely on chance alone.
 
I get bad with faces when I'm drunk. The next day I can probably tell you all about what me and X talked about, but not recall what X looked like.
 
I did this test back in 2018 and got 13/14. I did it today and got 7/14. Maybe because i'm not around people all day its harder to pick up cues than it was then.
 
I've met a super-recogniser at least twice and yes, he remembered me!

In the very early 2000s I was hospitalised for a few days with an infection. About 2014-ish I was hospitalised for the exact same thing and was sent to the same hospital & ward.

I saw a consultant for some treatment on the first day and he said "I've met you before, haven't I? I remember your face". Cue me trying to place him, and then me realising he must have treated me the first time around, over 12 years earlier. I have very little memory of the person doing the same thing over a decade earlier, only the vague memory he was male and of south Asian appearance.

I mentioned it to the clinic nurse (I had to be wheeled downstairs from the ward to have the thing done, then back up again afterwards) and she replied something along the lines of "Oh yes, Mr A. Senior Doctor he never forgets a face, he remembers all the patients he's seen".

I can remember some very detailed and minute/mundane past events but facial recall isn't my superpower.

EDITED to add: I did the test after this post and got 6/14!
 
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Thinking about my 'super recogniser' score, I do constantly annoy entertain Mr Zebra when we're watching old films because I'm always saying "ooh that's so-and-so from other film" and such like.

Sometimes it takes me a while until I can place the actor/actress though, and that really bugs me until I can figure it out.


Conversely though, on some shows like Midsomer Murders or Marple etc., I often get confused because a lot of the male characters look the same and I can't follow who is who.
 
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