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The role of facial distinctiveness in the prioritisation of targets in disjunctive dual-target face search.

Smillie, E., Mestry, N., Clark, D., Harrison, N. and Donnelly, N., 2024. The role of facial distinctiveness in the prioritisation of targets in disjunctive dual-target face search. Cognitive Research, 9, 62.

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DOI: 10.1186/s41235-024-00589-z

Abstract

Two experiments explored the search for pairs of faces in a disjunctive dual-target face search (DDTFS) task for unfamiliar face targets. The distinctiveness of the target was manipulated such that both faces were typical or distinctive or contained one typical and one distinctive target. Targets were searched for in arrays of eight faces. In Experiment 1, participants completed a DDTFS block with targets learnt over the block of trials. In Experiment 2, the dual-target block was preceded by two training blocks of single-target trials. Participants also completed the upright and inverted long-form Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT+). The results showed that searching for two typical faces leads to one target being prioritised at the expense of the other. The ability to search for non-prioritised typical faces was associated with scores on the CFMT+. This association disappeared when faces were learnt before completing DDTFS. We interpret the findings in terms of the impact of typicality on face learning, individual differences in the ability to learn faces, and the involvement of capacity-limited working memory in the search for unfamiliar faces. The findings have implications for security-related situations where agents must search for multiple unfamiliar faces having been shown their images.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:2365-7464
Uncontrolled Keywords:Dual-target search; Face encoding; Face memory; Visual search; Humans; Male; Female; Facial Recognition; Young Adult; Adult; Adolescent; Recognition, Psychology; Memory, Short-Term
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:40341
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:17 Sep 2024 11:47
Last Modified:17 Sep 2024 11:47

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