Bibliography – Technical Science – Facial memory identified as a human superpower

Colleagues at the Leibniz Institute for Wiesensmeden and the Applied Laboratory of Face Recognition at the University of Lausanne confirmed the hypothesis that some people have a superior memory for faces, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Sciences, PNAS From a study published in its columns.

In the ranks of various law enforcement agencies around the world, there were witnesses who were able to recognize a face they had only seen for a few seconds, even after a very long time. These people are called super recognizers, but as the researchers point out, no one has yet scientifically investigated the existence of such abilities.

Neither Maren Meyer nor Mike Ramone intended to deal with the scientific evidence of the myths, but were asked by the Friborg cantonal police to help solve a series of bank robberies. The researchers received closed-circuit camera recordings recording the burglaries and videos of the line-up and suspect identification. Soon the perpetrator was caught and convicted.

Facial memory can be improved

During the investigation, 118 witnesses participated in the identification of the suspect, 66 of whom were considered VIPs. After the robber was arrested, the researchers have now continued to examine the subjects from a scientific perspective.

He is found to be among the abilities of super-recognizers

Among those people who hardly exceed the capabilities of the average person, but there are those who, as the name of the category implies, actually have an extremely remarkable facial memory and recognition ability.

Based on the results, the researchers created rapid tests that can be used to easily determine the level of facial recognition skills. They also found that there are methods (such as showing physical evidence) that can improve recognition effectiveness.

(Medical ExpressAnd PNAS)