Super recogniser explained

"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.^{[1] [2]} Super recognisers are able to memorise and recall thousands of faces, often having seen them only once.^[3]

Skill

It is the extreme opposite of prosopagnosia. It is estimated that 1 to 2% of the population are super recognisers^[3] who can remember 80% of faces they have seen compared to 20% in the general population,^[4] but these figures are disputed.^[5] Super recognisers can match faces better than computer recognition systems in some circumstances.^{[3] [6] [7]} The science behind this is poorly understood but may be related to the fusiform face area part of the brain.^[3]

Practical applications

The skill is recognised and employed among the British intelligence community.^[8]

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.^[3] Scotland Yard has a squad of over 200 super recognisers.^[9] 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.^{[10] [11]} Other police forces using super recognisers include Thames Valley Police, City of London Police, Jersey Police, and West Midlands Police.^[12]

German police forces have made increasing use of super recognisers for suspect identification, such as in the wake of the 2020 Stuttgart riot.^[13]

Glasgow Face Matching Test

Super recognisers performed well in the Glasgow Face Matching Test in comparison with a control group.^[14]

Further reading

• Gaidos . Susan . Familiar faces: 'Super recognizers' never forget a visage, an unusual ability that can be put to good use . Science News . 7 September 2013 . 184 . 5 . 16–20 . 10.1002/scin.5591840515 .
• Robertson . David J. . Noyes . Eilidh . Dowsett . Andrew J. . Jenkins . Rob . Burton . A. Mike . Face Recognition by Metropolitan Police Super-Recognisers . PLOS ONE . 26 February 2016 . 11 . 2 . e0150036 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0150036 . 26918457 . 4769018 . 2016PLoSO..1150036R . free .
• Williams . Caroline . 'Super-recognisers' have amazing memory for faces . New Scientist . September 2012 . 215 . 2882 . 36–39 . 10.1016/S0262-4079(12)62392-6 . 2012NewSc.215...36W .
• Ring . Tim . Humans vs machines: the future of facial recognition . Biometric Technology Today . April 2016 . 2016 . 4 . 5–8 . 10.1016/S0969-4765(16)30067-4 .

External links

• News: Brodwin . Erin . Meet the 'super-recognisers,' an elite squad of police officers who are paid to never, ever forget a face . . 11 October 2016 .
• News: Bate . Sarah . Never forget a face? You might be a super recogniser . . 27 September 2016 .
• News: Rice . Xan . The super-recognisers of Scotland Yard . . 2 August 2016 .
• News: Police to deploy 'super-recognisers' to scan CCTV to pick out offenders and trouble makers at Notting Hill Carnival . . 26 August 2016 .
• Greenwich University - Could You be A Super Recognizer

Notes and References

1. Russell . Richard . Duchaine . Brad . Nakayama . Ken . Super-recognizers: People with extraordinary face recognition ability . Psychonomic Bulletin & Review . April 2009 . 16 . 2 . 252–257 . 10.3758/PBR.16.2.252 . 19293090 . 3904192 .
2. News: What Does It Mean If You're Really Really Good at Recognizing Faces? . August 13, 2020 . Dahl. Melissa. The Cut. 2018-09-27. en.
3. Web site: Alex. Moshakis. 2018-11-13. Super recognisers: the people who never forget a face. 11 November 2018. The Guardian.
4. Web site: I put names to faces as a police super-recogniser. www.ft.com. 17 February 2020. subscription.
5. Ramon . Meike . Bobak . Anna K. . White . David . Super-recognizers: From the lab to the world and back again . British Journal of Psychology . August 2019 . 110 . 3 . 461–479 . 10.1111/bjop.12368 . 30893478 . 6767378 .
6. News: From Mountain of CCTV Footage, Pay Dirt: 2 Russians Are Named in Spy Poisoning. 6 September 2018. The New York Times. 2018-09-06. Barry. Ellen.
7. The Detectives Who Never Forget a Face. . Patrick Radden . Keefe . 15 August 2016. 6 September 2018.
8. News: Super Recognisers. 2017-07-05. Crime + Investigation. 2018-09-27. en.
9. Web site: Jaslow . Ryan . London police using 200 super-recognizers: What makes them "super"? . CBS News . 2013-09-27 . 2020-01-23.
10. Web site: UK poised to ask Russia to extradite Salisbury attack suspects. Nick. Hopkins. Luke. Harding. Ewen. MacAskill. 6 August 2018. the Guardian.
11. Web site: Super recogniser squad tracks Skripal novichok attackers. Martin . Brunt . news.sky.com . 28 August 2018 .
12. News: Thames Valley Police: 'Super-recognisers' used to patrol for sex offenders . 25 August 2023 . .
13. News: Jeder zweite Verdächtige wiedererkannt – dank »Super-Recogniser« . . 25 August 2021 . August 31, 2021 . de . One in two suspects identified - thanks to 'super recognisers' .
14. News: Robertson . David James . Could super recognisers be the latest weapon on the war on terror? . . 24 March 2016 . 31 August 2021 .