This article will explain the processes associated with face recognition, identification, and classification. This article will also explain the roles of concepts and categories in face recognition, identification, and classification. The role of encoding and retrieval processes involved with long-term memory and how this affects face recognition will be analyzed. Last, two errors that can occur with face recognition, misidentification and self -recognition, will be discussed.
Face Recognition, Identification, & Classification
For a person to recognize a face, he or she would have to analyze the person’s facial features and the relationship between those features (Diamond & Cary, 1986). According to Diamond and Carey for an individual to recognize objects a person needs information about the parts of an object and how those parts are related to one another, this process is titled, first-order relational information (Diamond & Cary, 1986). First-order relational information is not enough for a person to recognize a face he or she needs more information than the eyes are above the nose (Diamond & Cary, 1986). To recognize faces second-order relational information is needed; this process involves a comparison to the first-order analysis to what an average face looks like (Diamond & Cary, 1986). This ability to understand what an average face looks like is done through experience and that information becomes the standard a person uses to compare faces he or she sees (Diamond & Cary, 1986). Second-order relational information is the most important information used to recognize a face, faces are encoded as whole configurations that are processed holistically and the upright face has a unique pattern (Diamond & Cary, 1986). According to Diamond and Cary (1986) the face is stored as a whole unlike an object that can be broken down into pieces and still be recognized. If only a part of the face is displayed it makes it difficult for identification (Diamond & Cary, 1986). The brain’s visual cortex, fusiform face area, is the area that is activated when a person views a face or faces (Diamond & Cary, 1986).
Concepts and Categories in Face Recognition, Identification, and Classification
According to Tarr and Cheng (2003) face recognition is only different from object recognition because of the entry point required for recognition. Basic-level categorization is the most common entry point for recognition but the basic level of recognition is not enough information to identify faces (Tarr & Cheng, 2003) . The entry point required for recognition of human faces is at the individual level (Tarr & Cheng, 2003) . According to Tarr and Cheng (2003) objects can be recognized and discriminated based on the parts of an object although faces can be recognized only holistically. The fusiform face area is also lit up when objects are viewed, “Gauthier, Skudlarski, Gore, and Anderson found that the fusiform face area, thought to be associated exclusively with the recognition of faces, is also active when bird experts recognize birds, and when car experts recognize cars” (Gauthier, Skudlarski, Gore, and Anderson, 2000, p.195). Gauthier, Skudlarski, Gore, and Anderson (2000) demonstrated that face recognition is not special or an expertise.
Long-Term Memory and its Affect on Face Recognition
According to Rakover and Cahlon (2001) in the process of face recognition and long-term memory, encoding, and the retrieval process are important. The encoding process encodes face features in the long-term memory and the encoding process helps in the storage of images permanently to make it easy for retrieval (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001. It is important that the images are encoded in the correct manner or information will be lost (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Rakover and Cahlon (2001) state that facial coding has several stages; the first stage is structural encoding. During structural encoding visual information is encoded from the face of an individual into information in the long-term memory; the information functions like a data bank to face recognition systems in the stage of facial recognition (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Structural encoding is important because it helps people in encoding facial information and that information is used later to recognize people (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Encoding the information involves two processes, view centered description and expression independent description. Rakover and Cahlon (2001) state that view centered description is used to represent primary facial information; primary facial information includes information like contrast or light intensity. The information represented in view centered description is influenced by the representation of the face; the representation of the face includes the size of the face, orientation, and degree of illumination (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Expression independent description is constructed using the basis of earlier visual representation; the expression independent description corresponds to abstract description of facial features, and of the recognition of the whole face, which are required for facial recognition (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). The descriptions do not depend on the appearance of the face like view centered descriptions; the description is based on the common characteristics of the same face presented from different viewpoints (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Structural encoding influences facial recognition in different ways, such as in matching information stored after encoding with current information, and if the two match, facial recognition takes place (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). In expression independent description the cognitive system compares codes send from expression independent description with code stored in face recognition unit (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). If the structural code of the target face and structural code of stored face match, the face is recognized (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). Structural encoding assists in face recognition by matching similar codes and retrieval is important in long-term memory, and facial recognition (Rakover &Cahlon;, 2001). In retrieval information stored in long-term memory is retrieved if it is located or not distorted; the process is important in facial recognition as it helps in retrieving facial images if they are easily (Rakover & Cahlon, 2001). This occurs if information outside the long-term memory matches the information to be retrieved; the retrieval process helps in facial recognition.
Misidentification and Self-Recognition
Face recognition is not a perfect process, errors can occur such as the inability for an individual to recognize themselves and misidentification (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008) . As discussed earlier in the paper the fusiform face area is specialized for recognizing faces (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008) . People unable to recognize themselves are called prosopagnosics, the fusiform face area in these individuals is damaged (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008) .
Some times an individual cannot correctly identify another individual’s face and that occurs because of unconscious transference (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008) . Unconscious transference occurs when an individual cannot tell the difference between the target person versus the familiar face seen at a different time (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008) . For example, a witness might not be able to tell whether he or she is looking at the criminal, the target person, he or she saw rob the bank or a person he or she saw at a different time
Final Thoughts
The ability to recognize a face is important part of being able to survive daily life. Knowing the difference between a wanted criminal and a family member are important tools needed to navigate life. Facial recognition is a complicated process that occurs using several processes at once but errors can occur such as misidentification. Memory plays a large role in the facial recognition process, without the ability to remember facial features the retrieval process would be difficult.
References
Diamond, R., & Carey, S. (1986).Why faces are and are not special: An effect of expertise. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology: General, 115, 107′”117.
Tarr, M. J., & Cheng, Y. D. (2003). Learning to see faces and objects. Trends in Cognitive Science, 7, 23′”30.
Gauthier, I., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J. C., & Anderson, A.W. (2000). Expertise for cars and birds recruits brain areas involved in face recognition. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 191′”197.
Rakover, S., & Cahlon, B. (2001). Face recognition: cognitive and computational processes . : John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Robinson-Riegler, G., & Robinson-Riegler, B. (2008). Cognitive psychology: Applying the science of the mind (2nd ed.). Boston , MA : Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
