Evidence for a confidence–accuracy relationship in memory for same- and cross-race faces

Discrimination accuracy is usually higher for same- than for cross-race faces, a phenomenon known as the cross-race effect (CRE). According to prior research, the CRE occurs because memories for same- and cross-race faces rely on qualitatively different processes. However, according to a continuous dual-process model of recognition memory, memories that rely on qualitatively different processes do not differ in recognition accuracy when confidence is equated. Thus, although there are differences in overall same- and cross-race discrimination accuracy, confidence-specific accuracy (i.e., recognition accuracy at a particular level of confidence) may not differ. We analysed datasets from four recognition memory studies on same- and cross-race faces to test this hypothesis. Confidence ratings reliably predicted recognition accuracy when performance was above chance levels (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) but not when performance was at chance levels (Experiment 4). Furthermore, at each level of confidence, confidence-specific accuracy for same- and cross-race faces did not significantly differ when overall performance was above chance levels (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) but significantly differed when overall performance was at chance levels (Experiment 4). Thus, under certain conditions, high-confidence same-race and cross-race identifications may be equally reliable.     

Does retrieval practice depend on semantic cues? Assessing the fuzzy trace account of the testing effect

Retrieval practice enhances long-term retention more than restudying; a phenomenon called the testing effect. The fuzzy trace explanation predicts that a testing effect will already emerge after a short interval when participants are solely provided with semantic cues in the final test. In the present study, we assessed this explanation by gradually reducing the surface features overlap between cues in the learning phase and the final recognition test. In all five experiments, participants in the control/word condition received as final test cues the same words as in the learning phase. The experimental final test cues consisted of scrambled words, words in a new context, scrambled words in a new context (Experiment 1), synonyms (Experiment 2), or images (Experiments 3, 4a, 4b). A short-term testing effect was only observed for the image final test cues. These results do not provide strong support for the fuzzy trace explanation of the testing effect.     

汉字识别中形旁亚词汇加工的发展研究

本研究利用语义相关判断 ,探讨儿童和成年人在汉字加工中是否存在形旁的语义激活。目标字是语义透明的合体字 (如“姐”) ;启动字选用两种与目标字语义无关的字 ,一种是共用形旁但语义不透明的合体字 (如“始”) ,一种是在频率、笔画等方面和共用形旁字匹配的无关控制字 (如“收”)。结果发现与无关控制字相比 ,儿童和成年人在共用形旁字上的“NO”反应得到了延迟 ,说明形旁可能被分解加工 ,其语义被激活。而且不同年级儿童和成年人的效应量不同 ,表明形旁的自动分解和语义激活可能存在着一个从非自动化到自动化的发展过程。与前人的诸多研究相结合 ,说明儿童和成年人对汉字的加工一样 ,是亚词汇与词汇加工并行进行的过程。     

Perceptions of Work Performance Recognition Among Educators

Educators from several states were surveyed to determine their perceptions about the importance of work performance recognition. Results suggested that educators want to receive recognition for their work performance and that recognition would assist in improving their overall work performance and professional development. Data from this study suggest that recognition of teacher performance may be a viable means for school administrators to improve teacher performance in a manner that is both effective and efficient. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Redefining super recognition in the real world: Skilled face or person identity recognizers?

While there has been growing interest in the deployment of superior face recognizers in policing and security settings, it is likely that most real‐world tasks tap person rather than face recognition skills. We suggest that changes in real‐world screening tasks and terminology are required to distinguish these individuals from laboratory‐identified superior face recognizers, who have more potential in developing our theoretical understanding of the face recognition system.     

Consolidation,wider reflection,and policy: Response to ‘Super‐recognisers: From the lab to the world and back again’

Here, David Robertson and Markus Bindemann respond to a recent BJP Target Article on ‘super‐recognisers’ (SRs). They outline the need to consider human factors that could influence SR performance after selection and the need for a co‐ordinated effort to ensure best practice in the implementation of SRs in applied contexts.     

How many voices did you hear? Natural variability disrupts identity perception from unfamiliar voices

Our voices sound different depending on the context (laughing vs. talking to a child vs. giving a speech), making within‐person variability an inherent feature of human voices. When perceiving speaker identities, listeners therefore need to not only ‘tell people apart’ (perceiving exemplars from two different speakers as separate identities) but also ‘tell people together’ (perceiving different exemplars from the same speaker as a single identity). In the current study, we investigated how such natural within‐person variability affects voice identity perception. Using voices from a popular TV show, listeners, who were either familiar or unfamiliar with this show, sorted naturally varying voice clips from two speakers into clusters to represent perceived identities. Across three independent participant samples, unfamiliar listeners perceived more identities than familiar listeners and frequently mistook exemplars from the same speaker to be different identities. These findings point towards a selective failure in ‘telling people together’. Our study highlights within‐person variability as a key feature of voices that has striking effects on (unfamiliar) voice identity perception. Our findings not only open up a new line of enquiry in the field of voice perception but also call for a re‐evaluation of theoretical models to account for natural variability during identity perception.     

The weight of facts: A puzzle about perception,reasons and deliberation

How should we understand the epistemic role of perception? According to epistemological disjunctivism (ED), a subject’s perceptual knowledge that p is to be explained in terms of the subject believing that p for a factive and reflectively accessible reason. I argue that ED raises far‐reaching questions for rationality and deliberation; I illustrate those questions by setting up a puzzle about belief‐suspension, and I argue that ED does not have the resources to make sense of the rationality of belief‐suspension in cases in which suspending is clearly rational. The conclusion that I draw from the puzzle is mainly negative: the epistemic contribution of perception cannot be explained in terms of a warrant‐conferring relation between perception and belief. However, toward the end, I sketch a positive picture of the epistemic role of perception in terms of a direct explanatory relation between perception and knowledge.     

汉字形声字识别中义符和声符的家族效应

采用词汇判断任务和ERP技术, 操纵义符和声符的家族大小, 考察形声字识别中义符和声符的家族效应。结果发现：(1)当义符为大家族时, 大家族声符字比小家族声符字诱发了更小的P200波幅; 当义符为小家族时, 大家族声符字和小家族声符字诱发的P200波幅差异不显著。(2)大家族声符字比小家族声符字诱发了更大的N400波幅, 但当义符为大家族时, 大、小家族声符字之间的差异比义符为小家族时更加显著。这说明, 义符和声符的家族大小共同影响形声字的识别, 声符的家族效应受义符的家族大小调节。研究表明, 在词汇识别的不同阶段, 义符和声符对资源的获取处于变化状态, 这取决于两者的呈现率差异。整个研究表明, 在形声字的识别中, 义符与声符的作用存在着博弈, 二者作用的此消彼长与加工阶段和家族大小有关。     

The consistency of superior face recognition skills in police officers

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in people with superior face recognition skills. Yet identification of these individuals has mostly relied on criterion performance on a single attempt at a single measure of face memory. The current investigation aimed to examine the consistency of superior face recognition skills in 30 police officers, both across tests that tap into the same process and between tests that tap into different components of face processing. Overall indices of performance across related measures were found to identify different superior performers to isolated test scores. Further, different top performers emerged for target‐present versus target‐absent indices, suggesting that signal detection measures are the most useful indicators of performance. Finally, a dissociation was observed between superior memory and matching performance. Super‐recognizer screening programmes hould therefore include overall indices summarizing multiple attempts at related tests, allowing for individuals to rank highly on different (and sometimes very specific) tasks.