Sex, race, age, and beauty as factors in recognition of faces

Abstract

Three hundred Ss, black and white, male and female, at four age levels were tested for their recognition of 12 photographed faces: black, white, male, female, child, adolescent, and adult. Females recognized female faces more frequently than the male faces, while male Ss recognized the male and female faces with equal facility. Whites recognized the white faces more frequently than the black faces, while black Ss recognized the black and white faces with equal facility. Incorrect identifications of 24 faces not actually seen before were treated separately. Male faces and black faces were misidentified more than white faces and female faces. The number of false identifications of faces decreased as Ss increased in age. Perceived beauty in a face facilitated recognition. There was evidence of large differences in memorability among individual faces. © 1971 Psychonomic Society, Inc.