Verbal and visual training in face recognition

Abstract

Black and white Ss were given recognition training for black and white faces. One experiment asked black and white Ss to describe black or white faces verbally, to recognize faces from verbal descriptions, and to describe similarities and differences in triads of faces. While verbal training did affect verbal usage and verbal recognition performance, there was no indication, either before or after training, of verbal usage or performance patterns which parallel visual recognition performance. Black Ss yielded higher recognition scores for black faces than for white; white Ss yielded higher recognition scores for white faces than for black. The second experiment trained white Ss for recognition of black or white faces by feedback trials, using a four-alternative forced-choice procedure. The initial difference in performance for white and black faces (W > B) was not present after 100 training trials. Results are related to an earlier study of face recognition by Malpass and Kravitz (1969). © 1973 Psychonomic Society, Inc.