Deliberate disguise in face identification.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Forensic Science
• Human Perception

Background:

• Facial recognition is easier for familiar faces but less effective when individuals attempt to conceal their identity.
• Limited research exists on the effectiveness of deliberate disguise in forensic and security settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of deliberate disguise on facial identification accuracy.
• To differentiate the effects of evasion (altering one's own appearance) and impersonation (mimicking another person) disguises.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of the FAÇADE image set featuring models using evasion and impersonation disguises.
• Experiments with unfamiliar and familiar observers to assess identification accuracy with disguised vs. undisguised faces.
• Quantification of performance costs associated with each disguise type.

Main Results:

• Unfamiliar observers showed reduced accuracy with disguised faces, particularly evasion.
• Familiar observers identified impersonation disguises but were less accurate with evasion.
• Evasion disguise proved highly effective in reducing identification performance for both familiar and unfamiliar observers.

Conclusions:

• Deliberate disguise, especially evasion, poses a significant challenge to facial identification.
• Findings suggest distinct performance impacts for evasion and impersonation strategies.
• The study provides insights into face learning and recognition under adversarial conditions.