Getting to know you: Gaze behaviours and biographical information in face-name associations

A person's name serves as a unique identifier, yet retrieving it is considered the most challenging aspect of person recognition. Here, we examined the role of biographical information and gaze behaviours during the acquisition and short- and long-term retrieval of face-name associations.

During Familiarization, undergraduate participants (N = 47) were presented with new face-name associations, with a biographical fact (hobby) provided for half of the pairs. During Consolidation, participants repeatedly recognized the names of the newly learned faces until they reached a criterion. Finally, Recognition of learned faces and their names was tested immediately and after delays of one and two weeks.

Providing biographical information at learning improved both face and name recognition. Performance declined linearly as the retention interval increased, and performance at the two-week delay was superior for face-name associations learned with biographical information. This facilitation effect was accompanied by more fixations to the eyes and fewer fixations to the mouth for faces learned with biographical information. In addition, fixation counts and transitions between facial regions decreased as face-name pairs were learned and consolidated.

Biographical information enhances memory for face-name associations. Increased familiarity with these associations also leads to more efficient visual processing. Together, these findings highlight functional links among nodes of the person recognition network and between memory and oculomotor processes.