Abstract
During learning, an experimental group heard verbal descriptions of criminal or noncriminal activities of persons whose faces were displayed. A control group saw the faces without the descriptions. An immediate recognition test indicated that the experimental group’s performance on new faces was superior to that under all conditions except those for which no crime was described. Apparently a context/contrast effect occurred such that experimental subjects responded as if they knew that new faces had not previously been accompanied by descriptions of crimes. Emotionality and severity of crime dimensions of the descriptions did not correlate with recognition.
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Honeck, R.P. A serendipitous finding in face recognition. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 24, 369–371 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330156