Abstract
The identifiability of men’s faces was predicted from their information contents. A sample of 12 photographs of college men’s faces with similar hair colors, eye colors, and complexions was obtained. Student judges, who received systematically varied instructions, determined the information contents of these faces and their interior features by counting the number of times their contours changed direction (e.g., made an angle or arc). Other students tried independently to identify the faces when they were presented in a tachistoscope for durations of 300, 600, or 900 msec. Errors were negatively correlated with the information contents of the faces, especially the information content of the mouth. Presentation times and instruction effects were also observed.
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The authors wish to express their appreciation to Robert W. Holt and Donald Campbell for gracious advice on and assistance with the analysis of these data.
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Mitchell, S.L., Pasnak, R. & Campbell, J.W. Information content and the identification of human faces. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 27, 371–374 (1989). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334631