Showing papers on "Facial recognition system published in 1981"

Mechanisms of human facial recognition

Abstract: This paper presents an extension and refinement of the author's theory for human visual information processing, which is then applied to the problem of human facial recognition. Several fundamental processes are implicated: encoding of visual images into neural patterns, detection of simple facial features, size standardization, reduction of the neural patterns in dimensionality, and finally correlation of the resulting sequence of patterns with all visual patterns already stored in memory. In the theory presented here, this entire process is automatically "driven" by the storage system in what amounts to an hypothesis verification paradigm. Neural networks for carrying out these processes are presented and syndromes resulting from damage to the proposed system are analyzed. A correspondence between system component and brain anatomy is suggested, with particular emphasis on the role of the primary visual cortex in this process. The correspondence is supported by structural and electrophysiological properties of the primary visual cortex and other related structures. The logical (computational) role suggested for the primary visual cortex has several components: size standardization, size reduction, and object extraction. The result of processing by the primary visual cortex, it is suggested, is a neural encoding of the visual pattern at a size suitable for storage. (In this context, object extraction is the isolation of regions in the visual field having the same color, texture, or spatial extent.) It is shown in detail how the topology of the mapping from retina to cortex, the connections between retina, lateral geniculate bodies and primary visual cortex, and the local structure of the cortex itself may combine to encode the visual patterns. Aspects of this theory are illustrated graphically with human faces as the primary stimulus. However, the theory is not limited to facial recognition but pertains to Gestalt recognition of any class of familiar objects or scenes.

Individual differences and memory for faces, pictures, and words

Abstract: People who had performed exceptionally well or badly on facial recognition tests between 1 and 4 years previously were given three recognition tasks, one involving faces, one involving paintings, and a third using visually presented words Those selected as good recognizers were better on the recognition of faces and paintings, but they did not differ in verbal memory This result suggests that people who are particularly good at facial recognition have a generally good visual memory that is separate from verbal memory

Self-reference in facial recognition

Abstract: Subjects made decisions about facial photographs and were tested later for recognition memory of the pictures The study decisions involved judgments about abstract personality traits (eg, friendliness) or physical features (eg, lip thickness) relative to either self-comparisons or some nonself standard The expected abstract-physical feature difference emerged, but there was no evidence for a self-other difference for either type of feature A molar self-reference task specifying no particular attribute produced good performance, but no better than the abstract-nonself task or intent-to-learn instructions For the molar-self task, faces judged to be similar to one’s own were easier to recognize than were dissimilar faces The self-comparison task yields good retention with face stimuli, but apparently no better than other tasks that require examining many features during encoding

Self-awareness in facial recognition

Abstract: Subjects studied facial photographs while comparing them with their actual self, ideal self, or some other person. A subsequent recognition task showed no memory differences due to the study tasks, although in each case photos judged similar were remembered better than those judged dissimilar. There were no apparent face memory differences due to scores on a self-awareness scale.

Exploring New Strategies for Facial Recall

Abstract: Marked discrepancies exist between levels of face recognition and accuracy of face recall registered by Photofit. One of the reasons for this may be that Photofit demands that subjects initially identify features in isolation and such a strategy is incompatible with normal coding processes. Experiment 1 compared the normal feature-based approach to face building with a condition which permitted subjects to work from an established face (‘Mr Average’). No superiority for the latter condition could be established. Experiment 2 contrasted the standard building method with one in which subjects were offered a variety of facial types as potential starting points. Again, accuracy was no higher under the novel procedure. It was concluded that there were no grounds advocating for a wholesale change in current tactics of Photofit building which emphasize feature-selection prior to amending a total facial composite.