Repetition and Semantic Priming Effects in Facial Composite Images

The research programme is investigating the impact of contextual (semantic) information and priming effect for understanding and facilitating recognition of facial composites.

Facial composites have a long history of assisting the police in criminal investigations. Names put forward by the police and members of the public enable potential suspects to be identified or eliminated from an enquiry (for a recent review, see Frowd, 2021). Previous research has indicated the importance of contextual information for identification of composites (Frowd et al., 2011; Ness, 2003; Brown et al., 2019; Thorley, 2020), and here we consider the relevance of appropriate semantic information and repeated presentation, both of which previous research would suggest should be beneficial for recognition (correct naming) of composite faces (e.g., Burton et al., 1999; Calder & Young, 1986; Hills et al., 2008).

Primary goals and Objectives

Methods for improving recognition of composite faces
The impact of contextual information
Procedures for achieving best evidence from eyewitnesses

Coloured silhouettes

Brown, C., Portch, E., Skelton, F. C., Fodarella, C., Kuivaniemi-Smith, H., Herold, K., Hancock, P. J. B., & Frowd, C. D. (2019). The impact of external facial features on the construction of facial composites. Ergonomics, 62, 575-592.

Burton, A. M., Bruce, V., & Hancock, P. J. B. (1999). From pixels to people: A model of familiar face recognition. Cognitive Science, 23, 1-31.

Calder, A. J., & Young, A. W. (1996). Self priming: A short-term benefit of repetition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 845-861.

Frowd, C. D. (2021). Forensic Facial Composites. In Toglia, M., Smith, A., & Lampinen, J. M. (Eds.) Methods, Measures, and Theories in Forensic Facial-Recognition Taylor and Francis (pp. 34-64). Taylor and Francis.

Frowd, C. D., Skelton, F. C., Butt, N., Hassan, A., & Fields, S. (2011). Familiarity effects in the construction of facial-composite images using modern software systems. Ergonomics, 54, 1147-1158.

Hills, P. J., Lewis, M. B., & Honey, R. C. (2008). Stereotype priming in face recognition: Interactions between semantic and visual information in face encoding. Cognition, 108, 185-200.

Ness, H. (2003). Improving facial composites produced by eyewitnesses. Ph.D. thesis, University of Stirling.

Thorley, R. (2020). Investigating the effect of cueing paradigms on naming levels of EvoFIT facial composites. PhD Thesis, University of Central Lancashire.

Studying forensic psychology (BSc)

Studying forensic psychology (MSc)

Lancashire forensic academy

Forensic Research Group

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