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>seeing patterns in limited information is sure to also see a lot of erroneous patterns I don't think that the brain uses general pattern recognition on faces,

>seeing patterns in limited information is sure to also see a lot of erroneous patterns I don't think that the brain uses general pattern recognition on faces, but rather a distinct and specialized facial processing module. Without reading more about super-recognizers, my guess is that their facial processing module is OP. These people will never forget or confuse a face in the same way that you will basically never confuse your mom for someone else, except for a split second in edge cases. We don't worry about confusing our mom for someone else.

IIAOPSW 6y ago
Specialized or not, if you're looking at fleeting, grainy CCTV footage then you are extrapolating a pattern over the missing information. Any extrapolation that works on less information must come at the cost of higher error. I concede it is possible that this brain difference is restricted to one specific lobe that does one specific task, but what are the odds of such a freakishly specific mutation? I have a uncle with schizophrenia. He frequently opens the door before you ring the bell. He draws the conclusion that someone is there from very subtle sound cues on the other side of the wall. This all sounds very impressive until you realize how many times a day he opens the door and no one is on the other side. The ability to draw remarkable conclusions from scant evidence comes at the cost of high false positives to the point where he hears voices in background sounds. It would not surprise me if the biological mechanism of being a "super recognizer" is similar.
dmd 6y ago
How much of that is context, though? I certainly wouldn't (and haven't) recognize my mom or my wife or anyone else, really, in the wrong context when I wasn't expecting to see them.
- keenmaster 6y ago
  That's fascinating. It sounds like you might be in the minority. I don't think I'm particularly good at recognizing faces, but I've recognized several old acquaintances among many passerby in a big city. I don't even have to look at them directly - sometimes my "spidey sense" kicks in when they enter my peripheral vision.
  - keenmaster 6y ago
    Edit: I took the test and it said that I am probably a super recognizer. I didn't think it was likely since only 2% of people have the ability, but maybe I extrapolated too much from me not remembering names as much as I'd like to. I'd still be surprised if the average person can't quickly recognize their mom out of context.

IIAOPSW 6y ago

Specialized or not, if you're looking at fleeting, grainy CCTV footage then you are extrapolating a pattern over the missing information. Any extrapolation that works on less information must come at the cost of higher error. I concede it is possible that this brain difference is restricted to one specific lobe that does one specific task, but what are the odds of such a freakishly specific mutation? I have a uncle with schizophrenia. He frequently opens the door before you ring the bell. He draws the conclusion that someone is there from very subtle sound cues on the other side of the wall. This all sounds very impressive until you realize how many times a day he opens the door and no one is on the other side. The ability to draw remarkable conclusions from scant evidence comes at the cost of high false positives to the point where he hears voices in background sounds. It would not surprise me if the biological mechanism of being a "super recognizer" is similar.

dmd 6y ago

How much of that is context, though? I certainly wouldn't (and haven't) recognize my mom or my wife or anyone else, really, in the wrong context when I wasn't expecting to see them.

keenmaster 6y ago
That's fascinating. It sounds like you might be in the minority. I don't think I'm particularly good at recognizing faces, but I've recognized several old acquaintances among many passerby in a big city. I don't even have to look at them directly - sometimes my "spidey sense" kicks in when they enter my peripheral vision.
- keenmaster 6y ago
  Edit: I took the test and it said that I am probably a super recognizer. I didn't think it was likely since only 2% of people have the ability, but maybe I extrapolated too much from me not remembering names as much as I'd like to. I'd still be surprised if the average person can't quickly recognize their mom out of context.