Scientific Article for Students

Abstract

Did you know that some people are really good at remembering and matching faces? They are called super-recognizers. Police want to use super-recognizers to help with their cases. They could sort through camera recordings of crimes and identify criminals. But their abilities have never been tested using real police material.

First we used tests to identify super-recognizers. Then we used real police material to see if super-recognizers could identify criminals. We found that the tests could indeed identify super-recognizers. Super-recognizers did a good job at finding criminals. Much better than regular people! We can use this information to help solve crimes and keep people safe.

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About this Article

Reading Level
Scientific Topic
Key Words
NGSS Standards
AP Environmental Science Topics
IB Biology Topics
Scientific Methods
Type of Figure
Location of Research
Scientist Affiliation
Included Resources
+ Audio version of article + Links to lessons on facial recognition and technology from Khan Academy + Link to test if you are a super recognizer + Article translated into Spanish
Publication Date
November 2023
Researchers used real police materials to test the abilities of super-recognizers to identify criminals.
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