Face recognition memory as a function of encoding strategy and face distinctiveness

Two experiments were performed concerning the relationships of face distinctiveness and face memorability. In the first experiment 114 faces were rated on two scales, a global distinctiveness scale and a feature distinctiveness scale. The second experiment investigated recognition memory following three different orienting tasks and a control condition without an orienting task. The orienting tasks investigated were a Global task which required subjects to rate the faces' distinctiveness as compared to other faces, a Feature Scan task which required the subjects to select the most distinctive feature within each face, and a Trait task which required subjects to judge the faces on a personality trait, such as friendliness. The results of correlational analysis were that global distinctiveness predicted both hit scores as well as false alarm scores more strongly than the feature distinctive scale. Correlations among recognition scores were high across encoding tasks suggesting that face memorability is mainly determined by inherent properties of the faces themselves. Furthermore, the correlations indicated that the Global and Trait encoding conditions are more alike than the Feature and Global and the Feature and the Trait encoding strategies.