Hello and welcome to another episode of the Perception Podcast with me, your host, Caroline Partridge. In this amazing episode, I talk to the hugely knowledgeable Professor Josh Davis about his groundbreaking work in the field of super recognition. We unravel the science behind super recognition and look at the crippling and rarely considered effects of genetic prosopagnosia or 'face blindness'. Josh shares some staggering statistics about super-recognisers and reveals the three critical factors in recognising faces. You can also follow the link to take a test to see if you have what it takes to be a super recogniser.
Please join me as we look at life through a familiar looking lens.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Genetics plays a big role in how good we are at recognising faces.
Shy people don´t tend to be super recognisers.
Only about 0.5% of the population are super-recognisers.
Super-recognisers are better than computers.
Lockdown and CoVid may have negatively impacted facial recognition abilities.
Some people suffer from face blindness to the point where they cannot recognise loved ones.
Often, prosopagnosia is only diagnosed when a child goes to school.
Twenty super recognisers identified 600 London rioters.
Balaclavas do not always prevent identification.
Super recognisers also spot stalkers and find missing people.
BEST MOMENTS
‘It (face recognition) is probably the strongest heritable cognitive skill we know of.’
‘It's exposure to people that makes you better at face recognition in general.’
‘Super recognisers also recognise that they've never seen a face before. ´
ABOUT THE GUEST
Biog:
Professor Josh P Davis
BSc MSc Ph.D. AFBPsS FHEA CPsychol
Professor in Applied Psychology
Face and Voice Recognition Lab
Institute of Lifecourse Development
Profile: https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/faculty-of-education-and-health/josh-davis
Research and publications: www.superrecognisers.com
ORCID: ORCID
Socials & Links:
University: https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/faculty-of-education-and-health/josh-davis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-p-davis-7050137b/
Website: www.superrecognisers.com
Twitter: @GREcognisers
Direct test link: Could you be a Super-Recogniser? (a fun 5-minute test that links to other tests in the battery and research volunteering opportunities)
https://greenwichuniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0wkAa97GeC3ABUO
ABOUT THE HOST
Bio
Caroline Partridge is a unique and creative individual. She is an actress, puppeteer, educator, and artist with funny bones. She loves a story and is an expert at conveying wit and wisdom with warmth, understanding, and empathy.
CONTACT METHOD
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/caropartridge
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-partridge-03131520
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/partridge_caroline
