The Definition and Diagnosis of Developmental Prosopagnosia

Abstract

Over the last 20 years much attention in the field of face recognition has been directed towards the study of developmental prosopagnosia (DP), with some authors investigating the behavioural characteristics of the condition, and many others using these individuals to further our theoretical understanding of the typical face-processing system. It is broadly agreed that the term “DP” refers to people who have failed to develop the ability to recognize faces in the absence of neurological illness or injury, yet more precise terminology in relation to potential subtypes of the population are yet to be confirmed. Furthermore, specific diagnostic techniques and inclusion and exclusion criteria have yet to be uniformly accepted across the field, making cross-paper comparisons and meta-analyses very difficult. This paper presents an overview of the current challenges that face research into DP and introduces a series of papers that attempt to further our understanding of the condition's characteristics. It is hoped that this special issue will provide a springboard for further research addressing these issues, improving the current state of the art by ensuring the quality of theoretical investigations into DP, and by posing advances that will assist those who have the condition.

The consistency of superior face recognition skills in police officers

“…In the last decade, there has been growing interest in so‐called “super‐recognizers” (SRs): people with an extraordinary ability to recognize faces (Bobak, Hancock, & Bate, ; Robertson, Noyes, Dowsett, Jenkins, & Burton, ; Russell, Duchaine, & Nakayama, ). Although much of the published work examining these individuals has theoretical intentions (e.g., Bate & Tree, ; Bennetts, Mole, & Bate, ; Bobak, Bennetts, Parris, Jansari, & Bate, ; Bobak, Parris, Gregory, Bennetts, & Bate, ; Ramon, Miellet, Dzieciol, Konrad, & Caldara, ; Russell, Chatterjee, & Nakayama, ), there has been increased applied interest in the deployment of SRs in policing and security settings. Yet the published literature lacks any large‐scale investigations into the consistency of superior face recognition skills either within or across tasks, with most studies merely requiring performance at an arbitrary level on a single task for inclusion in an SR sample (see Bate et al, ).…”

Holistic face perception is impaired in developmental prosopagnosia

“…One fundamental question is whether DP is the result of some form of visualperceptual face processing deficit, or whether it exclusively reflects later memory-related or associative impairments (e.g. Bate, & Tree, 2017). Some investigations found deficits in perceptual face matching tasks for DPs (e.g.…”

Redefining super recognition in the real world: Skilled face or person identity recognizers?

“…'s data simulation: there may only be mild‐to‐moderate benefits of using proficient versus typical performers in the real world, which would not justify labour‐intensive screening processes. At least until adequate screening tests are developed, it may be more prudent to limit personnel screening to the elimination of individuals who struggle with face recognition – particularly as the prosopagnosia literature and tool set are relatively much more developed (Bate & Tree, ).…”