Human facial recognition : the effects of light on our recognition ability

Abstract

The influence of lighting on human facial recognition has yet to be fully understood despite the significant role it plays. In this paper, the general lighting within the photographic setting was manipulated to determine how ambient changes in lighting within the image stimuli affects our recognition abilities. In comparison to previous research, this study would be the first to isolate and examine solely the impact of lighting on our ability to recognise unfamiliar faces. A facial recognition memory experiment consisting of four conditions was employed, and the accuracy of subject responses were recorded. Results indicated that changes in illumination level significantly increased the difficulty of facial recognition, causing accuracy of performance to drop. Specifically, the impact was greatest when illumination levels decreased. When illumination level remained constant, the overall impact of light on recognition ability was not significant. These findings have implications on fields where recognition takes place on a consistent basis, such as eyewitness identification and security. Keywords: Facial recognition, Lighting, Unfamiliar faces, Eyewitness Identification, Security