SUPER RECOGNIZERS: THE PEOPLE WHO NEVER FORGET FACES
Last month, 53-year-old Mia Carson was waiting for a bus when a man walked past the bus stop. "Hi, Danny," she said. The man was amazed. "How do you know me?" he asked. "I recognized you," said Carson. "You were in first grade with me. We haven't met since then, but I never forget anyone's face!"(lines 1–4)
Carson belongs to a small group of people who are known as "super recognizers" because they have an exceptional1 ability: They can immediately recognize any face that they have seen before. "Most of us easily recognize only faces we see often – for example, those of people in our neighborhood," says psychologist Dr. Kevin Shipley. "But for super recognizers, seeing a face only once is enough. After that, they recognize it whenever they see it again."(lines 5–9)
This unique skill is useful in a variety of jobs. Some super recognizers, for example, work for the police, or for newspapers or magazines. Carson herself is a photographer for the American Sports magazine. "I'm often sent to take pictures2 at large sports events, such as football games or car races," she says. "There, I might quickly identify famous people in the crowd and take their pictures. Or sometimes I take pictures of the whole crowd, and later identify any well-known people in them. Then the magazine might ask those people for permission to publish their pictures."(lines 10–15)
However, to get a job that requires their special skill, super recognizers must prove that they really can recognize faces quickly and accurately. Therefore, when applying for such a job they need to do a series of tests. In one test, for example, they must recognize faces of famous people in photos that are blurry3 or shown upside down. "Some tests sound easy to do, but are actually difficult even for super recognizers," says Shipley. "Not all super recognizers are equally talented, and only the best ones do well on all the tests."(lines 16–21)
Scientists have recently begun to investigate what makes super recognizers so good at recognizing faces. One study found that they don't look at faces in the same way that ordinary people do. "Most of us focus mainly on the eye area," explains Shipley. "But super recognizers pay attention to the other parts of the face as well. Images of all the parts are stored in their memory. Then, when they see even one part of that face again, they immediately build a picture of the whole face." Shipley hopes that in the future, scientists will learn more about this amazing ability.(lines 22–27)