Poor face recognition in other races is ‘cognitive’ fault
STRUGGLING to distinguish between faces of people from different ethnic groups is down to a lack of brain expertise, not racial bias, scientists have concluded.
Since the 1960s, researchers have been aware of the “other race effect” which describes how humans are notoriously poor at distinguishing between the members of races different from our own.
Some social scientists suggest it belies an innate prejudice against foreigners, and an unwillingness to interact with other groups, or see members as individuals.
However cognitive scientists have long-suspected that because people spend more time with their own race, they become better at picking up nuance in facial features.
Now a team from the University of Exeter believes that they have developed an experiment which proves that poor facial recognition is rooted in cognitive progress, rather than racial bias.
It relies on a technique called direct current stimulation (TDCS) which can make people temporarily face blind by sending a wave of electricity into an area of the brain which deals with memory and learning.
Participants were asked to distinguish between a mix of western Caucasian and east Asian faces, both the right way up and upside down.
The team found that in the TDCS group, there was no difference between participants’ ability to recognise ownrace faces compared to faces of another ethnicity. However a control group, who had not undergone induced face blindness were almost three times more likely to recognise a face of their own race that was the correct way up, compared to a same-ethnicity face that was
‘People are notoriously bad at distinguishing between the members of races different from their own’
upside down. Dr Ciro Civile, senior lecturer in cognitive psychology and research lead for the project, said: “For many years, we have debated the underpinning causes of the other race effect.
“One of the prevailing views is that it is predicated upon social motivational factors, particularly for those observers with more prejudiced racial attitudes.”
Experts say the effect is important to study because it can have real-world implications such as victims of crime wrongly identifying suspects.