I think that is a great question! Since witnesses generally do poorly when picking out the suspect, then I think this will make it more difficult for them. Their accuracy of recognizing the correct suspect will be lower if the suspect has a mask or facial covering on. Also, the judgement of personality traits can affect how witnesses judge suspects when they have a mask on. For example, they may perceive the suspect as more judgement, and they may be more likely to identify them.
Great study idea! I especially like that you were able to show better memory when encoding and retrieval conditions (either wearing masks or not) were matched–essentially a context-dependent learning effect. Did you find a significant interaction of encoding and retrieval conditions?
Thank you! We did not find an effect in the encoding or retrieval conditions, but we did find that when people saw masked faces during encoding it was easier to recognize them with masks on. Regarding emotional expression, we did not find a significant interaction between encoding and retrieval. We did find that people are less confident in their judgements.
I wonder if this might play a role in recognition of an eyewitness as well. In other words, if you see them with a mask on, is it easier to ID them later if they have a mask on?
Interesting research!
Thank you!
This is really fascinating and timely !!
Thank you!
What implications do you think this has for things like eyewitness identification?
I think that is a great question! Since witnesses generally do poorly when picking out the suspect, then I think this will make it more difficult for them. Their accuracy of recognizing the correct suspect will be lower if the suspect has a mask or facial covering on. Also, the judgement of personality traits can affect how witnesses judge suspects when they have a mask on. For example, they may perceive the suspect as more judgement, and they may be more likely to identify them.
Thanks for this thoughtful response!
Great study idea! I especially like that you were able to show better memory when encoding and retrieval conditions (either wearing masks or not) were matched–essentially a context-dependent learning effect. Did you find a significant interaction of encoding and retrieval conditions?
Thank you! We did not find an effect in the encoding or retrieval conditions, but we did find that when people saw masked faces during encoding it was easier to recognize them with masks on. Regarding emotional expression, we did not find a significant interaction between encoding and retrieval. We did find that people are less confident in their judgements.
I wonder if this might play a role in recognition of an eyewitness as well. In other words, if you see them with a mask on, is it easier to ID them later if they have a mask on?