RECOGNITION OF UNFAMILIAR FACES - PROCEDURAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Although memory for unfamiliar faces has been an active area of research, understanding of this topic has progressed more slowly than that of the processing of familiar faces. After surveying a variety of research paradigms, the present analysis focuses on studies of unfamiliar faces which have employed a standard face-recognition approach. Procedures used in 112 studies are compared and the need for standardization is examined. A prototype of the studies reviewed is proposed as a suitable procedural model. It is also suggested that greater attention must be paid to the homogeneity of stimuli used in these studies, and that cross-stimulus comparisons need to be made with caution.