Facial Recognition: From Prosopagnosia to Super-Recognizers

True or False Statements

1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. (Maximum score: 2 points)

a) A small minority of people cannot identify other people's faces easily.

TRUE: "In fact, about 2 percent of the population has prosopagnosia, a condition characterized by great difficulty in recognizing faces."

b) Super-recognizers are only able to recognize people who have the same appearance as when they met.

FALSE: "Often super-recognizers are able to recognize another person despite significant changes in appearance..."

Questions Based on the Text

2. In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text. (Maximum score: 2 points)

a) Why do some super-recognizers pretend not to recognize people?

Because other people usually don't recognize them, and they don't want to give the impression that the meeting was important or special to them.

NOTE: This answer is simply a proposal among other possibilities. Add yours, and I will comment on it.

b) Why might the results of the study be important in courts?

Because they could help determine the different degrees of credibility of eyewitnesses.

NOTE: This answer is simply a proposal among other possibilities. Add yours, and I will comment on it.

Synonyms in the Text

3. Find the words or phrases in the text that mean: (Maximum score: 1 point)

• a) Remembering (paragraph 2): Recalling
• b) Wide (paragraph 2): Broad
• c) Meeting (paragraph 2): Encounter
• d) Believable (paragraph 3): Credible

Grammar: Complete the Sentences

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given. (Maximum score: 2 points)

a) According ________ the results of a recent study, some people ________ (find) to be super-recognizers.

NOTE: The key to this exercise is to put the verb "find" in the passive voice. With different nuances, several solutions are possible:

• According to the results of a recent study, some people were found to be super-recognizers.
• According to the results of a recent study, some people are found to be super-recognizers.
• According to the results of a recent study, some people have been found to be super-recognizers.

b) People ________ suffer from prosopagnosia find it difficult ________ identify faces.

• People who suffer from prosopagnosia find it difficult to identify faces.
• People that suffer from prosopagnosia find it difficult to identify faces.

c) Hi Jane! I remember ________ (meet) you ________ a party last year.

Hi Jane! I remember meeting you at a party last year.

d) If the witness ________ (not be) in that city five years earlier, she ________ (not meet) the waitress.

If the witness had not been in that city five years earlier, she would not have met the waitress.