On the Memorability of the Human Face

Abstract

Do we ever truly forget a face? Given the current state of the literature concerning memory for faces, three different answers can be framed to this question. Consider first the work of Bahrick, Bahrick, and Wittlinger (1975). This beautifully done piece of retrospective research examined memory for the names and faces of a group of American high school classmates. Employing sophisticated statistical controls for variables such as rehearsal during the retention interval, Bahrick et al. found that picture recognition memory for the faces of former classmates held up very well over rather extended periods of time. Recognition accuracy held at approximately the 90% level until nearly 35 years after graduation, whereupon it declined to about the 75% level at 48 years. Memories of this strength have been characterized more recently by Bahrick (1984) as having entered “permastore.”