Factors Contributing to Individual Differences in Face Recognition Memory Ability

This thesis provides novel insights into the perceptual, social and motivational factors that contribute to face recognition abilities. First, it found that two widely studied face-sensitive mechanisms made both distinct and shared (25%) contributions to face recognition ability. It also showed that although sociable personality traits did not contribute to face recognition performance, possessing many high-quality relationships explained 7% of the variance in face recognition abilities. Finally, test-taking motivation impacts face recognition tests, explaining 7% of performance. These findings make important contributions to both theory and method, advancing our understanding of the factors that contribute to this socially valuable ability.