What is a Super Recogniser?
Prosopagnosia, or “face blindness”, is a rare medical condition in which patients are unable to recognise human faces, in some cases, even their own faces or those of their immediate family. The advent of the internet has now enabled a study of such extreme instances to be undertaken. During these studies, however, researchers and psychologists discovered 4 people who had exactly the opposite issue to face blindness. The researchers found individuals who were at the extreme other end of the spectrum – and they were incredibly good at remembering faces at being able to identify them, notwithstanding the passage of time, their age, gender, appearance or even disguise. This short report from the BBC shows the amazing skills of a Super Recogniser:
“I never thought I would be out deployed at a football match using my skill as an SR to spot a wanted offender. I really enjoyed it and spotted one of the subject’s associates”
“I’ve really enjoyed working on Image Comparison investigations as a Super Recogniser, you feel like you have really achieved something when you hear the positive results back from the clients”
“I was working at a venue and given an image of a suspect who had committed a theft and spotted him a week later trying to steal another handbag. He won’t be coming back now he knows Super Recognisers work here”
“I never thought I would be using my skills as a Super Recogniser to solve a murder enquiry, but I did”
Clearly a spectrum exists and we now know that the skills of ‘super recognisers’ are estimated to abide in as few as 1% of the human population worldwide. It is this very small population which we now seek to identify, to assess, select and to develop further to deter and fight crime and extremism in our increasingly unstable World. Such skills cannot be taught – they are preternatural and unique to an individual.
Tests to identify their skills have been verified by many academic institutions both here and in the USA. The search is now on to identify suitable candidates for further development. Should you wish to assess your own skills in this area then do go to the University of Greenwich website and have a go at the tests for yourself – see http://superrecognisers.com