The effect of educational priming on face recognition from a silver alert

• Published in: The Journal of general psychology Vol. 147; no. 2; pp. 140 - 168
• Main Authors: Gier, Vicki S., Kreiner, David S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Psychology Press 02.04.2020; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans; Between-subjects design; Cognition; Cognition - physiology; European Continental Ancestry Group; eyewitness; Face; Facial Recognition; Facial recognition technology; Female; Gender; gender issues/differences; Humans; Male; memory; metacognition; Missing persons; Older people; Pattern recognition; Repetition Priming - physiology; Scandals; Sex Factors; White people; Young Adult; eyewitness; Cognition; memory; metacognition; gender issues/differences
• ISSN: 0022-1309; 1940-0888
• DOI: 10.1080/00221309.2019.1656163

In a between-subjects' experimental design, we manipulated whether participants viewed an educational video on the importance of Silver Alerts before viewing an older Caucasian female in a Silver Alert. We also examined associations of target recognition with individual difference variables, including gender, ethnicity, Attitudes Towards Older People (ATOP), empathy, conscientiousness, as well as contact and experience with older adults. The results showed an advantage of the priming condition compared to the no-priming condition for correctly identifying the missing woman. Additionally, females correctly identified the missing woman more than males, and Caucasian participants correctly identified the missing woman more than African American participants. Lastly, participants who reported more experience with older adults were more likely to recognize the missing woman. The results suggest that preceding Silver Alerts with information about their importance may increase their effectiveness. Further research is needed to investigate how individual difference variables relate to recognition of missing senior citizens.