Experiment: Identifying College Majors Based On Individuals Facial Features.

Abstract

According to previous research, facial recognition is significant for the survival of human beings. Based on the former research, various scholars have identified the interconnection between human brains and various faces identified every day. The studies have however not identified the human brain sophistication. One studies carried out by Zayed University was to show how students could identify other individuals. The experiment entailed asking the students to identify the faces (that were photographed) and this involved students from Arts, Business, Humanities, I formation technology and education. Additionally, various students from the university were requested to identify the faces. It was expected that facial features could assist the students recognize the faces. According to the research outcome, 47% of the students recognized a good number of faces while others recognized few. This implication is that student brains had developed sophisticated specialized system that made it possible the students accurately identify the faces.

INTRODUCTION

Recognizing a face is essential for lives especially when a given person was known to be associated with criminal activities. According to Eysenck 2010, people easily identify criminals compared to other individuals. However, no research has identified how sophisticated the brain is.

Sir Francis Galton, a psychologist, in 1800 developed typical faces from different sections of the community and among the faces he developed included criminals and soldiers. This, he achieved through projecting photographs of various groups of people and creating a composite image that represented the average face of given group in the community (Jones et al, 2006). Jones et al (2006) also states, “This was done in effort to visualize the facial characteristics that were common to a particular group of people.”

In a similar way, Zayed University investigated is students could identify their colleagues on their facial features. This was to identify whether the University students could develop a specialized system in their brains that could enable them identify other students. The assumption was that facial features could provide the students with clues on the major students. Suppose the students could identify the faces and categorize the students on their majors, this that indicates that the students brains had developed specialized features. If majority of the students could not identify the faces that would mean their brains had not developed the specialized feature.

Another study carried out by Diamond and Carey in 1986 on dogs proved the hypothesis that brains develop specialized features. The study entailed showing dogs other pictures which were inverted and result confirmed that the dog’s brains had developed a specialized system since they could identify an inverted and upright pictures (Rackover, 2001).

METHOD

Participants

Those who participated in the survey included a 17-year old students form Zayed University who ages ranged from 19years to 22 years and the sampled students were in their second years of study.

Stimuli

The presented stimuli were colored student pictures from five different colleges at Zayed University. The samples students came from IT, Art, Humanities, Business, Education and Media who were presented on a projector screen.

Apparatus

We will use projectors to project students’ faces on the smart board.

Design

The study involved using a randomized procedure to show the participants pictures to be identified. The pictures were shifted and then presented to the participants.

Procedure

Those who participated in the research were first briefed on the study and the procedure. After that, the participants were given answers sheet with the 6 major colleges in Zayed University. Before identification process, the image of students was then projected on a screen and they had 10 seconds to observe the picture and identify the students major then tick the answer they thought was appropriate.

RESULTS

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Figure 1.

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Figure 2.

DISCUSSION

According to the study, among the 34 questions given to the participants, the highest performer scored 50% of the total pictures while the poorest scorer had 3 correct answers out of 34 possible scores. The mean score stood at 9.8 and majority scored 13 out of possible 34 correct answers and indicated in figure 2.

According to the results shown in figure 1, there was a 5.75% probability of scoring correct answer. This indicated the probability of a participant scoring a correct answer without help. In the study, 14 participants scored above average and eight among the participants scored over 10 points by getting over 10 correct answer and this indicated that they had developed a specialized system.

For the participants who obtained more that average could be cases where they would have identified the students who were either members of their classes or they had met the student before and this affected the result outcome. The other stimuli that could have been provided is a list of students names and the giving the participants pictures to match the names and the faces. Suppose the participants scored more than 5% then he or she could be disqualified from taking part in the experiment.

The students who were pictures were asked to smile without showing their teeth and this helped in maintaining experiment standardization. Suppose the experiment was to be repeated, the students could be asked to take photos in different posters so the participants could not easily re-identify the learners. All the participants were second year students. Suppose the participants could have been fourth years students, then it could have been assumed that they could have seen the pictures for a long time. They could have developed a specialized system and so could easily identify the faces.

The participants were allowed 10 seconds to identify the pictures. Suppose the experiment was to be repeated, then time for viewing the pictures could have been reduced. This is to ensure participants could easily process the pictures and identify their majors. The answer sheet given to the participants with the list of the faces might have had effects on the experiment. The participants must have found it hard to identify the faces and match the names and the face. Suppose the experiment was to be repeated, the participants could be asked to write down then major of the faces.

List of References

Diamond and Carey 1986

Eysenck, M. (2010). Cognitive Psychology . USA: Psychology Press.

Face Research ⇒ Students ⇒ Topic 3: Are attractive faces only average?. (n.d.). Face Research. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://faceresearch.org/students/averagene

Rackover, S., & Cahlon, B. (2001). Face recognition and computational processes . USA: Library of Congress.