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Recognition following long delays is superior for highly attractive and highly unattractive faces (cf. medium-attractive faces). In the current work, we investigated participants’ ability to recreate from memory faces of low-, medium- and high physical attractiveness. In Experiment 1, participants constructed composites of familiar (celebrity) faces using the holistic EvoFIT system. When controlling for other variables that may influence face recognition (memorability, familiarity, likeability and\ud age), correct naming and ratings of likeness were superior for composites of low attractiveness targets. Experiment 2 replicated this design using the feature based PRO-fit system, revealing superiority (by composite naming and ratings of\ud likeness) for medium attractiveness. In Experiment 3, participants constructed composites of unfamiliar faces after a forensically-relevant delay of 1 day. Using ratings of likeness as a measure of composite effectiveness, these same effects were observed for EvoFIT and PRO-fit. The work demonstrates the importance of attractiveness for method of composite face construction.

Meditative mindfulness practices, promoting sustained attention and reducing mind-wandering, have been associated with improvements in cognitive abilities and memory. The present study explored whether a non-meditative practice could be successfully applied in a forensic application; specifically, whether mindfulness instructions can be embedded in the face-composite construction process to facilitate identification. Twenty participants, who were not football fans, were asked to memorise an unfamiliar footballer's face and return 24 hr later to construct a face using the self-administered EvoFIT facial composite system. In the experimental condition, mindfulness instructions were embedded in the EvoFIT system, encouraging witnesses to focus on the target face and the process; in the control condition, participants constructed the face using the standard EvoFIT system. Naming of the composites was attempted by 24 football fans, who each viewed 10 composites, five from each condition, and then the target footballer images to ensure they were familiar with the identities. Results showed significantly higher levels of correct naming for composites constructed using EvoFIT with mindfulness instructions compared to using the standard EvoFIT. These findings indicate the potential for non-meditative mindfulness instructions to assist face-composite construction, improving correct naming of ensuing composites.

There are many types of evidence available after a crime has been committed. Some evidence is physical, including fingerprints, footprints and DNA (e.g., Bradbury & Feist, 2005). Forensic officers attempt to recover information of this type from a crime scene for analysis. The hope, of course, is that the outcome will lead to identification the person(s) responsible. Success usually depends on recidivism: an offender has been convicted of a previous offence and his or her identifying information is available to be searched on a database of fingerprints, footprints, DNA, etc. A similar situation applies to CCTV footage (e.g., Davies & Thasen, 2000). The hope now is that the offender has been caught on camera and a clear image of the face can be extracted. The image can then be compared against a database of known offenders for potential matches. It can also be circulated within a police force, or in the media, with the aim that someone who is familiar with the person will report him or her to the authorities. This use of evidence is psychological in nature due to the need for a human to recognise the face; it is considered by Richard Kemp and colleagues in Chapter 1 of this volume. A different situation also involving human recognition occurs when police officers have only seen a photograph of a wanted person, and so the face is unfamiliar, as discussed by Kara Moore and James Lampinen in Chapter 3. As part of collecting all available evidence, the police will interview victims or bystanders who were present when the crime took place. Specific interviewing techniques have been developed for observers who may be able to provide an account of the crime and those involved (e.g., Fisher, 1995). Evidence collected in this way can be particularly important in the absence of the aforementioned evidence, or when recovering useful evidence may take a long time such that further crime occurs. One (or more) of these observers might also be able to construct a composite image of the offender’s face. This part of a person’s appearance is particularly important for identification—although gait, voice, characteristic motion and possibly other human characteristics may facilitate recognition to some extent (as mentioned later). As with CCTV evidence, an image is circulated for identification. Again, the aim is that someone who is familiar with the person will name the face to police, providing an investigation with a potential suspect (e.g., Ellis & Shepherd, 1992). Subsequent police-work will collect evidence to assess whether or not the named person is likely to be responsible for the crime. Sometimes, a facial composite is constructed of someone with whom the police would like to make contact in order to eliminate him or her from the investigation, or to locate a potential witness, but composites are usually created of an offender, specifically a perpetrator of serious crime. In this chapter, my aim is to assess facial composites as a reliable method of identification. Face-production systems have changed greatly over the years, as have methods of their deployment. Early ‘feature’ systems in the 1970s and 1980s are not reliable, nor are their computerised descendants, but the newer ‘holistic’ systems (esp. EvoFIT) can now create identifiable faces, for the first time providing a reliable means to identify offenders using this forensic technique. I also look to the future to consider promising techniques that may allow composites to be made even more effective.

Standard forensic practice necessitates that a witness describes an offender’s face prior to constructing a visual likeness, a facial composite. However, describing a face can interfere with face recognition, although a delay between description and recognition theoretically should alleviate this issue. In Experiment 1, participants produced a free recall description either 3-4 hours or 2 days after intentionally or incidentally encoding a target face, and then constructed a composite using a modern ‘feature’ system immediately or after 30-minutes. Unexpectedly, correct naming of composites significantly reduced following the 30-minute delay between description and construction for targets encoded 2 days previously. In, Experiment 2, participants in these conditions gave descriptions that were better matched to their targets by independent judges, a result which suggests that the 30-minute delay actually impairs access to details of recalled descriptions that are valuable for composite effectiveness. Experiment 3 found the detrimental effect of description delay extended to composites constructed from a ‘holistic’ face production system. The results have real-world but counterintuitive implications for witnesses who construct a face one or two days after a crime: after having recalled the face to a practitioner, an appreciable delay (here, 30 minutes) should be avoided before starting face construction.

Rationale - The effect of alcohol intoxication on witness memory and performance has been the subject of research for some time, however, whether intoxication affects facial composite construction has not been investigated. Objectives - Intoxication was predicted to adversely affect facial composite construction. Methods - Thirty-two participants were allocated to one of four beverage conditions consisting of factorial combinations of alcohol or placebo at face encoding, and later construction. Participants viewed a video of a target person and constructed a composite of this target the following day. The resulting images were presented as a full-face composite, or a part-face consisting of either internal, or external facial features to a second sample of participants who provided likeness ratings as a measure of facial composite quality.Results - Intoxication at face encoding had a detrimental impact on the quality of facial composites produced the following day, suggesting that alcohol impaired the encoding of the target faces. The common finding that external compared to internal features are more accurately represented was demonstrated, even following alcohol at encoding. This finding was moderated by alcohol and target face gender such that alcohol at face encoding resulted in reduced likeness of external features for male composite faces only.Conclusions - Moderate alcohol intoxication impairs the quality of facial composites, adding to existing literature demonstrating little effect of alcohol on line-up studies. The impact of intoxication on face perception mechanisms, and the apparent narrowing of processing to external face areas such as hair, is discussed in the context of alcohol myopia theory.

This paper assesses use of the EvoFIT facial composite system by police practitioners in the UK and overseas. Results reveal that this forensic system is used extensively: a total of 2,440 times since September 2013. With a suspect identification rate of 60% and a conviction rate of 17%, the impact of this forensic technique is appreciable for helping the police to identify offenders. It was also found that empirically-driven enhancement techniques were used frequently by police practitioners-including use of detailed context reinstatement and holistic techniques during interview, and asking the witness to focus on the eye-region during construction. Research evaluating EvoFIT images published in the media also revealed that composites were produced mostly for serious offences, in particular for sexual crimes. In addition, the vast majority were of male offenders, in their early 30's; victims were female (aged mid 20's to mid 30's); these demographics were similar to composites emerging from another recognition system, EFIT-V / 6. Although this exercise revealed that EvoFIT composites were sometimes published using a more optimal stretched mode, some were presented in a way that did not faithfully represent the constructed image, with the external features cropped. In conclusion, the EvoFIT system is clearly being deployed frequently, with appreciable impact, in the fight against crime.

Witnesses may construct a composite face of a perpetrator using a computerised interface. Police practitioners guide witnesses through this unusual process, the goal being to produce an identifiable image. However, any changes a perpetrator makes to their external facial-features may interfere with this process. In Experiment 1, participants constructed a composite using a holistic interface one day after target encoding. Target faces were unaltered, or had altered external-features: (i) changed hair, (ii) external-features removed or (iii) naturally-concealed external-features (hair, ears, face-shape occluded by a hooded top). These manipulations produced composites with more error-prone internal-features: participants' familiar with a target's unaltered appearance less often provided a correct name. Experiment 2 applied external-feature alterations to composites of unaltered targets; although whole-face composites contained less error-prone internal-features, identification was impaired. Experiment 3 replicated negative effects of changing target hair on construction and tested a practical solution: selectively concealing hair and eyes improved identification. Practitioner Summary: The research indicates that when a target identity disguises or changes hair, this can lead to a witness (or victim) constructing a composite that is less readily identified. We assess a practical method to overcome this forensic issue. Abbreviation: GEE: Generalized Estimating Equations.

Purpose – The paper provides a detailed description of standard procedures for constructing facial composites. These procedures are relevant to forensic practice and are contained in the technical papers of this special issue; the purpose of this paper is also to provide an expanding reference of procedures for future research on facial composites and facial-composite systems. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed account is given of the interaction between practitioner and witness for producing a facial composite. This account involves an overview of the Cognitive Interview (CI) and the Holistic CI (H-CI) techniques used to obtain a description of the face of an offender (target); the authors then describe how this information is used to produce a composite from five popular face-production systems: Sketch, PRO-fit, Electronic Facial Identification Technique (E-FIT), EvoFIT and EFIT-V. An online annex is also made available to provide procedural information for additional composite systems. Practical implications – The work is valuable to forensic practitioners and researchers as a reference for interviewing techniques (involving a CI or an H-CI) and using facial-composite systems. Originality/value – The authors provide an accessible, current guide for how to administer interviewing techniques and how to construct composites from a range of face-production systems.

When children go missing, authorities sometimes release age progressed images that are intended to approximate the person's current appearance. The current studies measured the influence of the range between the time when the child went missing and the age portrayed in the age progression on the similarity between the progressions and current images of the targets. Experiment 1 examined whole face images and Experiment 2 examined internal features only. Eight artists were recruited to produce progressions at three age ranges. Also included were averaged (morphed) images made of progressions of the same individual at a given range by different artists. Progressions across shorter ranges produced images more similar than those across longer ranges, and target comparisons yielded higher similarity ratings than foil comparisons. Although there was much variability among artists, the morphed images performed better than the average rating given to all age progressions.

Accurate identification of criminal suspects by witnesses is vital for police investigations. Methods such as Cognitive\ud Interviewing techniques have been employed for this reason to enhance witness recall. In the current project, we\ud demonstrate the benefit of including a focused breathing exercise during face construction using the EvoFIT recognition-based facial composite system. Twenty participants, half of whom received the focused breathing instruction, each constructed a facial composite of an unfamiliar face seen the previous day. A further 40 participants attempted to name the resulting composites. A\ud significant increase was found in accurate identification of composites constructed by the focused breathing group.

Facial composite technologies are used to produce visual resemblances of an offender. However, resemblances may be poor, particularly when composites are constructed using traditional `feature' composite systems deployed several days after the crime. In this case a witness may have forgotten important details about an offender's appearance. Engaging in early and repeated retrieval attempts could potentially overcome this issue. Experiment 1 showed that more recognisable feature composites were produced after participants had provided detailed face recall during two supported retrieval attempts, which included instructions to reinstate the context in which the target had been seen, free recall and cued recall. The first recall attempt was completed on the same day as viewing the target individual, and the second two days later, and immediately before composite construction (traditional forensic procedure). Experiment 2 showed that repeated interviewing only incurred a benefit when the same day interview provided ample retrieval support. The results suggest how traditional forensic procedures can be easily modified to improve the quality of feature composites, and thereby facilitate the detection of offenders.

The misinformation effect demonstrates that when eyewitnesses are exposed to details of a crime that are incorrect, they are less accurate in their later recall of those details. Research has also shown that misinformation has a measurable effect on recall and construction of a target face using a mechanical but now-outdated feature-based composite system. In a laboratory-based psychology experiment, we demonstrate that misinformation has a detrimental effect on the construction of a facial composite produced by a modern, computerized feature-based system. Participants were shown a target face and constructed a composite of it the following day using PRO-fit software. Composites were less identifiable when, prior to face construction, participants were exposed to misinformation—in this case, by reading a description of an inaccurate identity: a face that was different to theirs (relative to participants who read a description of the same identity, or did not read a description at all). This is important for criminal justice systems and security services as facial composites constructed under such circumstances would appear to be less identifiable, thus limiting the effectiveness of this type of forensic evidence.

Facial composite systems help eyewitnesses to show the appearance of criminals. However, likenesses created by unfamiliar witnesses will not be completely accurate, and people familiar with the target can find them difficult to identify. Faces are processed holistically; we explore whether this impairs identification of inaccurate composite images and whether recognition can be improved. In Experiment 1 (n = 64) an imaging technique was used to make composites of celebrity faces more accurate and identification was contrasted with the original composite images. Corrected composites were better recognized, confirming that errors in production of the likenesses impair identification. The influence of holistic face processing was explored by misaligning the top and bottom parts of the composites (cf. Young, Hellawell, & Hay, 1984). Misalignment impaired recognition of corrected composites but identification of the original, inaccurate composites significantly improved. This effect was replicated with facial composites of non-celebrities in Experiment 2 (n = 57). We conclude that, like real faces, facial composites are processed holistically: recognition is impaired because unlike real faces, composites contain inaccuracies and holistic face processing makes it difficult to perceive identifiable features. This effect was consistent across composites of celebrities and composites of people who are personally familiar. Our findings suggest that identification of forensic facial composites can be enhanced by presenting composites in a misaligned format.

Eyewitnesses are often asked to describe the appearance of an offender’s face, normally as part of a cognitive interview (CI), and then to construct a facial composite of it by selecting hair, eyes, nose, etc. Recent research indicates that facial composites of this type are rendered much-more identifiable when constructors focus on global character (holistic) judgements of the face after having recalled it in detail. Here, we investigated whether components of this so-called ‘holistic’ CI (H-CI) were applicable to newer ‘evolving’ (Darwinian) methods of face construction. We found that the face description component of the interview promoted better-quality composites than the holistic component, but the most-identifiable composites emerged when both components were used together in the same interview as an H-CI. Composites were also more identifiable following description of all features of the face than an alternative involving description of hair. Implications are discussed for real-world face-construction using evolving systems.

We investigate the effect of target familiarity on the construction of facial composites, as used by law enforcement to locate criminal suspects. Two popular software construction methods were investigated. Participants were shown a target face that was either familiar or unfamiliar to them and constructed a composite of it from memory using a typical 'feature' system, involving selection of individual facial features, or one of the newer 'holistic' types, involving repeated selection and breeding from arrays of whole faces. This study found that composites constructed of a familiar face were named more successfully than composites of an unfamiliar face; also, naming of composites of internal and external features was equivalent for construction of unfamiliar targets, but internal features were better named than the external features for familiar targets. These findings applied to both systems, although benefit emerged for the holistic type due to more accurate construction of internal features and evidence for a whole-face advantage. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This work is of relevance to practitioners who construct facial composites with witnesses to and victims of crime, as well as for software designers to help them improve the effectiveness of their composite systems.

Describing a person's face can temporarily interfere with face recognition ability. We explored whether this so-called ‘verbal overshadowing effect’ (VOE) might interfere with the construction of a traditional facial composite, a face produced by the selection of individual features: hair, eyes, mouth, etc. Participants looked at an unfamiliar target and two days later constructed a single composite after (a) describing the face (verbal no-delay), (b) without describing (no-description) or (c) 30 minutes after describing (verbal delay). Composite quality was overall of poor quality but it was worse in the verbal no-delay group relative to the no-description group, suggesting the involvement of a VOE, but equivalent between verbal delay and no-description, suggesting the presence of a ‘release’ from overshadowing. The data support the revised ‘transfer inappropriate retrieval’ explanation of the VOE, and suggest that witnesses to real crimes should not proceed directly from face description to feature sele...

Face construction by selecting individual facial features rarely produces recognisable images. We have been developing a system called EvoFIT that works by the repeated selection and breeding of complete faces. Here, we explored two techniques. The first blurred the external parts of the face, to help users focus on the important central facial region. The second, manipulated an evolved face using psychologically-useful ‘holistic’ scales: age, masculinity, honesty, etc. Using face construction procedures that mirrored police work, a large benefit emerged for the holistic scales; the benefit of blurring accumulated over the construction process. Performance was best using both techniques: EvoFITs were correctly named 24.5% on average compared to 4.2% for faces constructed using a typical ‘feature’ system. It is now possible, therefore, to evolve a fairly recognisable composite from a 2 day memory of a face, the norm for real witnesses. A plausible model to account for the findings is introduced. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Many crimes are committed where the only record of the event is in the memory of a witness or victim. Recovering a recognisable image of the offender’s face is then crucial for solving the crime. Traditionally, eyewitnesses describe the offender’s face and select individual facial features–eyes, hair, nose, etc.–to build a ‘composite’. This image is then published in the media so that someone can recognise it and phone the police with a name. Unfortunately, when tested using life-like procedures, this method rarely produces recognisable images. The current paper describes these systems for extracting such biometric information from witnesses. It also describes how useful they are and explores three such approaches for improving their effectiveness. Included are a new method to interview witnesses (a holistic-cognitive interview), a new method to present images to the public (animated composite) and a new system to construct the face (EvoFIT).

The police often ask witnesses and victims to construct a facial composite of people they have seen committing a crime. Research has suggested, however, that these images are of poor quality due to memory decay, the face construction method used and the presence of the external facial features (hair, ears, face shape). In the current work, the role of the most important external feature, hair, was explored. Participants were shown an unfamiliar target face and constructed a composite of it 24 hours later using a modern recognition‐based system and one of three types of hair: exact, similar or poor match to the target. Better‐matching hair was found to help participants construct a more identifiable central region of the face (eyes, brows, nose, mouth). The results highlight the importance of accurate hair at the start of the construction session. Implications for police practice are discussed.

Witnesses and victims of serious crime are often required to construct a facial composite from their memory, a visual likeness of a suspect’s face. The traditional method is for them to select individual facial features to build a face, but often these images are of poor quality. We have developed a new method whereby witnesses repeatedly select instances from an array of complete faces and a composite is evolved over time by searching a face model built using Principal Components Analysis. While past research suggests that the new approach is superior, performance is far from ideal. In the current research, face models are built which match a witness’s description of a target. It is found that such ‘tailored’ models promote better quality composites, presumably due to a more effective search, and also that smaller models may be even better. The work has implications for researchers who are using statistical modelling techniques for recognising faces.

Witnesses to and victims of serious crime are normally asked to describe the appearance of a criminal suspect, using a Cognitive Interview (CI), and to construct a facial composite, a visual representation of the face. Research suggests that focusing on the global aspects of a face, as opposed to its facial features, facilitates recognition and improves composite quality; also, that the CI enables more effective use of a composite system. The current study evaluated a novel "holistic" Cognitive Interview (H-CI). This comprised a descriptive phase, using a CI, followed by a recognition-enhancing phase, involving the attribution of seven holistic properties. Participant-witnesses watched a video of a target, then 3 to 4 hours later received either a CI or an H-CI and constructed a single composite with a standard system, PRO-fit. Composites constructed after the H-CI were correctly named more than four times as often as those after the CI, attributable to an improvement in the quality of both the internal and external parts of the face. In police work, the H-CI offers the possibility of substantially improving the identification of criminal suspects.

Witness and victims of serious crime are normally requested to construct a facial composite of a suspect's face. While modern systems for constructing composites have been evaluated extensively in the U.K., this is not the case in the U.S. In the current work, two popular computerized systems in the US, FACES and Identikit 2000, were evaluated against a 'reference' system, PRO-fit, where performance is established. In experiment 1, witnesses constructed a composite with both PRO-fit and FACES using a realistic procedure. The resulting composites were very poorly named, but the PRO-fit emerged best in 'cued' naming and two supplementary measures: composite sorting; and likeness ratings. In experiment 2, PRO-fit was compared with Identikit 2000, a sketch-like feature system. Spontaneous naming was again very poor, but both cued naming and sorting suggested that the systems were similar. The results support previous findings that modern systems do not produce identifiable composites.

Facial caricatures exaggerate the distinctive features of a face and may elevate the recognition of a familiar face. We investigate whether the recognition of facial composites, or pictures of criminal faces, could be similarly enhanced. In this study, participants first estimated the degree of caricature necessary to make composites most identifiable. Contrary to expectation, an anti-caricature was found to be best, presumably as this tended to reduce the appearance of errors. In support of this explanation, more positive caricature estimates were assigned to morphed composites: representations which tend to contain less overall error. In addition, anti-caricaturing reduced identification for morphed composites but enhanced identification for individual composites. While such improvements were too small to be of value to law enforcement, a sizeable naming benefit was observed when presenting a range of caricature states, which appeared to capitalise on individual differences in the internal representation of familiar faces.

Three experiments are reported that compare the quality of external with internal regions within a set of facial composites using two matching-type tasks. Composites are constructed with the aim of triggering recognition from people familiar with the targets, and past research suggests internal face features dominate representations of familiar faces in memory. However the experiments reported here show that the internal regions of composites are very poorly matched against the faces they purport to represent, while external feature regions alone were matched almost as well as complete composites. In Experiments 1 and 2 the composites used were constructed by participant-witnesses who were unfamiliar with the targets and therefore were predicted to demonstrate a bias towards the external parts of a face. In Experiment 3 we compared witnesses who were familiar or unfamiliar with the target items, but for both groups the external features were much better reproduced in the composites, suggesting it is the process of composite construction itself which is responsible for the poverty of the internal features. Practical implications of these results are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the presence of a whole-face context during facial composite production facilitates construction of facial composite images. Design/methodology/approach – In Experiment 1, constructors viewed a celebrity face and then developed a facial composite using PRO-fit software in one of two conditions: either the full-face was visible while facial features were selected, or only the feature currently being selected. The composites were named by different participants. The authors then replicated the study using a more forensically valid procedure: in Experiment 2 non-football fans viewed an image of a premiership footballer and 24 hours later constructed a composite of the face with a trained software operator. The resulting composites were named by football fans. Findings – In both studies, the presence of the facial context promoted more identifiable facial composites. Research limitations/implications – Current composite software was deployed in a conventional and unconventional way to demonstrate the importance of facial context. Practical implications – Results confirm that composite software should have the whole-face context visible to witnesses throughout construction. Although some software systems do this, there remain others that present features in isolation and these findings show that these systems are unlikely to be optimal. Originality/value – This is the first study to demonstrate the importance of a full-face context for the construction of facial composite images. Results are valuable to police forces and developers of composite software.

There are various types of evidence that can help bring a criminal to justice. Some are valuable at the early stages of an investigation, for instance when a suspect is named from CCTV footage by a member of the public (see Chapter 9). Other evidence is important later and can be used to confirm or refute whether a suspect is likely to have committed a particular offence. A suspect may, for instance, be picked out of an identity parade (Chapter 6), or an expert may be called upon to qualify the match between the suspect’s face and a CCTV image (Chapter 10). In some investigations, however, the available evidence does not result in a suspect being identified. In these situations, the police may ask eyewitnesses to construct a likeness or facial composite of the offender’s face. Facial composites have played a significant role in policing for about four decades. They are primarily used as an investigative tool, to enable a person familiar with the offender (e.g., a police officer or member of the public) to put a name to the face. Until recently, composites had very low correct naming rates (5%), suggesting that few offenders were identified, although this level of performance is arguably better than the alternative of not utilising composites at all.

An evaluation of E-FIT, PROfit, Sketch, Photofit and EvoFIT composite construction techniques was carried out in a “forensically friendly format”: composites of unfamiliar targets were constructed from memory following a 3–4-hour delay using a Cognitive Interview and experienced operators. The main dependent variable was spontaneous naming and overall performance was low (10% average naming rate). E-FITs were named better than all techniques except PROfit, though E-FIT was superior to PROfit when the target was more distinctive. E-FIT, PROfit and Sketch were similar overall in a composite sorting task, but Sketch emerged best for more average-looking targets. Photofit performed poorly, as did EvoFIT, an experimental system. Overall, facial distinctiveness was found to be an important factor for composite naming.

Purpose. Previous laoratory-based research suggests that facial composites, or pictures of suspected criminals, from UK computerized systems are named correctly about 20% of the time. The current work compares composites from several such systems following a more realistic interval between seeing an 'assailant' and constructing a composite. Included are those used by police in the UK (E-FIT, PROfit and sketch), and the USA (FACES), and a system in development (EvoFIT). Method. Participant-witnesses inspected a photograph of a celebrity for 1 minute and then 2 days later constructed a composite from one of these systems using a procedure closely matching that found in police work; for example, the use of a Cognitive Interview and computer operators/artists who were appropriately trained and experienced. Evaluation was assessed mainly by asking independent observers to name the composites. Two common auxiliary measures were used, requiring composites to be matched to their targets (sorting), and photographs to be chosen from an array of alternatives (line-up). Results. Composite naming was surprisingly low (3% overall), with sketches named best at 8%. Whereas composite sorting revealed a broadly similar pattern to naming, photo line-ups gave a poor match. Conclusion. With a 2 days delay to construction, the results suggest that, while likenesses can be achieved, few composites would be named in police work. The composite sorting data provide further evidence that the computerized systems tested perform equivalently but are poorer than the manually-generated sketches. Lastly, the data suggest that line-ups may be a poor instrument for evaluating facial composites.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of seven variables that emerge from forensic research on facial-composite construction and naming using contemporary police systems: EvoFIT, Feature and Sketch. Design/methodology/approach – The paper involves regression- and meta-analyses on composite-naming data from 23 studies that have followed procedures used by police practitioners for forensic face construction. The corpus for analyses contains 6,464 individual naming responses from 1,069 participants in 41 experimental conditions. Findings – The analyses reveal that composites constructed from the holistic EvoFIT system were over four-times more identifiable than composites from “Feature” (E-FIT and PRO-fit) and Sketch systems; Sketch was somewhat more effective than Feature systems. EvoFIT was more effective when internal features were created before rather than after selecting hair and the other (blurred) external features. Adding questions about the global appearance of the face (as part of the holistic-cognitive interview (H-CI)) gives a valuable improvement in naming over the standard face-recall cognitive interview (CI) for all three system types tested. The analysis also confirmed that composites were considerably less effective when constructed from a long (one to two days) compared with a short (0-3.5 hours) retention interval. Practical implications – Variables were assessed that are of importance to forensic practitioners who construct composites with witnesses and victims of crime. Originality/value – Using a large corpus of forensically-relevant data, the main result is that EvoFIT using the internal-features method of construction is superior; an H-CI administered prior to face construction is also advantageous (cf. face-recall CI) for EvoFIT as well as for two further contrasting production systems.

Eyewitnesses are often invited to construct a facial composite, an image created of the person they saw commit a crime that is used by law enforcement to locate criminal suspects. In the current paper, the effectiveness of composite images was investigated from traditional feature systems (E-FIT and PRO-fit), where participants (face constructors) selected individual features to build the face, and a more recent holistic system (EvoFIT), where they ‘evolved' a composite by repeatedly selecting from arrays of complete faces. Further participants attempted to name these composites when seen as an unaltered image, or when blurred, rotated, linearly stretched or converted to a photographic negative. All of the manipulations tested reduced correct naming of the composites overall except (i) for a low level of blur, for which naming improved for holistic composites but reduced for feature composites, and (ii) for 100% linear stretch, for which a substantial naming advantage was observed. Results also indicated that both featural (facial elements) and configural (feature spacing) information was useful for recognition in both types of composite system, but highly-detailed information was more accurate in the feature-based than the holistic method. The naming advantage of linear stretch was replicated using a forensically more-practical procedure with observers viewing an unaltered ¬composite sideways. The work is valuable to police practitioners and designers of facial-composite systems.

Eyewitnesses often construct a “composite” face of a person they saw commit a crime, a picture that police use to identify suspects. We described a technique (Frowd, Bruce, Ross, McIntyre, & Hancock, 2007) based on facial caricature to facilitate recognition of these images: Correct naming substantially improves when composites are seen with progressive positive caricature, where distinctive information is enhanced, and then with progressive negative caricature, the opposite. Over the course of four experiments, the underpinnings of this mechanism were explored. Positive-caricature levels were found to be largely responsible for improving naming of composites, with some benefit from negative-caricature levels. Also, different frame-presentation orders (forward, reverse, random, repeated) facilitated equivalent naming benefit relative to static composites. Overall, the data indicate that composites are usually constructed as negative caricatures.

Research has indicated that traditional methods for accessing facial memories usually yield unidentifiable images. Recent research, however, has made important improvements in this area to the witness interview, method used for constructing the face and recognition of finished composites. Here, we investigated whether three of these improvements would produce even-more recognisable images when used in conjunction with each other. The techniques are holistic in nature: they involve processes which operate on an entire face. Forty participants first inspected an unfamiliar target face. Nominally 24 hours later, they were interviewed using a standard type of cognitive interview (CI) to recall the appearance of the target, or an enhanced ‘holistic’ interview where the CI was followed by procedures for focussing on the target’s character. Participants then constructed a composite using EvoFIT, a recognition-type system that requires repeatedly selecting items from face arrays, with ‘breeding’, to ‘evolve’ a composite. They either saw faces in these arrays with blurred external features, or an enhanced method where these faces were presented with masked external features. Then, further participants attempted to name the composites, first by looking at the face front-on, the normal method, and then for a second time by looking at the face side-on, which research demonstrates facilitates recognition. All techniques improved correct naming on their own, but together promoted highly-recognisable composites with mean naming at 74% correct. The implication is that these techniques, if used together by practitioners should substantially increase the detection of suspects using this forensic method of person identification.

Recognition memory for unfamiliar faces is facilitated when contextual cues (e.g. head pose, background environment, hair and clothing) are consistent between study and test. By contrast, inconsistencies in external features, especially hair, promote errors in unfamiliar face-matching tasks. For the construction of facial composites, as carried out by witnesses and victims of crime, the role of external features (hair, ears and neck) is less clear, although research does suggest their involvement. Here, over three experiments, we investigate the impact of external features for recovering facial memories using a modern, recognition-based composite system, EvoFIT. Participant-constructors inspected an unfamiliar target face and, one day later, repeatedly selected items from arrays of whole faces, with ‘breeding’, to ‘evolve’ a composite with EvoFIT; further participants (evaluators) named the resulting composites. In Experiment 1, the important internal-features (eyes, brows, nose and mouth) were constructed more identifiably when the visual presence of external features was decreased by Gaussian blur during construction: higher blur yielded more identifiable internal-features. In Experiment 2, increasing the visible extent of external features (to match the target’s) in the presented face-arrays also improved internal-features quality, although less so than when external features were masked throughout construction. Experiment 3 demonstrated that masking external-features promoted substantially more identifiable images than using the previous method of blurring external-features. Overall, the research indicates that external features are a distractive rather than a beneficial cue for face construction; the results also provide a much better method to construct composites, one that should dramatically increase identification of offenders.

Bringing a criminal to justice is a labour intensive process. In the current paper, we explored ways of reducing police time when constructing and identifying facial composites. In the former, we designed and evaluated a standalone version of the EvoFIT composite system. This was found to perform similarly to the full system that normally requires several hours of a police officer’s time. In the latter, we built a small database of composites that could be used to search for matching identities. It was found that pixel intensity (texture) information was valuable for composites produced from a traditional feature-based system, but feature shape information for composites produced from the recognition-based EvoFIT. The results show promise for the automated construction and identification of facial composites.

Constructing the face of a criminal from the selection of individual facial parts is a hard task. We have been working on a new system called EvoFIT that involves the selection and breeding of complete faces. The approach is theoretically better founded and produces more identifiable composites than those from a traditional 'feature' system. In the current paper, we explored three new methods of presenting faces to a person using EvoFIT. A better quality face was evolved if (1) the external parts of the face were subjected to a Gaussian blur, allowing a user to focus on the important inner region of the face, (2) if the faces were simplified to make them sketch-like in appearance, and (3) if users took longer in deciding which faces to select for breeding. Taken together, these approaches would appear to make a marked improvement in the ability to evolve an identifiable likeness of a target.

We have developed a novel software program called 'Predict Your Child' that, given photographs of potential parent faces, generates plausible looking children. The parent photographs are imported into a PCA-based model of facial appearance to give a set of face parameters that can be mixed together to produce offspring faces. The program is intended for entertainment and has been used commercially, with customers emailing photographs of parents to be bred. In this paper, we describe the system, developed from an evolutionary facial composite system called EvoFIT, outline some of the problems encountered and present some performance data.

Witnesses and victims of serious crime are often required to construct a facial composite, a visual likeness of a suspect's face. The traditional method is for them to select individual facial features to build a face, but often these images are of poor quality. We have developed a new method whereby witnesses repeatedly select instances from an array of complete faces and a composite is evolved over time by searching a face model built using PCA. While past research suggests that the new approach is superior, performance is far from ideal. In the current research, face models are built which match a witness's description of a target. It is found that such 'tailored' models promote better quality composites, presumably due to a more effective search, and also that smaller models may be even better. The work has implications for researchers who are using statistical modelling techniques for recognising faces.

This paper examines two facial composite systems that present multiple faces during construction to more closely resemble natural face processing. A 'parallel' version of PRO-fit was evaluated, which presents facial features in sets of six or twelve, and EvoFIT, a system in development, which contains a holistic face model and an evolutionary interface. The PRO-fit parallel interface turned out not to be quite as good as the 'serial' version as it appeared to interfere with holistic face processing. Composites from EvoFIT were named almost three times better than PRO-fit, but a benefit emerged under feature encoding, suggesting that recall has a greater role for EvoFIT than was previously thought. In general, an advantage was found for feature encoding, replicating a previous finding in this area, and also for a novel 'holistic' interview.

Facial composites are pictures of human faces. These are normally constructed by victims and witnesses of crime who describe a suspect's face and then select individual facial features. Unfortunately, research has shown that composites constructed in this way are not often recognised. In contrast, we are quite good at recognizing complete faces, even if the face is unfamiliar and only seen briefly. This more natural way of processing faces is at the heart of a new composite system called EvoFIT. With this computer program, witnesses are presented with sets of complete faces for selection and a composite is 'evolved' over time. The current work augments EvoFIT by developing a set of psychologically useful scales - such as facial weight, masculinity, and age - that allow EvoFIT faces to be manipulated. These holistic dimensions were implemented by increasing the size and variability of the underlying face model and by obtaining perceptual ratings so that the space could be suitably vectorised. The result of three evaluations suggested that the new dimensions were operating appropriately. Index Terms—facial composite, holistic, witness, crime, EvoFIT

Facial composites are typically constructed by witnesses to crime by describing a suspect's face and then selecting facial features from a kit of parts. Unfortunately, when produced in this way, composites are very poorly identified. In contrast, there is mounting evidence that other, more recognition-based approaches can produce a much better likeness of a suspect. With the EvoFIT system, for example, witnesses are presented with sets of complete faces and a composite is 'evolved' through a process of selection and breeding. The current work serves to augment EvoFIT by developing a set of psychologically useful 'knobs' that allow faces to be manipulated along dimensions such as facial weight, masculinity, and age. These holistic dimensions were implemented by increasing the size and variability of the underlying face model and obtaining perceptual ratings so that the space could be suitably vectorised. Two evaluations suggested that the new dimensions were operating appropriately.

Facial composites produced using traditional feature-based systems are notoriously hard to recognise. We have been developing a new more recognition-based system called EvoFIT that is performing better than other computerised approaches. In the current work, potential ways of improving performance even further were explored. It was found that asking the same person to construct two composites of a target face was successful in improving target identification. The data also found that composites constructed second were as identifiable as those constructed first, suggesting that the system does not appear to be interfering with a user's memory of a target face. The work also indicated that switching from a monochrome to a colour face model produced a slight decrement in performance. Lastly, the work replicated a previous finding that constructing a composite of a distinctive face produces a more identifiable rendition than a composite of a more average-looking face.

EvoFIT, a computerized facial composite system is being developed as an alternative to current systems. EvoFIT faces are initially presented to a witness with random characteristics, but through a process of selection and breeding, a composite is "evolved." Comparing composites constructed with E-FIT, a current system, a naming rate of 10% was found for EvoFIT and 17% for E-FIT. Analysis revealed that target age was limiting factor for EvoFIT and a second study with age-appropriate targets visible during composite construction produced a naming rate similar to E-FIT. Two more-realistic studies were conducted that involved young target faces and two current systems (E-FIT and PROfit). Composites from both of these experiments were poorly named but a significant benefit emerged for EvoFIT.