Own-age and own-sex biases in recognition of aged faces

It is surprising how easily we are able to recognize people whom we have not seen in many years, somehow compensating for the aging-related facial changes that occurred. We measured the limits of the ability to recognize faces across the lifespan. Images of five males and five females at young and old ages were morphed in 10% increments to create aged face images across the lifespan.Fifty-eight participants (28 females) judged whether pairs of photographs were the same or different identity. Women outperformed men for female faces, exhibiting a sex difference and own sex bias. Additionally, an own-age bias was found for older participants, who outperformed their younger counterparts with older stimuli. It appears that the recognition of faces is affected by the own - age and own - sex biases, potentially allowing us to remember some people better than others, thus mediating our interaction with the world.