Abstract

1. Liberal or Conservative: Individual Differences In Decision Criterion Robyn Matthews & Dr. Andrea Hughes University of the Fraser Valley Abstract Human beings are a social species and the human face is arguably the most pertinent aspect of social interaction and communication (Wilhelm et al., 2010). Therefore, recognizing faces swiftly and accurately is of paramount importance to human observers. However the identification of faces is a difficult process, marked by individual differences and fallibility (Bindemann, Avetisyan & Rakow, 2012). Although human observers are frequently thought to be face experts (Jackiw, Arbuthnott, Pfeir, Marcon and Meissner, 2008), the identification of faces is a difficult process, marked by radically different processes for familiar and unfamiliar faces (Bindemann et al., 2012). At the level of an individual, a broad distribution in the abilities of different observers to process faces is revealed (Aminoff et al., 2012). Recently, several advances have been made in understanding these differences and however much of what the variance may be attributed to remains to be accounted for. (Aminoff et al., 2012). . Introduction This study applies an innovative approach to understanding the role of shared personality characteristics in facial recognition memory. Using the trait conceptualization of narcissism individual differences in one’s ability to identify unfamiliar faces was investigated. Problematic personality traits of narcissism are manifested through multiple domains and empirical findings document a range of narcissistic self-presentational styles. Overall a self-promoting, self-enhancing, sexualized-self presentational style pattern emerges (Miller et al., 2010). Research suggests that individual differences in suggestibility to memory related events correspond to certain personality characteristics (Pires, Danillo, Silva & Ferreira, 2013). Further, narcissism has consistently been identified as a predictor of overclaiming (Williams, Paulhus, & Nathonson, 2002). Finally, situation relevant traits predict performance in applied high pressure situations (Geukes, Mesagno, Hanrahan & Kellmann, 2011). Methods Study Phase - Participants will be asked to study a series of eight face targets, and explicitly instructed that their memory for those faces would later be tested. Test Phase – Participants will be presented with 16 lineup identification tasks, 8 TP and 8 TA. For each array participants will be asked to identify whether a target face was present and if so, indicate which of the faces they believed it to be. Phenomenological Judgement - Identification judgments will be made using Remember-Know-Guess alternatives Discussion The personality disposition of narcissism and may lead to a promising explanation of individual differences in performance in recognition memory. We suggest two main reasons why participants who score high on narcissism may demonstrate a more liberal performance on the facial recognition test than their low-scoring counterparts. First, because socially evaluative situations are important to narcissists to maintain their grandiose pictures of themselves, and to receive admiration, a narcissists may be able to create a state, requiring less evidence of knowledge that a face was previously studied, adopting a liberal response bias. Second, a narcissists may anticipate a positive evaluation outcome and subsequent admiration from the experimenter, interpreting their performance on the face identification task in a more positive way, again applying a more liberal criterion. For each participant d’ will be calculated and correlations among the self reported narcissism scores will be performed to examine the relationship between the narcissism and decision criterion. Purpose and Predictions To explore the complexity of facial processing this study investigated the relationship between trait narcissism and criterion placement using a facial recognition paradigm. The purpose of the present study was twofold. 1) To further the understanding of individual differences in facial recognition memory. 2) To test if a relationship exists between the personality disposition narcissism and the decision criterion adopted when deciding whether a target face is one that was previously studied. We hypothesize that narcissism will mediate one’s decision criteriawith an individual who scores high on narcissism executing a liberal criterion, thereby designating more test items as targets and an individual who scores low on narcissism using a conservative criterion, designating more test items as distractors. Selected References Aminoff, E., Clewett, D., Freeman, S., Frithsen, A., Tipper, C., Johnson, A., & Miller, M. (2012). Individual differences in shifting decision criterion: A recognition memory study. Memory & Cognition, 40(7), 1016-1030. doi:10.3758/s13421-012-0204-6 Bindemann, M., Avetisyan, M., & Rakow, T. (2012). Who can recognize unfamiliar faces? Individual differences and observer consistency in person identification. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(3), 277-291. doi:10.1037/a0029635 Geukes, K., Mesagno, C. D., Hanrahan, S. E., & Kellmann, M. (2012). Testing an interactionist perspective on the relationship between personality traits and performance under public pressure. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 13, 13243-250 doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.12.004