Image or Identity? Only Super-recognizers’ (Memor)Ability is Consistently Viewpoint-Invariant

A face’s memorability refers to the unique combination of visual features facilitating its recognition. Despite considerable variation in face recognition ability amongst general population, individuals show substantial concordance regarding faces’ memorability. This agreement persists, though reduced, when viewpoints across which identities are seen at encoding and differ. Consequently, must extract some invariant facial information during recognition, robust changes viewpoint, do so consistently (i.e. as a function stimulus memorability). However, extent such consistency remains unclear. Therefore, two experiments we tested (i) implicitly encoded images (ii) explicitly group control observers against “Super-Recognizers” (SRs) possessing exceptional processing skills (Ramon, 2021). Novel “With or Without You” (WoWY) resampling analyses assessed SRs relative observers, simultaneously providing measures intraindividual consistency. When implicit was surreptitiously solicited (Experiment 1), studied comparable between groups. Yet, 2), more accurately recognized viewpoint than controls. Critically, image-dependent could only inform first experiment, whereas viewpoint-invariant equally both. Individual observers’ performance profiles reveal that memorability-related consistent experiments. Overall, SRs’ capacity for recognizing faces based on is rooted fundamentally representations identity. These results invite reinterpretation describing information, diagnostic identity memory. Highlights Super-Recognizers not uniformly recognize better controls; both tend high- low-memorability stimuli well.Novel analyses, combining split-half permutation techniques, revealed inter- intra-individual memory.SRs excelled explicit (but implicit) learning controls task-relevant.SRs represent with identity-based (viewpoint-invariant) memorability, while use either image- representations.The finding relatively suggests it constitutes potential marker overall ability.