Describing faces: conventionalizing ontologies through dialogic interaction

INTRODUCTION • Although we are highly efficient at recognizing faces, we find it remarkably difficult to describe them to others, posing a challenge for forensic sciences. • This difficulty stems in part from the problem of expressing configural information about faces in words. • Previous research has shown that when interlocutors encounter a domain for which they have only vague descriptions, they rapidly conventionalize ad-hoc ontologies that enable efficient and systematic communication.