Face blindness test

[maize]

I tried the famous faces test and got only 2 out of 30 right, supposedly the average person without face blindness gets 85% right. 

 

I'm curious to see if that is true. If you have time, take the test and post your results here.

 

http://www.faceblind.org/facetests/index.php

[Mrs Mungo]

I only missed one, 97% correct.

 

ETA: Did you read the instructions for the test? So, for example, if you recognized "Mr. Bean" from the movie, but didn't know his name was Rowan Atkinson, you were supposed to count it correctly.

[maize]

I only missed one, 97% correct.

 

ETA: Did you read the instructions for the test? So, for example, if you recognized "Mr. Bean" from the movie, but didn't know his name was Rowan Atkinson, you were supposed to count it correctly.

 

Yep, I read the instructions. I honestly didn't recognize the majority of the faces--in fact, I couldn't even come up with a guess on a lot of them, and when I did guess I was usually wrong. I've seen them in movies and on the news and in magazines and books, but I don't recognize their faces. I'm terrible with faces in real life too. My sister took the test and scored just as low.

[Kevin'sMom]

I am seriously face blind. I got 2 right, also. I avoid a lot of social situations because of this. and hate when anyone changes their hairstyle etc. Faces appear to me as two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and some kind of hair. It's a real problem.

[Tangerine]

I got 30 out of 30.

[Dana]

100%

[HSmomof2]

I got 93%. However, I've watched a lot of TV and movies over the years. If you haven't, this would have been a lot more difficult.

[maize]

I got 93%. However, I've watched a lot of TV and movies over the years. If you haven't, this would have been a lot more difficult.

 

I don't know, I didn't even recognize the face of my favorite actor, and I've watched a lot of him...

[PrairieSong]

I only missed one, 97% correct.

 

ETA: Did you read the instructions for the test? So, for example, if you recognized "Mr. Bean" from the movie, but didn't know his name was Rowan Atkinson, you were supposed to count it correctly.

Me too. I missed one. (I did not remember Mr. Bean's real name, but I counted that one as correct.)

[zimom]

I did much better then I thought I would, 83%. However, for the huge majority I could not come up with a name, I described how I knew them... Once they displayed the name I could verify to myself I was thinking about the correct person.

[Aiden]

I was familiar with 25 (I only counted myself as familiar if I was familiar with their faces--so, for example, even though I know who Margaret Thatcher is, I haven't seen many pictures of her, so I'm not familiar with her face). Of those, I got 16 correct. Although if the researchers actually read my responses, they'll probably get a laugh, as my responses often were things like "funny guy, on Mrs. Doubtfire .. I'm so bad with names" or "guy on Grease, whose name I should know, but I don't recall it." (And, yes, I counted those as correct for Robin Williams and John Travolta.)

 

So that's 64% for me. If the real average is 85%, that fits with my perception of myself--a little worse than average, but not horribly so. I'm always announcing to my husband that the actress on TV is the same one who played so-and-so, and he cocks his head and says, "well, I guess I can see a resemblance, but no," and I'm good with people I see often, but if I only see you once every month or two and you change your hair, I'm liable to introduce myself to you.

[Laura Corin]

I got 89%, which was better than I expected.  I failed to remember a lot of the names, but could identify films that they had been in.

 

L

[Word Nerd]

I missed one. I know who he is and would normally recognize him, but it wasn't a good photo.

[VaKim]

I am seriously face blind. I got 2 right, also. I avoid a lot of social situations because of this. and hate when anyone changes their hairstyle etc. Faces appear to me as two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and some kind of hair. It's a real problem.

I haven't taken the test yet, but like you, I have an awful problem when someone changes their hairstyle. Also, I may see someone in a uniform every day, but see them somewhere else in regular clothes and not know them. It can be really embarrassing sometimes, because people always seem to recognize me and I don't have a clue who they are, or often, that I have even seen them before.

 

Edited to add, just took it and got 14 of the 16 I was familiar with. I think this is because they are just so famous though.

[celticmom]

I got 29% correct. I was truly horrible at facial recognition as a child (I had major problems recognizing my mother if she changed her hairstyle). I took art lessons for years when I was a teen and I believe that helped alot.

[ajfries]

I got 92% which surprised me a bit because I'm terrible at remembering names.

[maize]

This article explains what we know of face blindness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia

 

[Closeacademy]

I got 89% but the ones I missed were mainly political.

[Kevin'sMom]

I also wanted to mention that although I can't recognize human faces, i can recognize a huge number of dogs' faces, which I find kind of weird. If everyone would just hang out with their dogs as much as I do with mine, I would never have a problem, even if they had just had them groomed.

[SKL]

My score was in the 70s.  Higher than I expected.  :P

[SKL]

I didn't remember half of the names either, but I counted it if I remembered what he played in or something.  I am seriously bad with names AND faces.  :P  It's embarrassing.

[SadieMarie]

93% here

[Tranquility7]

I got 67%.  I expected much lower given all the problems I have with remembering faces, but I think it is because celebrity faces are all over magazines every time I check out of a store, so there is so much reinforcement for that info.  On the other hand, I'm terrible about meeting people once (or even multiple times) and then totally not recognizing them the next time I see them.  It has embarrassed me SO many times in life. 

 

DH and I met online and only saw each other a few times before we got married (I know, crazy but true!).  When we were not together or I was not looking at his picture, I truly couldn't remember what he looked like.  I remembered his hair color and eye color and build, but I couldn't picture him in my head!!

 

I wonder how test results would be different if it was, for instance, a situation where you meet people and then see pics later and say whether or not you met the person, or maybe they put the face you met in a "lineup" of people with the same hair and clothes and see if you can figure out which one you met.  I'd do *horribly* at that task!  Or another interesting task would be to pick out, for instance, my dental hygenist (someone I've seen a couple of times a year for many years).  I'd do horribly at that, too.

 

I hope I'm never an eyewitness to a crime because I'd seriously let everyone down.

[East Coast Sue]

I scored 75%. I did better than I expected!

[sassenach]

It was too long. I finally quit, but I had 100% up to that point (I quit at De niro)

[umsami]

I got a 93%. I thought I would do much worse. I think celebrities are easier than "real life" people for me.

[Mrs Mungo]

 

 

Yeah I could tell you a movie they played in, or what they were known for and all sorts of details about them, but nope I could often not for the life of me remember their name.

You are supposed to count it correct, if you could name a movie they had been in or something like that.

[Calm37]

I got 97 (missed Tony Blair), but was not happy at how many names I could not think of. I mean seriously -- I had to type in "the actor from Meet the Parents" for Robert De Niro? "Mork from Ork" for Robin Williams? Ugh!

[KidsHappen]

I missed one and got 97% correct. I am good with faces but not necessarily names. I recognize people here by their avatars first until I learn their names. After being gone for a year, when I came back I had an easier time remembering posters that had the same avatar but changed their user name than the people that had changed avatar but kept the same name unless I already knew that poster well by their user name. 

[AngelaNYC]

97%.  So annoyed at the one I missed.  

[Guest]

I am seriously face blind. I got 2 right, also. I avoid a lot of social situations because of this. and hate when anyone changes their hairstyle etc. Faces appear to me as two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and some kind of hair. It's a real problem.

Same with me. I am often at a loss if I see someone in a different setting (such as someone from church in a grocery store), or if their clothes are not of their usual type, or if they change their hair or lose/gain a lot of weight.

[Mrs Mungo]

97%.  So annoyed at the one I missed.

Was it Tony Blair? That's the one I missed, I don't think it was a very good picture of him at all.

[Tammi K]

I got 71% which really surprised me. I expected to score much lower. I usually identify people by their voice before their face so my result was unexpected.

[Trish]

I missed one. I know who he is and would normally recognize him, but it wasn't a good photo.

 

Also he wasn't smiling.

 

[ocelotmom]

58%, but probably actually a little better than that - I chose "I'm familiar with this person" for some people whose name I knew but who I haven't had a lot of visual exposure to (maybe those people are actually better indicators than the ones I've had more exposure to?). Which confirms my feeling that I have greater than average trouble with face recognition.

 

There were a few I might have gotten right (Tom Cruise, John Travolta) with a more recent picture.

 

I found it amusing that they specified Captain Picard as an alternate name for Patrick Stewart, but all the other actors only got their real name. Especially since I blanked on his name (though I definitely know who he is!) and put Captain Picard for the answer.

[73349]

I got 22 of the 27 I recognized, so they gave me 81%. Better than I expected. I wonder whether it's the same test for everyone or if putting in your age determines who you get.

 

Am I the only one who can never tell George Bush and George W. Bush apart? I mean, if they stood side by side, I'd see who was older, but I can never tell from a picture of one of them.

[Robin M]

I got 97% correct. The only one I didn't recognize was Tony Blair. 

[Mrs Mungo]

I found it amusing that they specified Captain Picard as an alternate name for Patrick Stewart, but all the other actors only got their real name. Especially since I blanked on his name (though I definitely know who he is!) and put Captain Picard for the answer.

 

Rowan Atkinson's answer specified that he was Mr. Bean and Black Adder. I remember mostly because I had to really think about his real name for a little while, but I did come up with it.

 

Am I the only one who can never tell George Bush and George W. Bush apart? I mean, if they stood side by side, I'd see who was older, but I can never tell from a picture of one of them.

Huh, they don't look that similar to me.

[Mothersweets]

I missed two which is much better than I expected.  I agree with umsami, I find it much easier to recognize celebrities than regular people.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I missed one, and even when I saw the name I had to do a double take. I missed Tony Blair.

[eternalsummer]

I also missed tony blair

[rebbyribs]

50%

 

Realizing that I'm worse than average at identifying faces was a huge revelation for me.  

 

I think I would've gotten many more of the famous faces correct  if they'd included the famous hair (or lack thereof).

[dirty ethel rackham]

I got 29 out of 30.  But I really could not have picked Tony Blair out of a crowd.  The actor who portrayed him, yes, not him personally. 

 

I agree with PPs that it is easier to recognize celebrities.  I do have episodes of face blindness for people I have only met a couple of times or if I see them in other than the places I would usually have run into them.  Two episodes happened to me recently.  One time, I was at a homeschool event and there was someone there that I didn't recognize.  Since I was one of the people organizing this event, I went up to introduce myself.  As it turns out, he was the dad of one of my daughter's friends and I saw him regularly at his house since he works from home.  They had us over for dinner the previous summer.  Now, every time he sees me, he comes up and introduced himself. :lol:     Another time, I was approached by this woman at the gym where my daughter trains and she proceeded to talk to me very familiarly like she knew me.  I could have sworn I had never seen her before.  She was the mom of one of my daughter's team mates.  Six months before then,  I spent an afternoon talking to her at a competition.   It wasn't until her daughter went with her that I realized that I remembered meeting her.  That was really embarrassing and I didn't get a chance to apologize for being so clueless. 

[freeindeed]

97%

I missed Tony Blair.

[MiMi 4under3]

86%

 

I recognized a few for whom I couldn't come up with the name.

[Slartibartfast]

I got 97% correct. The only one I didn't recognize was Tony Blair.

That was also the one I got incorrect.

 

 

I recognized Mr Bean but I didn't know his real name.

[RootAnn]

I got a 90%. That's seriously good for me. I'm known for not recognizing people I've seen before and I'm really bad at names - even with people I've known for years. I did have to type things like, "She used to be married to Brad Pitt." and I was trying to remember names of movies and blanking on those too (like The Matrix - which I described as "where they dodge bullets" & the "life is like a box of chocolates" one which I'm still blanking on even after I looked it up five minutes ago).

 

Or another interesting task would be to pick out, for instance, my dental hygenist (someone I've seen a couple of times a year for many years).

 

After about five years at the same dentist, I asked the hygienist how long she'd been working there (in reference to me wanting a more gentle cleaning!)... She'd cleaned my teeth twice a year for all five years but I sure didn't recognize her.  :confused1:  :ohmy:

[Butter]

53%

[EKS]

88%

[jewellsmommy]

97%

 

 

ETA: I tend to Identify people by their mouth. My dh thinks that is weird, but apparently I'm pretty accurate. I always wondered why Super Hero costumes obscured the eyes and top part of the face when, clearly, it is the lower part of the face giving away their identity. :lol: