Women recognise faces better

Women beat men hands down when it comes to recognising faces, according to an Internet based experiement conducted in Sweden. Researchers at Halmstand University approached 10,000 people via e-mail, asking them to take part in an online face-recognition trial. More than 1800 took part.

The found that not only were women much better at face recognition that men, but also less susceptible to distracting factors such as hairstyles or change in facial expression says a report in New Scientist. Subjects were given eight facematching tasks to complete. They were shown a picture of a face and then shown 10 similar faces under different conditions, such as a selection of similar-looking profiles or silhouetted faces, different facial expression and varying degrees of picture quality.

At this stage, it’s difficult to explain the results. The guess is that’s a combination of a training and genetic predisposition. It is speculated that one reason women are better at studying and remembering faces is that they are more likely to take on the role of primary care in the family, and may have lenthier eye contact with children.