title: The Cambridge Face Memory Test for Children (CFMT-C): a new tool for measuring face recognition skills in childhood.
abstract: Face recognition ability follows a lengthy developmental course, not reaching maturity until well into adulthood. Valid and reliable assessments of face recognition memory ability are necessary to examine patterns of ability and disability in face processing, yet there is a dearth of such assessments for children. We modified a well-known test of face memory in adults, the Cambridge Face Memory Test (Duchaine & Nakayama, 2006, Neuropsychologia, 44, 576-585), to make it developmentally appropriate for children. To establish its utility, we administered either the upright or inverted versions of the computerised Cambridge Face Memory Test - Children (CFMT-C) to 401 children aged between 5 and 12 years. Our results show that the CFMT-C is sufficiently sensitive to demonstrate age-related gains in the recognition of unfamiliar upright and inverted faces, does not suffer from ceiling or floor effects, generates robust inversion effects, and is capable of detecting difficulties in face memory in children diagnosed with autism. Together, these findings indicate that the CFMT-C constitutes a new valid assessment tool for children's face recognition skills.
authors: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK.
authors: Abigail
authors: A
authors: Croydon
authors: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
authors: Hannah
authors: H
authors: Pimperton
authors: Department of Psychological Science, Birkbeck, London, UK; School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors: Louise
authors: L
authors: Ewing
authors: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
authors: Brad C
authors: BC
authors: Duchaine
authors: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK; School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. Electronic address: l.pellicano@ioe.ac.uk.
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Pellicano
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Children; Development; Face memory; Face recognition; Inversion effect