Teaching Students About Facial Composites Using the FACES Software

Abstract

An active learning exercise was carried out in an eyewitness psychology course in which students first built up a facial composite of a famous person using the FACES software. Then, the students had to name the person depicted in each composite. The results of this exercise were then described by the instructor during a theoretical lecture about facial composites. The students experienced for themselves how difficult it is to build and identify facial composites of familiar faces. Pre-post analyses showed that the exercise was effective in changing students’ initially optimistic beliefs about the utility of facial composites.