The effects of stress levels on the construction of facial composites

Physical stress and anxiety are known to exert a negative effect on the recognition of unfamiliar human faces. This study investigated the effect of stress on the ability to recall faces from memory. Participants looked at a photograph of a target and the following day constructed a picture of the face using the EvoFIT composite system, as used by the police. Composites were then shown to a different set of participants who attempted to identify them. It was found that more composites were identified in the low stress condition than the high stress condition, indicating that stress had a negative effect on face construction, but composites in both conditions were fairly well recognised anyway. The study therefore concludes that the police should continue to construct composites using EvoFIT from witnesses and victims that have experienced fairly high levels of stress, even though their resulting composite is unlikely to be quite as good had the level of stress been lower. Key words: Stress, Face Construction, Face Recall Ability, Composite, EvoFIT.