Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, FortCollins, CO 80523-1876, USA.
Psychol Bull. 2012 Jan;138(1):146-74. doi: 10.1037/a0025750. Epub 2011 Nov 7.
A large number of studies have examined the finding that recognition memory for faces of one's own age group is often superior to memory for faces of another age group. We examined this own-age bias (OAB) in the meta-analyses reported. These data showed that hits were reliably greater for same-age relative to other-age faces (g = 0.23) and that false alarms were reliably less likely for same-age compared with other-age faces (g = -0.23). Further meta-analyses of measures of signal detection demonstrated that, although no difference in response criterion was evident (g = -0.01), discriminability was reliably better for same-age compared with other-age faces (g = 0.37). As well, children, younger adults, and older adults exhibited superior discriminability for same-age compared with other-age age faces. Thus, the OAB appears to be a robust effect that influences the accuracy of face recognition. Theoretical accounts of the OAB have generally suggested that it reflects more extensive, recent experiences with one's own age group relative to other-age groups. Additional analyses were supportive of this account as the OAB was present even for groups (e.g., older adults) that had prior experiences as members of another age group. However, the most comprehensive account of the OAB will also likely invoke mechanisms suggested by social-cognitive theories.
大量研究检验了这样一种发现，即人们对自己年龄段的人脸的识别记忆通常优于对其他年龄段人脸的记忆。我们在报告的荟萃分析中检验了这种同年龄偏见（OAB）。这些数据表明，与其他年龄段的面孔相比，同年龄段的面孔的击中率可靠更高（g=0.23），而与其他年龄段的面孔相比，同年龄段的面孔的虚报率可靠更低（g=-0.23）。对信号检测措施的进一步荟萃分析表明，尽管反应标准没有明显差异（g=-0.01），但同年龄段的面孔的辨别力可靠地高于其他年龄段的面孔（g=0.37）。此外，儿童、年轻成年人和老年人对同年龄段的面孔的辨别力优于其他年龄段的面孔。因此，OAB 似乎是一种影响人脸识别准确性的强大效应。OAB 的理论解释通常认为，它反映了与其他年龄段相比，人们对自己年龄段的更广泛、更近期的经验。即使对于那些曾经属于另一个年龄段的群体（例如老年人），额外的分析也支持了这一解释，因为 OAB 仍然存在。然而，对 OAB 的最全面解释也可能会援引社会认知理论所提出的机制。
