| Summary: | The influence of lighting on human facial recognition has yet to be fully understood despite the
significant role it plays. In this paper, the general lighting within the photographic setting was
manipulated to determine how ambient changes in lighting within the image stimuli affects our
recognition abilities. In comparison to previous research, this study would be the first to isolate
and examine solely the impact of lighting on our ability to recognise unfamiliar faces. A facial
recognition memory experiment consisting of four conditions was employed, and the accuracy of
subject responses were recorded. Results indicated that changes in illumination level
significantly increased the difficulty of facial recognition, causing accuracy of performance to
drop. Specifically, the impact was greatest when illumination levels decreased. When
illumination level remained constant, the overall impact of light on recognition ability was not
significant. These findings have implications on fields where recognition takes place on a
consistent basis, such as eyewitness identification and security.
Keywords: Facial recognition, Lighting, Unfamiliar faces, Eyewitness Identification, Security
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