Certain situations can prove particularly challenging to prosopagnosics, and there are coping strategies which people commonly adopt to navigate everyday social situations. These can be strong indicators of face blindness.
Hallmark Symptoms of Prosopagnosia
Bournemouth University have created a list of Hallmark Symptoms, including
- Confusing characters in films
- Inability to identify people in photographs
- Appearing “lost” in a crowd
- Asking generic rather than personal questions when meeting someone
- Avoiding using other people’s names
- Never introducing themselves to someone else, or two people to each other
- Failing to recognise someone when their appearance changes (e.g. their hair style or colour)
- Being unable to identify an unexpectedly encountered familiar person
- Walking past and accidentally ignoring familiar people
- Being unable to describe that face
You can download the Bournemouth University full list of Hallmark Symptoms and read their research report “Identifying Hallmark Symptoms of Developmental Prosopagnosia for Non-Experts”
The Twenty-item prosopagnosia index
A group of UK-based researchers have developed a validated measure of prosopagnosia severity The Twenty-item prosopagnosia index (PI20). It takes the form of a 20 item self-report questionnaire to assess the presence and severity of prosopagnosic traits.
This online test is linked to research centres in London, Reading and York, so that you can complete and self-refer yourself as a potential participant at the same time. Alternatively you can download a self-score version of this Prosopagnosia Indicator.
Becoming a Research Participant
You can get a more formal and thorough assessment by volunteering to participate in research projects at universities across the UK.
