Abstract
Large bodies of research focus on face processing in children and on adults with developmental prosopagnosia (DP), but little research has investigated DP in children. DP prevalence is estimated to be 2% of the population, and creates substantial difficulties for adults and children alike. A major factor limiting the study of face processing deficits in children with DP and other conditions is the lack of well-designed, reliable diagnostic face processing tests for children. As a step towards overcoming this limitation, we designed a Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) for children (CFMT-Kids). This test follows the same format as the original CFMT, with 3 alternative forced-choice items that test memory for 6 target faces, but uses faces of children rather than adults. Task difficulty is calibrated for children. Data from a group of 11-year old children indicates that the test has good internal consistency (α=0.83). An 11-year-old child with DP scored 36% on the test, which is only slightly above chance and falls 2.7 standard deviations below the mean. The CFMT-Kids is available to other researchers. In addition to other tests of face perception for children, we will design a second CFMT-Kids of equal difficulty and reliability to facilitate pre- and post- training assessment in children with face perception deficits.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2012