Dr Alice Towler

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I research ways to improve the accuracy and efficiency of face identification decisions in forensic settings. This includes identifying predictors of superior face identification ability (super-recognition), developing evidence-based facial image comparison methods and training, and optimising how humans and facial recognition software work together to identify people.

Together with my colleagues Dr. David White and Prof. Richard Kemp at the UNSW Forensic Psychology Lab, I work closely with the Australian Passport Office to improve the detection of identity fraud in passport applications.

I am an active member of the Evidence Based Forensics Initiative, an inter-disciplinary group of lawyers, forensic scientists and cognitive scientists, advocating evidence-based practice in the forensic sciences.

E-mail

a.towler@unsw.edu.au

Book Chapters | 2021

Towler A; Kemp RI; White D, 2021, 'Can Face Identification Ability Be Trained?', in Forensic Face Matching: Research an Practice, Oxford University Press, pp. 89 - 114,

Book Chapters | 2020

Towler A; Kemp R; White D, 2020, 'Can face identification ability be trained? Evidence for two routes to expertise', in Forensic face matching: Research and practice, pp. 89 - 114,

Book Chapters | 2020

Towler A; White D; Kemp R, 2020, 'Can face identification ability be trained? Evidence for two routes to expertise', in PsyArXiv, Center for Open Science,

Book Chapters | 2020

White D; Towler A; Kemp R, 2020, 'Understanding professional expertise in unfamiliar face matching', in Forensic face matching: Research and practice, Oxford University Press (OUP), pp. 62 - 88,

Book Chapters | 2020

White D; Towler A; Kemp R, 2020, 'Understanding professional expertise in unfamiliar face matching', in PsyArXiv, Center for Open Science,

Book Chapters | 2017

Towler A; Kemp RI; White D, 2017, 'Unfamiliar face matching systems in applied settings', in Bindemann M; Megreya A (ed.), Face Processing: Systems, Disorders and Cultural Differences, Nova, pp. 21 - 40
Journal articles | 2024

Dunn JD; Towler A; Popovic B; de Courcey A; Lee N-Y; Kemp RI; Miellet S; White D, 2024, 'Flexible Use of Facial Features Supports Face Identity Processing', Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance, 50, pp. 1143 - 1153,

Journal articles | 2024

Growns B; Dunn JD; Helm RK; Towler A; Mattijssen EJAT; Martire KA, 2024, 'Jack of all trades, master of one: domain-specific and domain-general contributions to perceptual expertise in visual comparison', Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 9, pp. 73,

Journal articles | 2024

Growns B; Towler A; Martire K, 2024, 'Correction to: The novel object-matching test (NOM Test): A psychometric measure of visual comparison ability(Behavior Research Methods, 10.3758/s13428-023-02069-6)', Behavior Research Methods, 56, pp. 2692 - 2694,

Journal articles | 2024

Growns B; Towler A; Martire K, 2024, 'The novel object-matching test (NOM Test): A psychometric measure of visual comparison ability', Behavior Research Methods, 56, pp. 680 - 689,

Journal articles | 2024

Martire KA; Chin JM; Davis C; Edmond G; Growns B; Gorski S; Kemp RI; Lee Z; Verdon CM; Jansen G; Lang T; Neal TMS; Searston RA; Slocum J; Summersby S; Tangen JM; Thompson MB; Towler A; Watson D; Werrett MV; Younan M; Ballantyne KN, 2024, 'Understanding ‘error’ in the forensic sciences: A primer', Forensic Science International: Synergy, 8,

Journal articles | 2024

Robertson DJ; Davis JP; Sanders JG; Towler A, 2024, 'The super-recogniser advantage extends to the detection of hyper-realistic face masks', Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38,

Journal articles | 2023

Dunn JD; Towler A; Kemp RI; White D, 2023, 'Selecting police super-recognisers', PLoS ONE, 18, pp. e0283682,

Journal articles | 2023

Towler A; Dunn JD; Castro Martínez S; Moreton R; Eklöf F; Ruifrok A; Kemp RI; White D, 2023, 'Diverse types of expertise in facial recognition', Scientific Reports, 13, pp. 11396,

Journal articles | 2023

Tyler R; Towler A; Kemp RI; White D, 2023, 'Let's talk about faces: Identifying faces from verbal descriptions', British Journal of Psychology, 114, pp. 262 - 281,

Journal articles | 2023

Varela VPL; Towler A; Kemp RI; White D, 2023, 'Looking at faces in the wild', Scientific Reports, 13,

Journal articles | 2022

Carragher DJ; Towler A; Mileva VR; White D; Hancock PJB, 2022, 'Masked face identification is improved by diagnostic feature training', Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7,

Journal articles | 2022

Growns B; Dunn JD; Helm RK; Towler A; Kukucka J, 2022, 'The low prevalence effect in fingerprint comparison amongst forensic science trainees and novices', PLoS ONE, 17, pp. e0272338,

Journal articles | 2022

Growns B; Dunn JD; Mattijssen EJAT; Quigley-McBride A; Towler A, 2022, 'Match me if you can: Evidence for a domain-general visual comparison ability', Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 29, pp. 866 - 881,

Journal articles | 2022

Growns B; Towler A; Dunn JD; Salerno JM; Schweitzer NJ; Dror IE, 2022, 'Statistical feature training improves fingerprint-matching accuracy in novices and professional fingerprint examiners', Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7, pp. 60,

Journal articles | 2021

Carragher DJ; Towler A; Mileva VR; White D; Hancock P, 2021, 'Masked face identification is improved by diagnostic feature training', ,

Journal articles | 2021

Edmond G; White D; Towler A; San Roque M; Kemp R, 2021, 'FACIAL RECOGNITION AND IMAGE COMPARISON EVIDENCE: IDENTIFICATION BY INVESTIGATORS, FAMILIARS, EXPERTS, SUPER RECOGNISERS AND ALGORITHMS', Melbourne University Law Review, 45, pp. 99 - 160,

Journal articles | 2021

Towler A; Keshwa M; Ton B; Kemp RI; White D, 2021, 'Diagnostic Feature Training Improves Face Matching Accuracy', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 47, pp. 1288 - 1298,

Journal articles | 2020

Dunn JD; Summersby S; Towler A; Davis JP; White D, 2020, 'UNSW Face Test: A screening tool for super-recognizers', PLoS ONE, 15, pp. e0241747,

Journal articles | 2020

Dunn JD; Summersby S; Towler A; Davis JP; White D, 2020, 'UNSW Face Test: A screening tool for super-recognizers', PLoS One,

Journal articles | 2020

Robertson DJ; Sanders JG; Towler A; Kramer RSS; Spowage J; Byrne A; Burton AM; Jenkins R, 2020, 'Hyper-realistic Face Masks in a Live Passport-Checking Task', Perception, 49, pp. 298 - 309,

Journal articles | 2019

Towler A; Kemp RI; Bruce V; Burton AM; Dunn JD; White D, 2019, 'Are face recognition abilities in humans and sheep really 'comparable'?', Royal Society Open Science, 6, pp. 180772,

Journal articles | 2019

Towler A; Kemp RI; Mike Burton A; Dunn JD; Wayne T; Moreton R; White D, 2019, 'Do professional facial image comparison training courses work?', PLoS ONE, 14, pp. e0211037,

Journal articles | 2018

Kramer RSS; Manesi Z; Towler A; Reynolds MG; Burton AM, 2018, 'Familiarity and Within-Person Facial Variability: The Importance of the Internal and External Features', Perception, 47, pp. 3 - 15,

Journal articles | 2018

Towler A; White D; Ballantyne K; Searston RA; Martire KA; Kemp RI, 2018, 'Are Forensic Scientists Experts?', Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7, pp. 199 - 208,

Journal articles | 2017

Edmond G; Towler A; Growns B; Ribeiro G; Found B; White D; Ballantyne K; Searston RA; Thompson MB; Tangen JM; Kemp RI; Martire K, 2017, 'Thinking forensics: Cognitive science for forensic practitioners', Science and Justice, 57, pp. 144 - 154,

Journal articles | 2017

Kramer RSS; Telfer CGR; Towler A, 2017, 'Visual comparison of two data sets: Do people use the means and the variability?', Journal of Numerical Cognition, 3, pp. 97 - 111,

Journal articles | 2017

Towler A; White D; Kemp RI, 2017, 'Evaluating the feature comparison strategy for forensic face identification', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 23, pp. 47 - 58,

Journal articles | 2016

Edmond G; Found B; Martire K; Ballantyne K; Hamer D; Searston R; Thompson M; Cunliffe E; Kemp R; San Roque M; Tangen J; Dioso-Villa R; Ligertwood A; Hibbert D; White D; Ribeiro G; Porter G; Towler A; Roberts A; Hibbert B, 2016, 'Model forensic science', Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 48, pp. 496 - 537,

Journal articles | 2014

Towler A; White D; Kemp RI, 2014, 'Evaluating training methods for facial image comparison: The face shape strategy does not work', Perception, 43, pp. 214 - 218,
Preprints | 2024

Dunn JD; Towler A; Popovic B; de Courcey A; Lee N-Y; Kemp R; Miellet S; White D, 2024, Flexible use of facial features supports face identity processing,

Preprints | 2024

Growns B; Dunn JD; Mattijssen E; Helm R; Towler A; Martire K, 2024, Jack of all trades, master of one: Domain-specific and domain-general contributions to perceptual expertise in visual comparison,

Preprints | 2024

Popovic B; Dunn JD; Towler A; White D, 2024, Normative face recognition ability test scores vary across online participant pools,

Preprints | 2022

Robertson D; Davis J; Sanders J; Towler A, 2022, The super-recogniser advantage extends to the detection of hyper-realistic face masks, ,

Preprints | 2022

de Lima Varela VP; Towler A; Kemp R; White D, 2022, Looking at faces in the wild, ,

Preprints | 2021

Towler A; Dunn JD; Martínez SC; Moreton R; Eklöf F; Ruifrok A; Kemp R; White D, 2021, Diverse routes to expertise in facial recognition,

Reports | 2020

White D; Towler A; Jeffery L; Kemp R; Palermo R; Ballantyne K; Curby K; Edmond G; Martire K; O'Toole A; Phillips J; San Roque M; Wilmer J; Carter T; Dunn J; Tullberg C; Ferguson D; Geach J; Heyer R; Michalski D; Moreton R; Noyes E; Ritchie K; Sutherland C, 2020, Evaluating face identification expertise: Turning theory into practice,

Preprints |

Towler A; White D; Kemp R, Can face identification ability be trained? Evidence for two routes to expertise,

Preprints |

White D; Towler A; Kemp R, Understanding professional expertise in unfamiliar face matching,

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