New research suggests that superficial but deliberate changes in someone's facial appearance -- such as a new hairstyle or complexion -- are surprisingly effective in identity deception.
In the study, led by researchers at the universities of York and Huddersfield, participants were often fooled by disguises when asked to judge whether two photographs showed the same or different people. Disguises reduced the ability of participants to match faces by around 30%, even when they were warned that some of the people had changed the way they look. Participants were only able to see through disguises reliably when they knew the people in the images.