Table 1.

The statements comprising the PI20.

1. My face recognition ability is worse than most people

2. I have always had a bad memory for faces

3. I find it notably easier to recognize people who have distinctive facial features

4. I often mistake people I have met before for strangers

5. When I was at school, I struggled to recognize my classmates

6. When people change their hairstyle or wear hats, I have problems recognizing them

7. I sometimes have to warn new people I meet that I am ‘bad with faces’

8. I find it easy to picture individual faces in my mind*

9. I am better than most people at putting a ‘name to a face’*

10. Without hearing people's voices, I struggle to recognize them

11. Anxiety about face recognition has led me to avoid certain social or professional situations

12. I have to try harder than other people to memorize faces

13. I am very confident in my ability to recognize myself in photographs*

14. I sometimes find movies hard to follow because of difficulties recognizing characters

15. My friends and family think I have bad face recognition or bad face memory

16. I feel like I frequently offend people by not recognizing who they are

17. It is easy for me to recognize individuals in situations that require people to wear similar clothes (e.g. suits, uniforms and swimwear)*

18. At family gatherings, I sometimes confuse individual family members

19. I find it easy to recognize celebrities in ‘before-they-were-famous’ photos, even if they have changed considerably*

20. It is hard to recognize familiar people when I meet them out of context (e.g. meeting a work colleague unexpectedly while shopping)

N.B. Asterisks indicate items that are reverse scored.