One Sunshine Coast student has made a name for themself in the world of academia with their research paper studying the face-naming effect.
In early February, Neuro Notebook, an online scientific journal that focuses on supporting students in their scientific inquiries while promoting intellectual curiosity, featured a paper by Levi Cottrell, a Grade 11 student from Elphinstone Secondary School. Cottrell said after he wrote his psychological study, The Impact of Facial Characteristics on the Face-Naming Effect Through Human and AI-Generated Faces, his teacher recommended he reach out to various publishing options through social media about potentially sharing his paper.
Cottrell explained Neuro Notebook is a scientific journal specifically made for youth, which was originally run entirely by youth until they gained a sponsor.
The paper looks at the face-naming effect –– humans' ability to name another human just based on seeing their face if they are given options with “similar popularity.”
“I used artificial intelligence. AI-generated faces with similar characteristics to the human faces I used, and I put together an experiment with students at the school where they would have to go through a booklet and select which name of four different similar names or similar popularity goes with that face.”
Among the data collected, Cottrell said one interesting realization was women generally have higher accuracy at guessing names based on faces than men.
He explained his experiment used a reference paper from a past study and that he got in touch with the original authors in France about his study.
“A few of them responded and gave me feedback it was actually a really, amazing thing that happened,” Cottrell said. “I'm very surprised that they actually responded.”
The superintendent report from the school district’s Feb. 12 regular meeting said Cotrel, “exemplifies the spirit of curiosity and dedication we celebrate in SD46.”
The full paper can be read online.
Cottrell reiterated that his teacher's encouragement was a big motivation for him.
Looking to the future, Cottrell said he plans to take Psychology 12 next year, which has a similar research paper assignment, which he hopes to submit again for publication, and said he may try submitting it to other journals such as the National Institute of Health as he looks to expand his horizons.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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