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Ever wonder how the citizens of Metropolis somehow could not recognize Clark Kent once he ditched the glasses and

became Superman? Well, now there's an actual scientific explanation.

When a person alters their appearance, even in small ways like adding a pair of glasses, it can indeed lessen the ability of others who do not know that person to recognize his or her face.

The study is in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.

Psychologist Robin Kramer and K. Ritchie from the University of York in the UK

showed volunteers pictures of unknown people, not celebrities. The photos came from

Google Images and featured people in various poses with different facial The participants saw two photos of the same person or a different person in each picture.

Three possible pairs of pictures were presented.

Both people wore glasses, neither person wore glasses,

or only one of the pair of people had glasses on.

Then the researchers asked the volunteers whether the pictures were of the same person or of two different people.

When the folks in both pictures were in the same condition, either both with glasses or both without, the

participants were about 80% accurate in telling whether it was the same person or a

different person in the two picks. But accuracy felt to 74% when glasses were worn in only one of the pictures.

The researchers noted that the appearance of the eyes may be the most important aspect of

facial recognition, so a change to the eyes could be expected to reduce

cognition. But trained examiners such as TSA agents may be less fooled by such

simple modifications. The researchers concluded their paper by writing,

while we may still find it hard to believe that the inhabitants of

Metropolis are unable to match Clark Kent with the numerous

appearances of Superman in the newspapers and on television, we can at least understand why

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