All you ? look the same

When you have a harder time recognizing or distinguishing between members of racial ethnic groups other than your own, what's at work is known as the "cross-race effect."

One cross-race effect theory on racial mix-ups is what's called the "experience-based" hypothesis: We find it easier to recognize and distinguish and remember faces of our "racial in-group" than we do "racial out-groups" simply because we see the in-group features more.

Then there's the related "coding" or "categorization" hypothesis: When we see a member of another race, our minds pay more attention to what makes the person an out-group member than to his or her individual features. We lose some of the distinguishing details in the process.

http://www.theroot.com/views/no-neither-asians-nor-blacks-all-look-alike?page=0,1&wpisrc=root_more_news