Focus is on the region where the high scores of the not-mating fingerprints overlays the low scores of mating fingerprints. The region where the lowest mating score occurs is labeled A; the point where the highest non-mating score occurs is labeled B. Points A and B and values in between may be system dependent on any given AFIS and can be determined only by the analysis of large amounts of matcher score data. Appropriate definitions of large files and small files might be established if reasonable estimates of system scoring characteristics can be developed. This might make it possible to adaptively adjust the thresholds of the numbers of candidates that should be examined as a function of the file size involved in a given latent search and consequently maximize examiner productivity without lessening reliability. 3 figures