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Wagner-Altendorf TA, van der Lugt AH, Kroeber A, Cirkel A, Heldmann M, Münte TF. Differences in Implicit Attitudes in West and East Germans as Measured by the Go/NoGo Association Task and Event-related EEG Potentials. Cogn Behav Neurol 2023; 36:145-158. [PMID: 36961321 DOI: 10.1097/wnn.0000000000000338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Implicit social cognition refers to attitudes and stereotypes that may reside outside conscious awareness and control but that still affect human behavior. In particular, the implicit favoritism of an ingroup, to which an individual belongs, as opposed to an outgroup, to which the individual does not belong, characterized as ingroup bias, is of interest and is investigated here. METHOD We used a Go/NoGo association task (GNAT) and behavioral and electroencephalographic (event-related EEG potential [ERP] analysis) measures to investigate the implicit bias toward cities in East Germany, West Germany, and Europe, in 16 individuals each from West and East Germany (mixed gender, M age = 24). The GNAT assesses an individual's Go and NoGo responses for a given association between a target category and either pole (positive or negative) of an evaluative dimension. RESULTS Behavioral measures revealed slightly faster reaction times to the combination of European city names and negative, as compared with positive, evaluative words in both groups. ERP analysis showed an increased negativity at 400-800 ms poststimulus in the incongruent conditions of East German city/positive word pairings (in West Germans) and West German city/positive word pairings (in East Germans). CONCLUSION An implicitly moderately negative evaluation of Europe by both groups was exhibited based on the behavioral data, and an increased level of conflict arising from the "incongruent" pairings (ie, as manifestation of an implicitly negative attitude toward East Germany in West Germans, and toward West Germany in East Germans) was exhibited based on the electrophysiological data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias A Wagner-Altendorf
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Arie H van der Lugt
- Section Teaching & Innovation of Learning, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Anna Kroeber
- Department of Neuropsychology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Anna Cirkel
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Marcus Heldmann
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Thomas F Münte
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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Persson LM, Falbén JK, Tsamadi D, Macrae CN. People perception and stereotype-based responding: task context matters. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2022; 87:1219-1231. [PMID: 35994097 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01724-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Whether group impact social perception is a topic of renewed theoretical and empirical interest. In particular, it remains unclear when and how the composition of a group influences a core component of social cognition-stereotype-based responding. Accordingly, exploring this issue, here we investigated the extent to which different task requirements moderate the stereotype-related products of people perception. Following the presentation of same-sex groups that varied in facial typicality (i.e., high or low femininity/masculinity), participants had to report either the gender-related status of target words (i.e., a group-irrelevant gender-classification task) or whether the items were stereotypic or counter-stereotypic with respect to the preceding groups (i.e., a group-relevant stereotype-status task). Critically, facial typicality only impacted performance in the stereotype-status task. A further computational analysis (i.e., Diffusion Model) traced this effect to the combined operation of stimulus processing and response biases during decision-making. Specifically, evidence accumulation was faster when targets followed groups that were high (vs. low) in typicality and these arrays also triggered a stronger bias toward stereotypic (vs. counter-stereotypic) responses. Collectively, these findings elucidate when and how group variability influences people perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linn M Persson
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK.
| | - Johanna K Falbén
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, England, UK
| | - Dimitra Tsamadi
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK
| | - C Neil Macrae
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK
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3
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Tripp A, Munson B. Perceiving gender while perceiving language: Integrating psycholinguistics and gender theory. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2021; 13:e1583. [PMID: 34716654 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
There is a substantial body of literature showing that men and women speak differently and that these differences are endemic to the speech signal. However, the psycholinguistic mechanisms underlying the integration of social category perception and language are still poorly understood. Speaker attributes such as emotional state, age, sex, and race have often been treated in the literature as dissociable, but perceptual systems for social categories demonstrably rely on interdependent cognitive processes. We introduce a diversity science framework for evaluating the existing literature on gender and speech perception, arguing that differences in beliefs about gender may be defined as differences in beliefs about differences. Treating individual, group, and societal level contrasts in ideological patterns as phenomenologically distinctive, we enumerate six ideological arenas which define claims about gender and examine the literature for treatment of these issues. We argue that both participants and investigators predictably show evidence of differences in ideological attitudes toward the normative definition of persons. The influence of social knowledge on linguistic perception therefore occurs in the context of predictable variation in both attention and inattention to people and the distinguishing features which mark them salient as kinds. We link experiences of visibility, invisibility, and hypervisibility with ideological variation regarding the significance of physiological, linguistic, and social features, concluding that gender ideologies are implicated both in linguistic processing and in social judgments of value between groups. We conclude with a summary of the key gaps in the current literature and recommendations for best practices studies that may use in future investigations of socially meaningful variation in speech perception. This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain Psychology > Language Linguistics > Language Acquisition Psychology > Perception and Psychophysics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alayo Tripp
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Benjamin Munson
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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4
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Persson LM, Golubickis M, Dublas D, Mastnak N, Falbén JK, Tsamadi D, Caughey S, Svensson S, Macrae CN. Comparing person and people perception: Multiple group members do not increase stereotype priming. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 74:1418-1431. [PMID: 33845706 PMCID: PMC8261783 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211012852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
A characteristic feature of daily life is encountering people in groups. Surprisingly, however, at least during the initial stages of processing, research has focused almost exclusively on the construal of single individuals. As such, it remains unclear whether person and people (i.e., group) perception yield comparable or divergent outcomes. Addressing this issue, here we explored a core social-cognitive topic-stereotype activation-by presenting both single and multiple facial primes in a sequential-priming task. In addition, the processes underlying task performance were probed using a drift diffusion model analysis. Based on prior work, it was hypothesised that multiple (vs. single) primes would increase stereotype-based responding. Across two experiments, a consistent pattern of results emerged. First, stereotype priming was insensitive to the number of primes that were presented and occurred only at a short prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony (i.e., 250 ms). Second, priming was underpinned by a bias towards congruent (vs. incongruent) prime-target responses. Collectively these findings advance understanding of the emergence and origin of stereotype priming during person and people perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linn M Persson
- School of Psychology, University
of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | | | - Dagmara Dublas
- School of Psychology, University
of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Neža Mastnak
- School of Psychology, University
of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | | | | | | | - Saga Svensson
- School of Psychology, University
of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - C Neil Macrae
- School of Psychology, University
of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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5
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Hepp J, Kieslich PJ, Wycoff AM, Bertsch K, Schmahl C, Niedtfeld I. Mouse-tracking reveals cognitive conflict during negative impression formation in women with Borderline Personality Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247955. [PMID: 33662030 PMCID: PMC7932102 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) suffer from substantial interpersonal dysfunction and have difficulties establishing social bonds. A tendency to form negative first impressions of others could contribute to this by way of reducing approach behavior. We tested whether women with BPD or SAD would show negative impression formation compared to healthy women (HCs). We employed the Thin Slices paradigm and showed videos of 52 authentic target participants to 32 women with BPD, 29 women with SAD, and 37 HCs. We asked participants to evaluate whether different positive or negative adjectives described targets and expected BPD raters to provide the most negative ratings, followed by SAD and HC. BPD and SAD raters both agreed with negative adjectives more often than HCs (e.g., ‘Yes, the person is greedy’), and BPD raters rejected positive adjectives more often (e.g., ‘No, the person is not humble.’). However, BPD and SAD raters did not differ significantly from each other. Additionally, we used the novel process tracing method mouse-tracking to assess the cognitive conflict (via trajectory deviations) raters experienced during decision-making. We hypothesized that HCs would experience more conflict when making unfavorable (versus favorable) evaluations and that this pattern would flip in BPD and SAD. We quantified cognitive conflict via maximum absolute deviations (MADs) of the mouse-trajectories. As hypothesized, HCs showed more conflict when rejecting versus agreeing with positive adjectives. The pattern did not flip in BPD and SAD but was substantially reduced, such that BPD and SAD showed similar levels of conflict when rejecting and agreeing with positive adjectives. Contrary to the hypothesis for BPD and SAD, all three groups experienced substantial conflict when agreeing with negative adjectives. We discuss therapeutic implications of the combined choice and mouse-tracking results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Hepp
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Pascal J Kieslich
- Department of Psychology & Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Andrea M Wycoff
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States of America
| | - Katja Bertsch
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Schmahl
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Inga Niedtfeld
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Krosch AR, Jost JT, Van Bavel JJ. The neural basis of ideological differences in race categorization. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200139. [PMID: 33611997 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiracial individuals are often categorized as members of their 'socially subordinate' racial group-a form of social discrimination termed hypodescent-with political conservatives more likely than liberals to show this bias. Although hypodescent has been linked to racial hierarchy preservation motives, it remains unclear how political ideology influences categorization: Do conservatives and liberals see, feel or think about mixed-race faces differently? Do they differ in sensitivity to Black prototypicality (i.e. skin tone darkness and Afrocentric features) or racial ambiguity (i.e. categorization difficulty) of Black/White mixed-race faces? To help answer these questions, we collected a politically diverse sample of White participants and had them categorize mixed-race faces as Black or White during functional neuroimaging. We found that conservatism was related to greater anterior insula activity to racially ambiguous faces, and this pattern of brain activation mediated conservatives' use of hypodescent. This demonstrates that conservatives' greater sensitivity to racial ambiguity (rather than Black prototypicality) gives rise to greater categorization of mixed-race individuals into the socially subordinate group and tentatively suggests that conservatives may differ from liberals in their affective reactions to mixed-race faces. Implications for the study of race categorization and political psychology are discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy R Krosch
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, 211 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - John T Jost
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Jay J Van Bavel
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Wulff L, Scharf SE. Unpacking stereotype influences on source-monitoring processes: What mouse tracking can tell us. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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8
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Falbén JK, Tsamadi D, Golubickis M, Olivier JL, Persson LM, Cunningham WA, Macrae CN. Predictably confirmatory: The influence of stereotypes during decisional processing. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:2437-2451. [PMID: 30931799 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819844219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Stereotypes facilitate the processing of expectancy-consistent (vs expectancy-inconsistent) information, yet the underlying origin of this congruency effect remains unknown. As such, here we sought to identify the cognitive operations through which stereotypes influence decisional processing. In six experiments, participants responded to stimuli that were consistent or inconsistent with respect to prevailing gender stereotypes. To identify the processes underpinning task performance, responses were submitted to a hierarchical drift diffusion model (HDDM) analysis. A consistent pattern of results emerged. Whether manipulated at the level of occupational (Expts. 1, 3, and 5) or trait-based (Expts. 2, 4, and 6) expectancies, stereotypes facilitated task performance and influenced decisional processing via a combination of response and stimulus biases. Specifically, (1) stereotype-consistent stimuli were classified more rapidly than stereotype-inconsistent stimuli; (2) stereotypic responses were favoured over counter-stereotypic responses (i.e., starting-point shift towards stereotypic responses); (3) less evidence was required when responding to stereotypic than counter-stereotypic stimuli (i.e., narrower threshold separation for stereotypic stimuli); and (4) decisional evidence was accumulated more efficiently for stereotype-inconsistent than stereotype-consistent stimuli and when targets had a typical than atypical facial appearance. Collectively, these findings elucidate how stereotypes influence person construal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna K Falbén
- 1 The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Dimitra Tsamadi
- 1 The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Marius Golubickis
- 1 The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.,2 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Linn M Persson
- 1 The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | | | - C Neil Macrae
- 1 The School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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The social neuroscience of race-based and status-based prejudice. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 24:27-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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10
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Stillman PE, Shen X, Ferguson MJ. How Mouse-tracking Can Advance Social Cognitive Theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:531-543. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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11
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A Neural Mechanism of Social Categorization. J Neurosci 2017; 37:5711-5721. [PMID: 28483974 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3334-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans readily sort one another into multiple social categories from mere facial features. However, the facial features used to do so are not always clear-cut because they can be associated with opponent categories (e.g., feminine male face). Recently, computational models and behavioral studies have provided indirect evidence that categorizing such faces is accomplished through dynamic competition between parallel, coactivated social categories that resolve into a stable categorical percept. Using a novel paradigm combining fMRI with real-time hand tracking, the present study examined how the brain translates diverse social cues into categorical percepts. Participants (male and female) categorized faces varying in gender and racial typicality. When categorizing atypical faces, participants' hand movements were simultaneously attracted toward the unselected category response, indexing the degree to which such faces activated the opposite category in parallel. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPAs) provided evidence that such social category coactivation manifested in neural patterns of the right fusiform cortex. The extent to which the hand was simultaneously attracted to the opposite gender or race category response option corresponded to increased neural pattern similarity with the average pattern associated with that category, which in turn associated with stronger engagement of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. The findings point to a model of social categorization in which occasionally conflicting facial features are resolved through competition between coactivated ventral-temporal cortical representations with the assistance of conflict-monitoring regions. More broadly, the results offer a promising multimodal paradigm to investigate the neural basis of "hidden", temporarily active representations in the service of a broad range of cognitive processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Individuals readily sort one another into social categories (e.g., sex, race), which have important consequences for a variety of interpersonal behaviors. However, individuals routinely encounter faces that contain diverse features associated with multiple categories (e.g., feminine male face). Using a novel paradigm combining neuroimaging with hand tracking, the present research sought to address how the brain comes to arrive at stable social categorizations from multiple social cues. The results provide evidence that opponent social categories coactivate in face-processing regions, which compete and may resolve into an eventual stable categorization with the assistance of conflict-monitoring regions. Therefore, the findings provide a neural mechanism through which the brain may translate inherently diverse social cues into coherent categorizations of other people.
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