The iterative nature of person construal: Evidence from event-related potentials

Default categorization of outgroup faces and the other race effect: Commentary on the special issue

This commentary addresses how studies examining the neurophysiological correlates of racial categorization can provide insight into the neurocognitive mechanisms of the other-race effect in recognition memory. Several articles in the special issue describe how event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to examine processing of faces that vary according to race, some of which have concluded that larger ERP amplitudes elicited by other-race (relative to own-race) faces indicates less efficient visual processing of other-race faces. I describe findings from ERP studies of race categorization that suggest an alternative interpretation-that other-race faces elicit stronger categorization, which impedes individuation of other-race faces. Suggestions for future research are offered.

Neural timing of the other-race effect across the lifespan: A review

Face race influences the way we process faces, so that faces of a different ethnic group are processed for identity less efficiently than faces of one's ethnic group - a phenomenon known as the Other-Race Effect (ORE). Although widely replicated, the ORE is still poorly characterized in terms of its development and the underlying mechanisms. In the last two decades, the Event-Related Potential (ERP) technique has brought insight into the mechanisms underlying the ORE and has demonstrated potential to clarify its development. Here, we review the ERP evidence for a differential neural processing of own-race and other-race faces throughout the lifespan. In infants, race-related processing differences emerged at the N290 and P400 (structural encoding) stages. In children, race affected the P100 (early processing, attention) perceptual stage and was implicitly encoded at the N400 (semantic processing) stage. In adults, processing difficulties for other-race faces emerged at the N170 (structural encoding), P200 (configuration processing) and N250 (accessing individual representations) perceptual stages. Early in processing, race was implicitly encoded from other-race faces (N100, P200 attentional biases) and in-depth processing preferentially applied to own-race faces (N200 attentional bias). Encoding appeared less efficient (Dm effects) and retrieval less recollection-based (old/new effects) for other-race faces. Evidence admits the contribution of perceptual, attentional, and motivational processes to the development and functioning of the ORE, offering no conclusive support for perceptual or socio-cognitive accounts. Cross-racial and non-cross-racial studies provided convergent evidence. Future research would need to include less represented ethnic populations and the developmental population.

Acute sensitization of the P3 event-related potential response to beverage images and the risk for alcohol use disorder

Previous research suggests the amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) response reflects the incentive value of the eliciting stimulus, and that individuals with trait-like lower sensitivity (LS) to the acute effects of alcohol, a potent risk factor for alcohol use disorder (AUD), tend to show exaggerated P3 ERP responses to alcohol beverage cues (compared to their peers with higher sensitivity; HS). No prior research has examined trajectories of the cue-elicited P3 response across repeated trials of nonreinforced cue presentations. Characterizing these trajectories can be informative as to potential mechanisms linking LS with increased AUD risk. Here, we tested whether individual differences in alcohol sensitivity are associated with different trial-by-trial trajectories of the P3 elicited by alcohol and nonalcohol reward cues (infrequent oddball/target stimuli) using a large sample of emerging adults (M _age = 19.53; N = 287; 55% female; 86% White; 90% right-handed) stratified for alcohol sensitivity. Multilevel models adjusted for age, sex, handedness, and alcohol use indicated that: (i) the P3 response to alcohol and nonalcohol reward cues alike sensitized (i.e., increased) across trials; (ii) across the task, the P3 response to alcohol cues was larger for the LS than the HS phenotype; and (iii) the P3 difference score (alcohol - nonalcohol) was larger for the LS than HS phenotype only across the first half of task. Findings suggest that whereas incentive value attribution may be a mechanism for alcohol cue-triggered attentional biases for both LS and HS individuals, LS individuals more consistently over-attribute incentive value to alcohol cues.

The role of task demands in racial face encoding

People more accurately remember faces of their own racial group compared to faces of other racial groups; this phenomenon is called the other-race effect. To date, numerous researchers have devoted themselves to exploring the reasons for this other-race effect, and they have posited several theoretical explanations. One integrated explanation is the categorization-individuation model, which addresses two primary ways (categorization and individuation) of racial face processing and emphasizes the emergence of these two ways during the encoding stage. Learning-recognition and racial categorization tasks are two classical tasks used to explore racial face processing. Event-related potentials can facilitate investigation of the encoding differences of own- and other-race faces under these two typical task demands. Unfortunately, to date, results have been mixed. In the current study, we investigated whether categorization and individuation differ for own- and other-race faces during the encoding stage by using racial categorization and learning-recognition tasks. We found that task demands not only influence the encoding of racial faces, but also have a more profound effect in the encoding stage of recognition tasks for other-race faces. More specifically, own-race faces demonstrate deeper structural encoding than other-race faces, with less attentional involvement. Moreover, recognitions tasks might ask for more individual-level encoding, requiring more attentional resources in the early stage that may be maintained until relatively late stages. Our results provide some evidence concerning task selection for future racial face studies and establish a groundwork for a unified interpretation of racial face encoding.

A Functional Coupling of Brain and Behavior During Social Categorization of Faces

Considerable research has focused on how people derive information about others' social category memberships from their faces. Theoretical models posit that early extraction of task-relevant information from a face should determine the efficiency with which that face is categorized, but evidence supporting this idea has been elusive. Here, we used a novel trial-level data analytic approach to examine the relationship between two event-related potential components-the P2, indexing early attention to category-relevant information, and the P3, indexing stimulus evaluation-and the speed of overt categorization judgments. As predicted, a larger face-elicited P2 on a particular trial was associated with faster overt race or gender categorization of that face. Moreover, this association was mediated by P3 latency, indicating that extraction of more category-relevant information early in processing facilitated stimulus evaluation. These findings support continuous flow models of information processing and the long-theorized functional significance of face-elicited neurophysiological responses for social categorization.

Modeling temporal dynamics of face processing in youth and adults

A hierarchical model of temporal dynamics was examined in adults (n = 34) and youth (n = 46) across the stages of face processing during the perception of static and dynamic faces. Three ERP components (P100, N170, N250) and spectral power in the mu range were extracted, corresponding to cognitive stages of face processing: low-level vision processing, structural encoding, higher-order processing, and action understanding. Youth and adults exhibited similar yet distinct patterns of hierarchical temporal dynamics such that earlier cognitive stages predicted later stages, directly and indirectly. However, latent factors indicated unique profiles related to behavioral performance for adults and youth and age as a continuous factor. The application of path analysis to electrophysiological data can yield novel insights into the cortical dynamics of social information processing.

Using multilevel models for the analysis of event-related potentials

Multilevel modeling (MLM) is becoming increasingly accessible and popular in the analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs). In this article, we review the benefits of MLM for analyzing psychophysiological data, which often contains repeated observations within participants, and introduce some of the decision-making points in the analytic process, including how to set up the data set, specify the model, conduct hypothesis tests, and visualize the model estimates. We highlight how the use of MLM can extend the types of theoretical questions that can be answered using ERPs, including investigations of how ERPs vary meaningfully across trials within a testing session. We also address reporting practices and provide tools to calculate effect sizes and simulate power curves. Ultimately, we hope this review contributes to emerging best practices for the use of MLM with psychophysiological data.

Explicit Categorization Goals Affect Attention-Related Processing of Race and Gender During Person Construal

Faces are categorized by gender and race very quickly, seemingly without regard to perceivers' goals or motivations, suggesting an automaticity to these judgments that has downstream consequences for evaluations, stereotypes, and social interactions. The current study investigated the extent to which early neurocognitive processes involved in the categorization of faces vary when participants' tasks goals were to categorize faces by race or by gender. In contrast to previous findings, task-related differences were found, such that differentiation in the P2 event-related potential (ERP) according to perceived gender was facilitated by having an explicit task goal of categorizing faces by gender; however, the P2 was sensitive to race regardless of task goals. Use of principal components analysis (PCA) revealed two underlying components that comprised the P2 and that were differentially sensitive to the gender and race of the faces, depending on participants' top-down task goals. Results suggest that top-down task demands facilitate discrimination of faces along the attended dimension within less than 200 ms, but that the effect of top-down task demands may not be evident when examining early ERP components that reflect more than one distinct underlying process.

How do Asians perceive Caucasian eyes? Electrophysiological correlates of perceiving racial differences from the eyes region of the face

Past research has found that several brain event-related potentials (ERPs) were sensitive to the perception of ethnic differences displayed on human faces. This body of research suggests that the phenomenon of "race perception" involves a cascade of cognitive processes that includes both automatic and overt attentional mechanisms. However, most of these studies used stimuli depicting whole faces rather than stimuli depicting separate facial features. Therefore, it is still largely unknown if ERP responses to racial differences are the result of a holistic processing of the whole face, or whether they can be accounted for by the perception of single facial features. To address this issue, we examined whether a single facial feature, the eyes region, can provide sufficient information to trigger known ERP correlates of race perception such as the P2, the N400 and the Late Positive Complex (LPC). Specifically, we showed pictures depicting only the eyes region of Caucasian and Asian faces to a sample of Asian participants. We found that the P2 was larger for other-race (OR) compared to same-race (SR) eyes, and that the N400 was larger for SR compared to OR eyes. The effects on the P2 may suggest an enhanced vigilance response to OR eyes whereas the N400 effect could reflect a signal of familiarity triggered by SR eyes. These results indicate that a specific facial feature, the eyes region, can account for known effects of race perception on early brain potentials. Our findings also indicate that well-known early neural correlates of race perception can be triggered in the absence of a holistic processing of the whole face.

Gender identity relevance predicts preferential neural processing of same-gendered faces

The very early perceptional processes that underlie social categorization can be detected with event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Using this methodology, the present work aims to detect differential attentional processing of ingroup and outgroup members based on gender categories. Specifically, three EEG studies tested how factors that enhance social identity relevance, namely gender identification and contextual salience of gender representation, moderate neural gender categorization effects. Study 1 showed that both women (Study 1a) and men (Study 1b) were more likely to show preferential attention to ingroup over outgroup members, but only when they identified strongly with their gender group. Study 2 showed that when gender categories in an intergroup leadership context were made salient (i.e., when women were numerically underrepresented versus equally represented compared to men), women, irrespective of their level of gender identification, showed preferential attention to ingroup over outgroup members. Together, this work provides empirical evidence for (1) the neural gender categorization effect among both men and women as soon as 100 ms after face perception and (2) the moderating role of factors that enhance social identity relevance in early gender categorization.

Interactive Effects of Naturalistic Drinking Context and Alcohol Sensitivity on Neural Alcohol Cue-Reactivity Responses

BACKGROUND

Considerable evidence indicates that a low level of subjective response to alcohol's acute effects (i.e., low sensitivity) is associated with enhanced risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Recent work suggests that the highest risk response profile consists of blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedation-like effects, coupled with enhanced sensitivity to alcohol's stimulation-like effects (i.e., differential sensitivity). A largely separate body of work indicates that enhanced reactivity to alcohol-related cues is associated with increased AUD risk.

AIMS

The current research examined the extent to which variability in alcohol response phenotypes is associated with enhanced P3 event-related potential (ERP) responses to alcohol-related pictures (ACR-P3), and whether this reactivity varies according to depicted drinking contexts.

METHODS

Eighty young adults (aged 18 to 33 years) completed a self-report measure of alcohol sensitivity (the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire) and viewed images depicting drinking in naturalistic contexts, alcohol and nonalcohol beverages in isolation (devoid of naturalistic drinking context), and neutral nonbeverage control images while ERPs were recorded.

RESULTS

Results indicated that blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedative-like effects was differentially associated with enhanced ACR-P3 but reduced P3 reactivity to nonalcohol cues. Variation in sensitivity to alcohol's stimulant-like effects was not associated with differential ACR-P3. Contrary to predictions, these effects were not potentiated by drinking contexts.

CONCLUSIONS

The current results replicate and extend previous work linking low alcohol sensitivity with enhanced incentive salience for alcohol-related cues and suggest that cues depicting drinking contexts are less likely to differentiate high-risk from low-risk drinkers.

Using trial-level data and multilevel modeling to investigate within-task change in event-related potentials

EEG data, and specifically the ERP, provide psychologists with the power to examine quickly occurring cognitive processes at the native temporal resolution at which they occur. Despite the advantages conferred by ERPs to examine processes at different points in time, ERP researchers commonly ignore the trial-to-trial temporal dimension by collapsing across trials of similar types (i.e., the signal averaging approach) because of constraints imposed by repeated measures ANOVA. Here, we present the advantages of using multilevel modeling (MLM) to examine trial-level data to investigate change in neurocognitive processes across the course of an experiment. Two examples are presented to illustrate the usefulness of this technique. The first demonstrates decreasing differentiation in N170 amplitude to faces of different races across the course of a race categorization task. The second demonstrates attenuation of the ERN as participants commit more errors within a task designed to measure implicit racial bias. Although the examples presented here are within the realm of social psychology, the use of MLM to analyze trial-level EEG data has the potential to contribute to a number of different theoretical domains within psychology.