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Giménez-Fernández T, Fernández-Folgueiras U, Fondevila S, Méndez-Bértolo C, García-Rubio MJ, Hernández-Lorca M, Kessel D, Carretié L. Enhanced N170 to outgroup faces: Perceptual novelty or prejudice? Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:252-264. [PMID: 33567227 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1889658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Habituation to ethnic ingroup members has been reported to be greater than to ethnic outgroup members. This pattern could be due to the lack of perceptive experience (familiarity) with outgroup facial morphs or, alternatively, to the prejudice held toward that outgroup. We explored this disjunctive in 71 participants, all Spanish, who were experimentally habituated to faces from their Ingroup and to faces from two unfamiliar outgroups, one for which there is low probability of prejudice in this population (Non-prejudiced Outgroup), and one for which the probability of prejudice is higher (Prejudiced Outgroup). We indexed habituation through event-related potentials, concretely as the differential amplitude of the face-sensitive N170 component from Initial to Final trials of each group. Afterward, participants completed several prejudice measures. N170 showed significant habituation to all faces, though it did not differ among groups. However, a regression analysis revealed that individual habituation to the Outgroup faces was inversely related to implicit prejudice scores. Importantly, N170 amplitudes were maximal for the Prejudiced Outgroup in both Initial and Final trials. We conclude that these effects are explained by the prejudice held toward a specific outgroup rather than perceptive experience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sabela Fondevila
- Departamento De Psicobiología Y Metodología En Ciencias Del Comportamiento, Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Spain.,Center UCM-ISCIII for Human Evolution and Behavior, Madrid, Spain
| | - Constantino Méndez-Bértolo
- Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Cádiz, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Cádiz (INIBICA), Spain
| | - María José García-Rubio
- Grupo de investigación Psicología y Calidad de Vida (PsiCal), Universidad Internacional de Valencia, Spain
| | | | | | - Luis Carretié
- Facultad De Psicología, Universidad Autónoma De Madrid, Spain
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O'Donnell AW, Neumann DL, Duffy AL. Associative Learning Processes in the Formation of Intergroup Anxiety and Avoidance in Society. Psychol Rep 2020; 124:2587-2612. [PMID: 33081583 DOI: 10.1177/0033294120965472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Laboratory-based aversive conditioning studies have reliably induced fear toward an image of an outgroup member by pairing the image with a fear-inducing, aversive stimulus. However, laboratory-based studies have been criticized for being simplistic in comparison to the complexities of the real world. The current study is the first to apply an aversive conditioning framework to explain the formation of intergroup fear and subsequent anxiety toward, and avoidance of, the outgroup outside the laboratory. Two samples recalled details of their first negative encounter with an African American (N = 554) or Muslim (N = 613) individual, respectively. Congruent with learning theory, participants who reported an unpleasant event with an outgroup member reported more fear during the encounter than did those who did not report experiencing an unpleasant event. Additionally, the intensity of unpleasantness during the first encounter indirectly predicted outgroup avoidance, via retrospectively recalled fear and current levels of intergroup anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David L Neumann
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
| | - Amanda L Duffy
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
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3
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O'Donnell AW, Neumann DL, Duffy AL, Paolini S. Learning to fear outgroups: An associative learning explanation for the development and reduction of intergroup anxiety. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - David L. Neumann
- School of Applied Psychology Griffith University, Gold Coast Queensland Australia
| | - Amanda L. Duffy
- School of Applied Psychology Griffith University, Gold Coast Queensland Australia
| | - Stefania Paolini
- School of Psychology The University of Newcastle Callaghan, New South Wales Australia
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4
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Li Y, Tse CS. Interference among the Processing of Facial Emotion, Face Race, and Face Gender. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1700. [PMID: 27840621 PMCID: PMC5084477 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
People can process multiple dimensions of facial properties simultaneously. Facial processing models are based on the processing of facial properties. The current study examined the processing of facial emotion, face race, and face gender using categorization tasks. The same set of Chinese, White and Black faces, each posing a neutral, happy or angry expression, was used in three experiments. Facial emotion interacted with face race in all the tasks. The interaction of face race and face gender was found in the race and gender categorization tasks, whereas the interaction of facial emotion and face gender was significant in the emotion and gender categorization tasks. These results provided evidence for a symmetric interaction between variant facial properties (emotion) and invariant facial properties (race and gender).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongna Li
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China Beijing, China
| | - Chi-Shing Tse
- Department of Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, Hong Kong; Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, Hong Kong
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5
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Gaetano J, van der Zwan R, Oxner M, Hayward WG, Doring N, Blair D, Brooks A. Converging Evidence of Ubiquitous Male Bias in Human Sex Perception. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0148623. [PMID: 26859570 PMCID: PMC4747496 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2015] [Accepted: 12/15/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Visually judging the sex of another can be achieved easily in most social encounters. When the signals that inform such judgements are weak (e.g. outdoors at night), observers tend to expect the presence of males-an expectation that may facilitate survival-critical decisions under uncertainty. The present aim was to examine whether this male bias depends on expertise. To that end, Caucasian and Asian observers targeted female and male hand images that were either the same or different to the observers' race (i.e. long term experience was varied) while concurrently, the proportion of targets changed across presentation blocks (i.e. short term experience change). It was thus found that: (i) observers of own-race stimuli were more likely to report the presence of males and absence of females, however (ii) observers of other-race stimuli--while still tending to accept stimuli as male--were not prone to rejecting female cues. Finally, (iii) male-biased measures did not track the relative frequency of targets or lures, disputing the notion that male bias derives from prior expectation about the number of male exemplars in a set. Findings are discussed in concert with the pan-stimulus model of human sex perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Gaetano
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Cluster, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
| | - Rick van der Zwan
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Cluster, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
| | - Matthew Oxner
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
| | - William G. Hayward
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Natalie Doring
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Cluster, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
| | - Duncan Blair
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Cluster, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
| | - Anna Brooks
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Cluster, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia
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6
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Lipp OV, Cronin SL, Alhadad SSJ, Luck CC. Enhanced sensitization to animal, interpersonal, and intergroup fear-relevant stimuli (but no evidence for selective one-trial fear learning). Psychophysiology 2015; 52:1520-8. [PMID: 26283264 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2014] [Accepted: 07/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Selective sensitization has been proposed as an alternative explanation for enhanced responding to animal fear-relevant stimuli--snakes and spiders--during extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. The current study sought to replicate the phenomenon using a shock workup procedure as the sensitizing manipulation and to extend it to interpersonal and intergroup fear-relevant stimuli--angry faces and other-race faces. Assessment of selective sensitization was followed by a one-trial fear learning procedure. Selective sensitization, larger electrodermal responses to fear-relevant than to control stimuli after sensitization, or a larger increase in electrodermal responding to fear-relevant than to control stimuli after sensitization was observed across stimulus domains. However, the one-trial fear learning procedure failed to provide evidence for enhanced fear conditioning to fear-relevant stimuli. One-trial fear learning was either absent or present for fear-relevant and nonfear-relevant stimuli. The current study confirms that electrodermal responses to fear-relevant stimuli across stimulus domains are subject to selective sensitization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,ARC-SRI: Science of Learning Research Centre, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Sophie L Cronin
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia
| | | | - Camilla C Luck
- School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,ARC-SRI: Science of Learning Research Centre, Brisbane, Australia
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Stussi Y, Brosch T, Sander D. Learning to fear depends on emotion and gaze interaction: The role of self-relevance in fear learning. Biol Psychol 2015; 109:232-8. [PMID: 26115928 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2014] [Revised: 06/17/2015] [Accepted: 06/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Emotional learning is an adaptive function, however its psychological determinants are unclear. Here, we propose a new theoretical framework based on appraisal theories of emotion, which holds that emotional learning is modulated by a process of relevance detection. Testing the model, we predicted faster, larger acquisition and greater resistance to extinction of the conditioned response (CR) to self-relevant stimuli relative to stimuli with less relevance. We manipulated self-relevance through emotion and gaze direction of synthetic dynamic facial expressions during differential aversive conditioning. Results provided mixed evidence for our hypotheses. Critically, we revealed faster acquisition of the CR to angry faces with direct compared with averted gaze and greater resistance to extinction to fearful faces with averted relative to direct gaze. We conclude that the relevance detection hypothesis offers an appropriate theoretical framework allowing to (re)interpret existing evidence, incorporate our results, and propose a new research perspective in the study of emotional learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoann Stussi
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression (E3Lab), Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Boulevard du Pont d'Arve 40, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Tobias Brosch
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression (E3Lab), Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Boulevard du Pont d'Arve 40, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - David Sander
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression (E3Lab), Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Boulevard du Pont d'Arve 40, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
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