Outgroup homogeneity perception as a precursor to the generalization of threat across racial outgroup individuals

People who look different from oneself are often categorized as homogeneous members of another racial group. We examined whether the relationship between such categorization and the tendency to generalize across outgroup individuals is explained by perceived visual similarity, leading to an all-look-alike misperception. To address this question at the neural level, White participants perceived sequences of White and Black faces while event-related electrocortical activity was recorded. Prior to each face sequence, one specific ingroup or outgroup face was instructed as a cue for receiving unpleasant electric shocks (threat cue), and we were interested in the extent to which such threat effects generalize to other non-instructed faces (safety cues). Face stimuli were presented in adaptor-target pairs, consisting of two ingroup faces or two outgroup faces, which could depict either the same or different identities. Results show less identity processing of outgroup compared to ingroup faces in early visual processing, i.e., N170 repetition suppression was sensitive only to ingroup face identities. Subsequently, as indicated by enhanced Late Positive Potentials to both threat and safety faces, instructed threat generalized stronger across outgroup compared to ingroup faces. These findings and their interaction suggest that the misperception of outgroup homogeneity may be an early precursor to the tendency to generalize threat associations across outgroup individuals.

Downstream effects of observational threat learning: Generalization and reversal learning across development

Observational threat learning is a complex social learning process through which typical and atypical fears develop. While studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of observational learning for the acquisition and extinction of threat, the intricacies of this learning process and how it varies across development have been less explored. To this end, we examined the extent to which children, adolescents, and adults generalized threat responses following observational threat learning. We also tested the capacity for reversal acquisition of these threat associations, again through observation. Participants (n = 159) from three age groups underwent four consecutive learning phases: observational threat acquisition, direct generalization, observational reversal threat acquisition, and a direct reversal test. Threat responses were measured using psychophysiological and subjective indices. Results indicated that following successful observational threat learning, children, adults, and adolescents experienced threat generalization. Developmental differences emerged for reversal threat acquisition, with adolescents demonstrating poorer learning than children and adults. The study expands current knowledge on how observational threat learning is used in changing circumstances and how it unfolds across development.