The effect of stereotypical primes on the neural processing of racially ambiguous faces

Previous research has demonstrated that an early attentional component of the event-related potential (ERP), the P2, is sensitive to the distinction between the processing of racial outgroup and ingroup faces but may not be sensitive to the distinction between racially ambiguous and ingroup faces. Recent behavioral work, however, has suggested that contextual information may affect the processing of racially ambiguous faces. Thus, the first goal of this study was to examine whether the early neural processing of racially ambiguous faces would be affected by primed stereotypes. White college student participants (n = 29) completed a task in which they racially categorized monoracial Black and White faces and racially ambiguous Black-White morphs. These faces were preceded by positive and negative Black and White stereotypical primes. Results indicated that P2 amplitude to the racially ambiguous faces was moderated by the valence of the primes such that negative primes led to greater neural processing of the racially ambiguous faces than positive primes. Furthermore, the extent to which P2 amplitude was affected by prime valence was moderated by individual differences in preference for structure and categorical thinking, as well as comfort with ambiguity.