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Stereotypic vision: how stereotypes disambiguate visual stimuli
Joshua Correll1, Bernd Wittenbrink2, Matthew T Crawford3
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|January 21, 2015
Summary
Race influences how people process visual information, affecting their perception of objects held by targets of different races. This racial bias impacts decision-making even when visual cues are limited.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Racial stereotypes can influence cognitive processes.
- Previous research suggests implicit biases affect perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how race affects visual disambiguation of objects.
- To determine if racial stereotypes supplement objective visual information.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed a first-person-shooter task with Black and White targets holding guns or innocuous objects.
- Diffusion analysis and eye-tracking were used to analyze information acquisition and visual processing.
- A third study manipulated exposure time and response time to assess bias.
Main Results:
- Faster information processing for stereotypic pairings (e.g., Black target with gun).
- Slower information processing for counterstereotypic pairings (e.g., White target with gun).
- Racial bias was observed even with limited visual information and ample response time.
Conclusions:
- Race significantly impacts visual processing and object identification.
- Stereotypes appear to supplement objective visual information, influencing perception.
- Findings suggest racial bias is deeply integrated into visual processing mechanisms.
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