Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 12, 2025
08:13
Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects
Published on: May 10, 2019
6.5K
Racial discrimination and core executive functions.
Luke Keating1, Amandeep Kaur2, Miguel Mendieta1
1Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, USA.
Summary
Racial discrimination exposure negatively impacts cognitive flexibility and working memory. Recent discrimination affects these executive functions, but not inhibitory control, suggesting distinct impacts based on exposure timing.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Public Health
Background:
- Racial discrimination is theorized to impair executive functioning.
- Existing data suggest both acute and persistent effects of discrimination on cognition.
- The differential impact of discrimination on specific executive functions remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between recent and lifetime racial discrimination exposure and three core executive functions: cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory.
- To determine if discrimination differentially affects distinct executive functions.
- To explore the timing of discrimination exposure (recent vs. lifetime) and its association with executive functions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a racially and ethnically diverse sample (n=319).
- Assessed recent and lifetime exposure to racial discrimination.
- Measured three core executive functions: cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory.
Main Results:
- Recent racial discrimination was significantly associated with poorer cognitive flexibility.
- Recent racial discrimination was also associated with impaired working memory.
- No significant association was found between recent discrimination and inhibitory control.
Conclusions:
- Recent racial discrimination negatively affects cognitive flexibility and working memory, aligning with acute stressor research.
- The findings suggest that the timing and nature of discrimination exposure may differentially impact specific executive functions.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the long-term effects and underlying mechanisms of discrimination on executive functions and health outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
92.3K
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who...
92.3K
02:16Stereotype Content Model
14.9K
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence...
14.9K
02:09Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
39.8K
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
39.8K
01:31Confirmation Biases
7.4K
The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
7.4K
01:29Self-Serving Bias
21
Self-serving bias is a cognitive phenomenon in which individuals attribute positive outcomes to internal factors such as their abilities, intelligence, or effort while attributing negative outcomes to external circumstances. This cognitive distortion helps maintain self-esteem but can also impede objective self-assessment.Theoretical Explanations of Self-Serving BiasTwo primary theories explain the self-serving bias: the cognitive explanation and the motivational explanation.The cognitive...
21
02:45Self-Discrepancy Theory
18.5K
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
18.5K