The temporal dynamics of the link between configural face processing and dehumanization

Publication date: November 2019Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 85Author(s): Steven G. Young, Ryan E. Tracy, John Paul Wilson, Robert J. Rydell, Kurt HugenbergAbstractThe human face conveys a wealth of information, including traits, states, and intentions. Just as fundamentally, the face also signals the humanity of a person. In the current research we report two experiments providing evidence that disruptions of configural face encoding affect the temporal dynamics of categorization during attempts to distinguish human from non-human faces. Specifically, the present experiments utilize mouse-tracking and find that face inversion elicits confusion amongst human and non-human categories early in the processing of human faces. This work affords the first examination of how facial inversion affects the dynamic processes underlying categorization of human and non-human faces.

Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - August 20, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research