Faces are a major source of socially relevant information about other people. In the process of face perception, people not only effortlessly recognize familiar individuals and facial expressions of emotions but also retrieve specific knowledge about, and feelings towards, the person. While the neural mechanisms underlying the perceptual analysis of faces are relatively well understood, little is known about the mechanisms associating a face with a multifaceted person representation. With funding by the National Science Foundation, Dr. Alexander Todorov will investigate the neural mechanisms through which the act of face perception delivers a representation of the person with information about the person's inferred attributes. The long-term objective of the project is to identify the distributed neural network of person perception that extends beyond areas dedicated to perceptual analysis of faces (e.g., fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus). A special emphasis will be placed on the study of first impressions. The project will demonstrate the extent to which inferences acquired from minimal information modulate neural activity during face perception. The research will investigate how affective trait inferences about other people are spontaneously retrieved in face perception, the degree of automaticity of these retrieval processes, and the neural regions engaged in both implicit and explicit person evaluation. For example, the research will test whether affective trait inferences can be dissociated from explicit memory for the information that triggered these inferences, and whether such inferences can be detected below thresholds of conscious awareness. The research will be conducted using both behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments in which the information associated with faces, the conditions of face perception, and the goal of participants are systematically manipulated.
The research integrates insights from both social psychology and cognitive neuroscience and extends both fields. The findings will be important for social psychologists studying impression formation and social interaction and for cognitive neuroscientists studying the interplay of neural systems underlying perceptual and affective analysis of stimuli. The findings will have implications for social sciences, including behavioral economics and political science. The project will involve the efforts of both undergraduate and graduate students. This research will be used to guide students' research projects in psychology and psychology for public policy classes. Understanding the cognitive and neural processes underlying impression formation would help to reduce potential biases and discrimination in diverse settings where person impressions are of utmost importance and affect important social outcomes and well-being.
