Event-Related Potentials, Race Categorization, and Implicit Racial Biases in Adults and Children

Previous research on face perception has been used to investigate implicit biases and understand how social categorization by race may shape behavior. However, prior studies have yet to compare adults’ and children’s event-related potentials (ERPs) and implicit racial biases. In the present study, we recruited Caucasian 18- to 25-year-old young adults and 5- to 10-year-old children. Participants completed a child friendly implicit association test and then a categorization task of Asian and Caucasian faces while their electroencephalographic waveforms were recorded. We found greater implicit own-race biases were associated with larger bilateral P100 responses to other- than ownrace faces in children and adults, and larger bilateral N250 responses to own- than otherrace faces in adults. We speculate the P100 indicates attentional modulation by race in adults and children and the larger N250 for own-race faces in adults may be related to their greater perceptual expertise for Caucasian faces. These findings suggest that implicit biases are related to early ERP responses when categorizing faces by race. ; Includes bibliography. ; Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2019. ; FAU Honors Theses Digital Collection