Visual examination of own- and other-race face identities and implicit racial bias

The current paper used eye tracking to examine the influence of implicit racial bias on the visual examination and recognition of own- and other-race face identities. Implicit bias favoring the own-race group was not associated with differences in the amount of time spent looking at the internal features (i.e., right eye, left eye, nose, mouth) of other-race faces during an old/new identity recognition task. However, larger implicit biases favoring the own-race group was associated with longer total dwell times towards the internal features of own-race faces during the test phase of the identity recognition task. Regardless of implicit bias, adults generally showed an own-race advantage in their face recognition.

Automated summary

This study used eye tracking technology to investigate the impact of implicit racial bias on face recognition. The results showed that individuals spent more time looking at the internal features of own-race faces compared to other-race faces. Regardless of implicit bias, adults generally demonstrated an advantage in recognizing own-race faces.