Understanding gender bias in face recognition: Effects of divided attention at encoding

Matthew Palmer; Neil Brewer; Ruth Horry

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.009

Understanding gender bias in face recognition: Effects of divided attention at encoding

Matthew Palmer, Neil Brewer, Ruth Horry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated a female own-gender bias in face recognition, with females better at recognizing female faces than male faces. We explored the basis for this effect by examining the effect of divided attention during encoding on females' and males' recognition of female and male faces. For female participants, divided attention impaired recognition performance for female faces to a greater extent than male faces in a face recognition paradigm (Study 1; N=113) and an eyewitness identification paradigm (Study 2; N=502). Analysis of remember-know judgments (Study 2) indicated that divided attention at encoding selectively reduced female participants' recollection of female faces at test. For male participants, divided attention selectively reduced recognition performance (and recollection) for male stimuli in Study 2, but had similar effects on recognition of male and female faces in Study 1. Overall, the results suggest that attention at encoding contributes to the female own-gender bias by facilitating the later recollection of female faces.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	362-369
Number of pages	8
Journal	Acta Psychologica
Volume	142
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.009
Publication status	Published - Mar 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by Australian Research Council Grant DP1093210 . We are grateful to Ee Hong Cherh, Chua Ping Tzeun, Aaron Ho Chee Wei, Nor'Huda Binte Mohamed Abidin, and Nur Azraini Bte Muhd Azri Alfred (all of Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore) for assistance with a pilot version of Study 1. The face stimuli used in Study 1 were obtained from the Face-Place Database Project: Stimulus images courtesy of Michael J. Tarr, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University ( http://www.face-place.org/ ). Copyright 2008, Michael J. Tarr. Funding provided by NSF award 0339122 .

Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Divided attention
Eyewitness identification
Face recognition
Own-gender bias
Recollection
Remember-know judgments

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.009

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title = "Understanding gender bias in face recognition: Effects of divided attention at encoding",

abstract = "Prior research has demonstrated a female own-gender bias in face recognition, with females better at recognizing female faces than male faces. We explored the basis for this effect by examining the effect of divided attention during encoding on females' and males' recognition of female and male faces. For female participants, divided attention impaired recognition performance for female faces to a greater extent than male faces in a face recognition paradigm (Study 1; N=113) and an eyewitness identification paradigm (Study 2; N=502). Analysis of remember-know judgments (Study 2) indicated that divided attention at encoding selectively reduced female participants' recollection of female faces at test. For male participants, divided attention selectively reduced recognition performance (and recollection) for male stimuli in Study 2, but had similar effects on recognition of male and female faces in Study 1. Overall, the results suggest that attention at encoding contributes to the female own-gender bias by facilitating the later recollection of female faces.",

keywords = "Divided attention, Eyewitness identification, Face recognition, Own-gender bias, Recollection, Remember-know judgments",

author = "Matthew Palmer and Neil Brewer and Ruth Horry",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by Australian Research Council Grant DP1093210 . We are grateful to Ee Hong Cherh, Chua Ping Tzeun, Aaron Ho Chee Wei, Nor'Huda Binte Mohamed Abidin, and Nur Azraini Bte Muhd Azri Alfred (all of Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore) for assistance with a pilot version of Study 1. The face stimuli used in Study 1 were obtained from the Face-Place Database Project: Stimulus images courtesy of Michael J. Tarr, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University ( http://www.face-place.org/ ). Copyright 2008, Michael J. Tarr. Funding provided by NSF award 0339122 . Copyright: Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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N2 - Prior research has demonstrated a female own-gender bias in face recognition, with females better at recognizing female faces than male faces. We explored the basis for this effect by examining the effect of divided attention during encoding on females' and males' recognition of female and male faces. For female participants, divided attention impaired recognition performance for female faces to a greater extent than male faces in a face recognition paradigm (Study 1; N=113) and an eyewitness identification paradigm (Study 2; N=502). Analysis of remember-know judgments (Study 2) indicated that divided attention at encoding selectively reduced female participants' recollection of female faces at test. For male participants, divided attention selectively reduced recognition performance (and recollection) for male stimuli in Study 2, but had similar effects on recognition of male and female faces in Study 1. Overall, the results suggest that attention at encoding contributes to the female own-gender bias by facilitating the later recollection of female faces.

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Understanding gender bias in face recognition: Effects of divided attention at encoding

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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