Lecture Notes: Unconscious Bias and the Other Race Effect

Speaker Introduction

• Presenter: Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
• Title: Stanford Professor of Psychology, MacArthur Genius Grant Awardee

Personal Stories

• Story 1: Introducing Iris

  • Age: 28
  • Location: Los Angeles
  • Pet: Fish named Columbo
  • Education: Master's degree student
  • Hobby: Brown belt in taekwondo
  • Exercise: Audience engagement in identifying Iris

• Story 2: Introducing Joy

  • Age: 31
  • Location: Boston
  • Occupation: Administrator
  • Pet: Dog named Willie
  • Interest: Loves horror movies
  • Relationship: Best friend is her sister Kate
  • Audience Engagement: Identifying Joy

Key Concept: Other Race Effect

• Definition: Difficulty in distinguishing faces from races other than one's own.
• Reason: Lack of exposure to faces from other races in familiar settings (e.g., family dinners, schools).
• Neuroscience Aspect:
  • Fusiform Face Area (FFA): Brain region involved in face perception.
  • Neuron Activity: More active when recognizing faces of one’s own race, less active for other races.
  • Implication: Experiences shape our neural pathways.

Unconscious Bias

• Definition: Automatic, unconscious beliefs and feelings towards social groups, influencing perceptions and actions.
• Examples:
  • Stereotypes reinforced by images (e.g., male police officers).
  • Performance impacts related to gender identity and stereotypes.
    • Example: Joy’s math test performance influenced by reminders of gender vs. ethnicity.

Implications of Bias

• Nature of Bias: Present in everyone; reflects personal and societal history.
• Function of Bias: Facilitates decision-making in context.
• Dangers of Bias:
  • Left unchecked, can lead to social detriment.
  • Can create barriers or limitations for social groups.

Conclusion

• Awareness: Acknowledgment of biases is crucial for addressing societal impacts.
• Final Thought: While bias is a human characteristic that aids in categorization, it can have significant negative consequences if not recognized and managed.