Exploring Visual Strategies and their Electrophysiological Correlates in Same and Other-Race Face Processing

In the realm of face perception, it has been suggested that faces belonging to one's own race are processed differently than those of other races, leading to superior recognition of same-race faces (Meissner & Brigham, 2001; Malpass & Kravitz, 1969). This phenomenon, known as the Other-Race Effect (ORE), has been extensively examined, notably through eye-tracking studies that have shown that White individuals allocate less attention to the eyes of Black faces compared to White faces (e.g. Kawakami et al., 2014). To better understand this bias, we first asked 15 White participants to complete a face memory task, following an old/new paradigm with both Black and White faces. Replicating the ORE (i.e. better accuracy (d’) in memorizing white (M= 1.59, SD = .70) than black faces (M= .75, SD = .33): t(14) = 7.02, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.8, 95% CI [0.59, 1.1]), participants then completed two other tasks (gender and smile/neutrality discrimination) while their EEG signals were recorded (for a total of 6000 trials/participant). In each trial, distinct parts of Black and White faces were revealed using the bubbles method (Gosselin & Schyns, 2001). Multiple linear regression analyses using a Pixel Test (Stat4Ci Toolbox; Chauvin et al., 2005) on EEG amplitudes at specific electrodes of interest (e.g., PO8, PO7) revealed strong associations with the eye region within the N170 time window, regardless of the task or the race of the faces. These findings suggest that same and other-race faces undergo similar processing during the early stages of face perception, with differences likely emerging later in the face identification stream.