Adding dynamics to the evaluative priming task: face primes with delayed dynamic onset of emotional expression or ethnicity

Faces varying in emotional expression and ethnicity can influence evaluative reactions either interactively or independently. Various indirect tasks support interactive influences; however, the evaluative priming task (EPT) has shown both interactive and independent effects. The present study investigated whether giving one feature a head start, followed by the other with a delayed dynamic onset, would elicit interactive processing. The head start was expected to facilitate early processing, allowing the delayed feature to integrate into the ongoing processing of the first feature. In Experiment 1, ethnicity had a head start, and emotion was presented with a delay. Emotion, but not ethnicity, yielded an independent priming effect. The hypothesised interaction was not observed. In Experiment 2, emotion had a head start, and ethnicity was delayed. Both features yielded independent effects without interaction. Experiment 3 tested whether emotion-delayed primes enhanced emotion influence compared to standard (static) primes. Emotion-delayed primes showed slightly stronger emotion effects than standard primes. While emotion-delayed primes did not show an interaction between emotion and ethnicity, standard primes did. These findings suggest that delaying feature onsets leads to independent effects, whereas static presentation fosters interactive effects, highlighting how facial feature processing adapts to task parameters in indirect paradigms.