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Mapping the Time Course of Other-Race Face Classification Advantage: A Cross-Race ERP Study

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Abstract

The current study investigated the time course of the other-race advantage (ORA) in the subordinate classification of faces by race. A significant ORA was found on RTs for both races. The ERP data showed that the categorization processes follow basic level classification of physiognomic stimuli, which is not influenced by the stimulus race. The most conspicuous difference between own-race and other-race faces was found in the modulation of the amplitude of the P3. Since the amplitude of the P3 is sensitive primarily to the perceptual demands of a task, these data suggest that the delay of the own-race classification is caused by an own-race specific process that precedes or interferes with the subordinate classification.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by NIMH grant R01 MH 64458 to Shlomo Bentin. This study were also funded by NIMH grant R01 MH 64458 and by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2012T50023, 20100470156), National Natural Science Foundation of China (71172216, 71132001) and Visiting Scholar Program for Harvard University and NBER (CSC 201208120037).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Gang Sun & Lun Zhao

  2. The China Academy of Corporate Governance, Business School of Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    Guoping Zhang

  3. Department of Psychology, Center of Brain and Cognitive Science of Peking University, Beijing, China

    Guoping Zhang

  4. Department of Medical Psychology, Public Health Institute of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Yanjie Yang

  5. Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Shlomo Bentin

  6. Center for Neural Computation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Shlomo Bentin

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  1. Gang Sun
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  2. Guoping Zhang
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  3. Yanjie Yang
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  4. Shlomo Bentin
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  5. Lun Zhao
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Correspondence to Guoping Zhang or Lun Zhao.

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Sun, G., Zhang, G., Yang, Y. et al. Mapping the Time Course of Other-Race Face Classification Advantage: A Cross-Race ERP Study. Brain Topogr 27, 663–671 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-013-0348-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-013-0348-0

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