Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Katherine Hooper, Dr. Curtis Phills

Faculty Sponsor College

College of Arts and Sciences

Faculty Sponsor Department

Psychology

Location

SOARS Virtual Conference

Presentation Website

https://unfsoars.domains.unf.edu/2021/posters/utilizing-fnirs-to-measure-cognitive-control-and-explore-its-relationship-to-racial-bias-reduction/

Keywords

SOARS (Conference) (2021 : University of North Florida) – Archives; SOARS (Conference) (2021 : University of North Florida) – Posters; University of North Florida -- Students -- Research – Posters; University of North Florida. Office of Undergraduate Research; University of North Florida. Graduate School; College students – Research -- Florida – Jacksonville – Posters; University of North Florida – Undergraduates -- Research – Posters; University of North Florida. Department of Psychology -- Research – Posters; Honorable Mention Award Winner

Abstract

Honorable Mention Winner:

This research investigated the relationship between cognitive control and a stereotype-reduction training task. The sample pool of participants consisted mainly of Caucasian female students attending the University of North Florida majoring in psychology. To measure cognitive control, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was employed to observe neural activity in several areas of the prefrontal cortex during training exercises and implicit association tasks. Participants were divided into two groups; the stereotype-reduction group was primed to associate an African American face with a cellphone and a Caucasian face with a gun while the stereotype-maintenance group was primed to associate an African American face with a gun and a Caucasian face with a cellphone. Finally, participants completed a Race and Weapons Implicit Association Test to gauge their implicit bias. We examined the hypothesis that stereotype-reduction training is successful when participants exert cognitive control and thus exhibit decreased implicit bias compared to their counterparts. The present study aims to provide insight into neural activity involved in stereotype-reduction training and further the understanding of individual differences that may moderate effects of training. Participants in the stereotype reduction training task showed significantly higher levels of OxyHb indicating increased prefrontal cortical activation compared to those in the maintenance group. Although there was higher prefrontal cortical activity in participants who were in the racial bias reduction task compared to the maintenance task, suggesting an increase in cognitive control, there was no evidence of an accompanying decrease in stereotype bias within the IAT scores.

Comments

Audio Presentation Transcript:

Despite decreasing crime rates in the United States over the past several years, the disproportionate killing of unarmed Black men has been on the rise. Police are over three times more likely to shoot an unarmed Black American compared to an unarmed White American. One possible explanation for the rise in unjustified fatalities is the bilateral association between Black Americans and weapons. Because implicit bias has a controlled component, we investigated whether cognitive control can moderate the impact of implicit stereotyping — both for reducing stereotype bias and maintaining the automatic associations people have towards race and weapons.  To measure cognitive control we employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe neural activity in several areas of the prefrontal cortex during training exercises and implicit association tasks. fNIRS uses near-infrared light to quantify levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin within the cerebral cortex- specifically we were measuring within the prefrontal cortex. Participants completed a survey before coming into the lab that consisted of demographic questions, various scales measuring racial bias and social conservatism, as well as filler scales to keep participants from guessing the studies hypothesis. Once they came into the lab, they were set up to the machine and completed either a stereotype reduction or a stereotype maintenance training task. In both tasks they were presented with three images next to each other. The image in the middle is either a gun or a cellphone and the image on the left and right is a black and white face. Participants were primed to associate a black face with a cellphone and a white face with a gun for the reduction training task and a black face with a gun and a white face with a cellphone for the maintenance task. Immediately following the training task, participants completed a race and weapons implicit association task to measure their implicit racial bias. Participants in the stereotype reduction task exhibited significantly more cortical activity by exhibiting a higher overall mean in combined oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, compared to participants in the stereotype maintenance task. This higher cortical activity shown in the stereotype reduction group may suggest an increase in cognitive control. However, there was no significant difference in the IAT scores between the two groups. There was also an interesting – albeit – insignificant difference of means shown in certain brain areas of groups. For example, participants in the stereotype reduction task, showed more orbital frontal cortex activation when they incorrectly associated a black person with a weapon instead of a cellphone, compared to when they correctly associated a black person with a cellphone. This makes sense because the orbital frontal cortex is directly involved in monitoring societal norms. So when they went against the norm standard of not associating a black person with a weapon, their orbital frontal cortex would become more activated. Due to the low participation data, the statistical power was not high and therefore insignificant. Some limitations in our study include that our sample pool consisted of mostly Caucasian female psychology majors, as well as constant finger movement from participants creating noisy data causing us to scrap some participants data completely. We plan to further explore the association by looking at specific areas within the prefrontal cortex that may have a direct role in stereotype reduction bias and cognitive control.  

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Apr 7th, 12:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 AM

Utilizing fNIRS to measure cognitive control and explore its relationship to racial bias reduction

SOARS Virtual Conference

Honorable Mention Winner:

This research investigated the relationship between cognitive control and a stereotype-reduction training task. The sample pool of participants consisted mainly of Caucasian female students attending the University of North Florida majoring in psychology. To measure cognitive control, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was employed to observe neural activity in several areas of the prefrontal cortex during training exercises and implicit association tasks. Participants were divided into two groups; the stereotype-reduction group was primed to associate an African American face with a cellphone and a Caucasian face with a gun while the stereotype-maintenance group was primed to associate an African American face with a gun and a Caucasian face with a cellphone. Finally, participants completed a Race and Weapons Implicit Association Test to gauge their implicit bias. We examined the hypothesis that stereotype-reduction training is successful when participants exert cognitive control and thus exhibit decreased implicit bias compared to their counterparts. The present study aims to provide insight into neural activity involved in stereotype-reduction training and further the understanding of individual differences that may moderate effects of training. Participants in the stereotype reduction training task showed significantly higher levels of OxyHb indicating increased prefrontal cortical activation compared to those in the maintenance group. Although there was higher prefrontal cortical activity in participants who were in the racial bias reduction task compared to the maintenance task, suggesting an increase in cognitive control, there was no evidence of an accompanying decrease in stereotype bias within the IAT scores.

https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/soars/2021/spring_2021/21

 

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