Work

Reverse-correlating mental representations of sex-typed bodies: the effect of number of trials on image quality

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Sex categorization is a critical process in social perception. While psychologists have long theorized that perceivers have distinct mental representations of men and women that help them to achieve efficient sex categorizations, researchers have only recently begun using reverse-correlation to visualize the content of these mental representations. The present research addresses two issues concerning this relatively new methodological tool. First, previous studies of reverse-correlation have focused almost exclusively on perceivers' mental representations of faces. Our study demonstrates that this technique can also be used to visualize mental representations of sex-typed bodies. Second, most studies of reverse-correlation have employed a relatively large number of trials (1000+) to capture perceivers' mental representations of a given category. Our study demonstrated that, at least for sex-typed representations of bodies, high quality reverse-correlation images can be obtained with as few as 100 trials. Overall, our findings enhance knowledge of reverse-correlation methodology in general and sex categorization in particular, providing new information for researchers interested in using this technique to understand the complex processes underlying social perception.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00476

Authors: David J. Lick, Colleen M. Carpinella, Mariana A. Preciado, Robert P. Spunt, Kerri L. Johnson

Institutions: University of California, Los Angeles, California Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Face Recognition and Perception

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801

Funder: National Science Foundation