Abstract
An extensive literature has demonstrated stereotype-based priming effects. What this work has only recently considered, however, is the extent to which priming is moderated by the adoption of different sequential-priming tasks and the attendant implications for theoretical treatments of person perception. In addition, the processes through which priming arises (i.e., stimulus and/or response biases) remain largely unspecified. Accordingly, here we explored the emergence and origin of stereotype-based priming using both semantic- and response-priming tasks. Corroborating previous research, a stereotype-based priming effect only emerged when a response-priming (vs. semantic-priming) task was used. A further hierarchical drift diffusion model analysis revealed that this effect was underpinned by differences in the evidential requirements of response generation (i.e., a response bias), such that less evidence was needed when generating stereotype-consistent compared to stereotype-inconsistent responses. Crucially, information uptake (i.e., stimulus bias, efficiency of target processing) was faster for stereotype-inconsistent than stereotype-consistent targets. This reveals that stereotype-based priming originated in a response bias rather than the automatic activation of stereotypes. The theoretical implications of these findings are considered.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1939-1948 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 11 |
Early online date | 27 Apr 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2020 |
Keywords
- stereotype activation
- priming
- response bias
- automaticity
- person perception
- Stereotype activation
- TIMES
- BIAS
- CONTEXT
- PSYCHOLOGY
- PREJUDICE
- CATEGORY
- COGNITIVE-PROCESSES
- PROPORTION
- PRIMES
- DIFFUSION-MODEL