This phenomenon, called interracial influence, was first discovered in the 1960s. Now psychologists from the University of Exeter have tried to find out why. They used direct electrical current brain stimulation on volunteers. The same people had to recognize the faces of Caucasians, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. They were Europeans.
The discharge also worsened a person’s ability to recognize faces in an upright position. Some of the volunteers received 10 minutes of brain stimulation, and the other part – 30 seconds, which is not enough to cause any change.
It turned out that the participants of the second group were better at recognizing the faces of their race in an upright position. For the first group, the effect disappeared: they were equally bad at recognizing faces of both their own and foreign races. Recognition results were equally bad if participants were shown upside-down faces.
From all this, scientists have concluded that interracial influence is associated with a person’s experience and not with racial prejudice. It is easier for people to remember and recognize faces they see more often.
Source: Ferra
