More Than Meets the Eye: Split-Second Social Perception

Recent research suggests that visual perception of social categories is shaped not only by facial features but also by higher-order social cognitive processes (e.g., stereotypes, attitudes, goals). Building on neural computational models of social perception, we outline a perspective of how multiple bottom-up visual cues are flexibly integrated with a range of top-down processes to form perceptions, and we identify a set of key brain regions involved. During this integration, ‘hidden’ social category activations are often triggered which temporarily impact perception without manifesting in explicit perceptual judgments. Importantly, these hidden impacts and other aspects of the perceptual process predict downstream social consequences – from politicians’ electoral success to several evaluative biases – independently of the outcomes of that process.

TrendsRecent research shows that visual perceptions of the social categories of others are not only highly sensitive to bottom-up facial features but are also affected by higher-order social cognitive factors (e.g., stereotypes, attitudes, and goals).Emerging work suggests a rapid and flexible integration among multiple bottom-up visual cues and top-down social cognitive processes – a process that often triggers ‘hidden’ social category activations that are not observed in explicit perceptual judgments.Aspects of the initial perception process itself appear to drive important downstream social consequences (e.g., evaluative biases or politicians’ electoral success) independently of the outcomes of that process.Recent studies point to a key network comprised of the fusiform gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior temporal lobe in helping to form flexible social perceptions through an integration of facial cues and top-down social-conceptual information.