Social contact and other-race face processing in the human brain

The present study investigated the influence social factorsupon the neural processing of faces of other races using event-relatedpotentials. A multi-tiered approach was used to identify face-specificstages of processing, to test for effects of race-of-face uponprocessing at these stages and to evaluate the impact of socialcontact and individuating experience upon these effects. Theresults showed that race-of-face has significant effects uponface processing, starting from early perceptual stages of structuralencoding, and that social factors may play an important rolein mediating these effects.