Abstract

The present study examines participants’ memory for face images in arbitrary experimental groups according to a minimal group paradigm. The purpose of the investigation is to study the conditions under which group affiliation and discrimination appear in participants and further clarify the amount of difference between groups that is necessary for discrimination to appear. Participants were assigned to one of two arbitrary experimental groups, either “Blue” or “Green”, and were subjected to three blocks of a face memorization task, wherein they were exposed to face images with background colors that either matched (in-group) or differed from (out-group) the experimental group they were assigned to. Participants were then asked to engage in a recall task, wherein they were presented with both familiar in-group and out-group faces from the memorization task and new, unfamiliar in-group and out-group faces, and asked to identify the faces as either familiar or unfamiliar. The accuracy of participants’ responses on this task was recorded and aggregated. It was hypothesized that participants would display greater response accuracy for in-group faces than for out-group faces (and by extension, demonstrate a face memory advantage for in-group faces). However, the hypothesis was not supported, and no statistically significant differences in accuracy were identified for participants’ responses for in-group and out-group faces.

Advisor

Neuhoff, John

Department

Psychology

Disciplines

Psychological Phenomena and Processes

Keywords

psychology, face memory, minimal groups

Publication Date

2019

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2019 Henry F. Pride-Wilt