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1 May 2016 Demographic variation in how the social brain processes news messages
Irene Ingeborg van Driel, Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Ozen Bas, Mariska Kleemans
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Abstract

A high capacity for visual perception distinguishes Homo sapiens from other primates. This human ability to detect social cues and retain visual records of social networks has been tested mostly with static facial images in laboratory settings. However, media consumption has become closely entangled with the way social life is navigated. Therefore, the study reported here tested demographic differences (gender and education) in visual information processing of social and nonsocial objects featured in audiovisual news content. Women recognized (accuracy) and recalled (salience) social images better than men. On the other hand, men were more skilled at recognizing, but not recalling, nonsocial images. Participants with lower educational levels recognized and recalled fewer images than individuals with higher educational levels. Interactions between demographic variables and time suggest that memory records for social images are more stable than those for nonsocial images. Memory may have survival-relevant importance, serving navigational functions that vary across environmental demands, resulting in differences across demographic groups.

Irene Ingeborg van Driel, Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Ozen Bas, and Mariska Kleemans "Demographic variation in how the social brain processes news messages," Politics and the Life Sciences 35(1), 61-73, (1 May 2016). https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2016.3
Published: 1 May 2016
JOURNAL ARTICLE
13 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
cued recall
education
facial recognition
gender
media
social perception
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