UC Irvine

ABSTRACT

A Mnemonic Discrimination Account for the Behavioral and Neural Correlates Underlying the Other-Race Effect

byJessica L. Yaros Doctor of Philosophy in Neurobiology & Behavior University of California, Irvine, 2021 Professor Michael A. Yassa, Chair

People often recognize and remember faces of individuals within their own race more easily than those of other races. While behavioral research has long suggested that this so-called Other-Race Effect (ORE) is due to extensive experience with one’s own race group, the neural mechanisms underlying the effect remain unclear. Prior neuroimaging research has explored differences in perceptual processing of same and other-race faces, overlooking the important contributions of mnemonic processes in shaping the ORE. The work comprised in this dissertation attempts to fill this gap, characterizing a framework in which asymmetries in memory mechanisms give rise to the ORE. In a series of experiments employing mnemonic discrimination (pattern separation) paradigms based on computational models of episodic memory, we uncovered both behavioral and neural correlates of the ORE. In an initial set of studies, the ORE was demonstrated to be driven by differences in successful memory discrimination across races as a function of degree of interference between face stimuli. In follow-up studies we characterized different functional brain network properties conducive to successful same and other-race face recognition. Together these findings suggest that the ORE may emerge in part due to tuned memory mechanisms that may enhance same-race, at the expense of other-race face detection. Furthermore, brain network connectivity during memorization that predicted successful same-race recognition was found to be maladaptive for other-race recognition, suggesting employment of different cognitive strategies may be optimal depending on the race of face being processed. Given that cross-race eyewitness identifications disproportionately contribute to wrongful convictions by the criminal justice system, this work should further motivate the development of procedures to mitigate the impact of the ORE on eyewitness testimony.