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The own-age bias in face memory is unrelated to differences in attention — Evidence from event-related brain potentials

Neumann, M.F.; End, A.; Luttmann, S.; Schweinberger, S.R.; Wiese, H.

The own-age bias in face memory is unrelated to differences in attention — Evidence from event-related brain potentials Thumbnail


Authors

M.F. Neumann

A. End

S. Luttmann

S.R. Schweinberger



Abstract

Participants are more accurate at remembering faces from their own relative to a different age group (the own-age bias, or OAB). A recent socio-cognitive account has suggested that differential allocation of attention to old versus young faces underlies this phenomenon. Critically, empirical evidence for a direct relationship between attention to own- versus other-age faces and the OAB in memory is lacking. To fill this gap, we tested the roles of attention in three different experimental paradigms, and additionally analyzed event-related brain potentials (ERPs). In Experiment 1, we compared the learning of old and young faces during focused versus divided attention, but revealed similar OABs in subsequent memory for both attention conditions. Similarly, manipulating attention during learning did not differentially affect the ERPs elicited by young versus old faces. In Experiment 2, we examined the repetition effects from task-irrelevant old and young faces presented under varying attentional loads on the N250r ERP component as an index of face recognition. Independent of load, the N250r effects were comparable for both age categories. Finally, in Experiment 3 we measured the N2pc as an index of attentional selection of old versus young target faces in a visual search task. The N2pc was not significantly different for the young versus the old target search conditions, suggesting similar orientations of attention to either face age group. Overall, we propose that the OAB in memory is largely unrelated to early attentional processes. Our findings therefore contrast with the predictions from socio-cognitive accounts on own-group biases in recognition memory, and are more easily reconciled with expertise-based models.

Citation

Neumann, M., End, A., Luttmann, S., Schweinberger, S., & Wiese, H. (2015). The own-age bias in face memory is unrelated to differences in attention — Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 15(1), 180-194. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-014-0306-7

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 2, 2014
Online Publication Date Jun 17, 2014
Publication Date Mar 1, 2015
Deposit Date Mar 23, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience
Print ISSN 1530-7026
Electronic ISSN 1531-135X
Publisher Psychonomic Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 1
Pages 180-194
DOI https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-014-0306-7
Keywords Attention, Face, Age, ERP, Own-age bias, Other-age effect.

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