Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

Other-race effect refers to the idea that humans are more apt to distinguish faces of those with the same race versus those of other races. This phenomenon shows up for all races all across the world. The book explores this idea as a foundational principle of how the human brain contributes to bias, often outside of conscious awareness.

Categorization is a natural function of the brain that organizes stimuli (24). This system which allows the brain to make faster and more efficient judgments, but it can also impede people’s abilities to treat others equally by “tuning us to the faces of people who like us and dampening our sensitivity to those who don’t” (24).

Confirmation bias refers to when a person is biased in a certain direction and only recognizes evidence that confirms their bias. This can also happen with technology; online sources segregate information, removing material that viewers may find uncomfortable or “incongruous to what we already believe” (34).

Journalist Walter Lippmann first coined this phrase in the 20th century. He used the word to refer to “impressions that reflect subjective perceptions but stand in for objective reality” (32). The word comes from the bygone days of the typesetting process. A mold of a message is cast and replicated on sheets of paper; the replication is the stereotype that is repeated. Stereotypes are the beliefs we have about social groups, and these can permeate society in significant ways. Stereotypes can blind people from perceiving reality, making them dangerous components of human perception. 

Prejudice is the attitudes we have based upon stereotypes. Rather than being based on logic or experience, prejudice is based upon feeling and preconceived ideas.

Attentional bias refers to the way people prioritize certain stimuli over others. Eberhardt shows how stereotypes can affect where we look and why we look in that particular direction. The mere suggestion of the word “crime” prompted participants in one study to watch Black faces more closely than white faces. Their bias directed their attention and focus, and this phenomenon can lead to dangerous and problematic outcomes.

Procedural justice training refers to “a type of restorative training” that focuses on “building healthy relationships with the public” (83). This training centers law enforcement officers on improving their interactions with the public by allowing those they have stopped to share their voice and experiences and to listen impartially.

Selective attention refers to when the brain makes unconscious choices about what it pays attention to and what it does not based upon “our goals and our expectations” (85). Researchers Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris demonstrated this in the now famous social experiment of “invisible gorilla.” Participants were asked to count the number of times a basketball was passed by a group of players while a silent gorilla walks in and out of screen. Most participants did not see the gorilla because their brain was utilizing selective attention to help organize and select stimuli.