Aspies For Freedom

The following article is from the Toronto Star.  

Search for the root of prejudice

Jan 24, 2008 04:30 AM
Shauna Rempel
Toronto Star

Name: Jennifer Gutsell

Age: 28

Program: First-year master's student in psychology at the University of Toronto.

Research: Prejudice and the Mirror Neuron System.

The goal: "I'm looking for the reason why people are prejudiced," says Gutsell. While it's understood that people are capable of prejudice, and that they are more likely to exhibit bias toward people who are different from themselves, little is known about how the brain contributes to these feelings.

The mirror neuron system: This recently discovered system in the brain may have something to do with prejudice. The mirror neuron system is so named because researchers think it explains why humans and some animals "mirror" the behaviour that they see in others.

This system, which is linked to feelings of empathy, may also offer a clue as to why prejudice evolved – by looking at situations where people are less empathetic to some people and more empathetic to others.

"The mirror neuron system is less responsive to people we don't like," says Gutsell. In other words, you're less likely to shed a tear if you see your enemy sobbing than if you saw your best friend crying. Research on prejudice shows that people tend to show bias toward ethnic and racial groups that are not our own, and Gutsell decided to see if the mirror neuron system was involved.

The pre-test: Gutsell first tests her subjects (first-year psychology students) using the Implicit Association Test, a recognized evaluation that measures implicit attitudes and beliefs that people are either unwilling or unable to report, such as bias toward a certain ethnic group.

Based on the IAT results, Gutsell can get an idea of her test subjects' level of bias and prejudice.

The test: Subjects from different ethnic backgrounds (for research purposes they are divided into black, white, South Asian and East Asian) will watch videos of people performing simple actions and expressing the emotions happiness and sadness. Subjects will then be asked to imitate the people they see on screen. The people in the videos are both from within their ethnic group and "out-group members" from another ethnic group. During this time, Gutsell monitors the subjects for activity in their mirror neuron systems.

"We expect, of course, that (the mirror neuron system) will be less active for out-group members," says Gutsell.

Results are compared with the IAT results.

Piece of the puzzle: The mirror neuron system may just be one possible explanation for prejudice, a complex social phenomenon about which much remains unknown.

Two-step approach: Gutsell is combining neuro sciences with social psychology (called neuro-social science) in hopes of learning more about human behaviour. "Using both methods is sometimes really helpful," she says, "to look at details and then go back to the broader perspective."

Deep Thoughts is a look at notable

research in the GTA.

I hope a cure for this neurotypical disorder will be available soon.  Perhaps even a genetic test so parents can decide to abort a racist child.   Maybe if there were fewer of these people in the world, it might be safer for people with autism.

Interesting. In autism, it's been observed that the MNS functions differently--so I wonder what an autistic person would show on that test

^ Me too. That's really interesting. I kind of wonder what my results would be.

I also wonder how results would differ when the people in the tapes were, say... different in other ways. Like, would it respond differently to someone dressed in "poor" clothes, or someone with a visible genetic disorder? I wonder...

Well, presumably the MNS is related to empathy, which is influenced the uncanny valley phenomenon, which evolved to prevent the spread of disease and genetic disorders.

There are plenty of prejudiced Aspies, too.  Against neurotypical people, for instance.

Just what I was gonna say. Labelling prejudice "an NT disorder" is in itself prejudice.

Statistically, are Asperger and prejudice opposites (or near opposites?).

I shouldn't think so.  I've copped vast amounts of crap from other Aspies.

Well, hey, Aspies can be prejudiced, too. I've even seen Aspies prejudiced against themselves, or against some subgroup of other autistics!

Still, not being very good with the "mirroring" could give us an advantage with prejudice. We don't mirror people of our other races--but we don't mirror people of our own race, either! So we tend to judge people on a case-by-case basis, rather than putting them in the convenient groups NTs tend to form. That's really only a tendency, though; and I think the less autistic you are, the more you depend on groups... an Aspie seems to be halfway NT; so we do use groups--just not as much, not as early in life, and not as automatically. An Aspie who grows up with prejudiced parents, or in an area where he interacts with only one race, could still grow up with some prejudice to deal with.

I have mental categories for races, genders, and ages; but I tend to use these simultaneously with other details about the person--the way they talk, what they're wearing, what they do. Chances are I'll have two different initial concepts for two people of the same race, age, and gender, though because of the groups those concepts will be closer to each other than they are for people with differing age, race, or gender. And of course there are many times when I can't tell apart races because of my tendency towards face-blindness: Telling Hispanic from white from Native American from mixed-race is difficult. So is telling white from black in the case of a light-brown skin color, which could be a tan or could be natural. And I can really only tell age by wrinkles and graying hair--thirties and teens looks about the same to me. (I'm a convenience store clerk. If I card you for cigarettes and you're 35 years old, don't get mad OK?)

From what I can tell of NTs, they use the categories first not just for people but for all sorts of things. If they see a car, they see "car" first and then "red" and "old" and "fast" and all the other things that car could be. I see the image first, then translate it into "red, old, fast car" almost simultaneously. I guess other people translate the image automatically into "car"--so quickly that they're not aware of doing it.

I think if I had grown up in a racist environment, I might be racist now. I have the categories; if I associated "black" with negative things instead of just skin color and the Southern-ish accent, I might well end up just as racist as any NT. Were I more autistic than I am, I might not even have the categories I have, and thus be even less prone to racism but probably not as good at understanding people as I am (because those are the same type of categories you use for understanding feeling and intent and tone of voice...)

Maybe I should note that what I'm trying to get at is the tendency to see the small details rather than the big picture: The "big picture"--the racial category--is what prejudice latches onto; the small details differ for every person.

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you are kidding right?!

Of course I was kidding.  It seems that lack of empathy and mirroring is seen as autistic traits and as "bad".

Earlier I was insecure and therefore uncomfortable about seeing black people, but not anymore. I guess if some people who happen to be insecure about people with skin colors they would swallow reasons to hate them easier than those who aren't. Insecurity can lead many kinds of feelings.

That's my theory of prejudice.

Many people have told me is that I don't "see" race or gender, which is not so say that I can't see that someone is black, white, Asian, male, or female, it's just that those categories are not important in how I think of a person. As far as I'm concerned I don't see how one's skin color is any more significant then eye color or hair color.