The effect of mask use on cross-race face perception: a simultaneous EEG and eye-tracking study

TL;DR

This study explores how wearing masks affects how people perceive faces of different races, using eye tracking and brain activity measurements.

Contribution

The study reveals how mask use alters face scanning patterns and neural responses during cross-race face perception.

Findings

Mask use leads to more eyes-focused and consistent face scanning patterns.

Mask use reduces differences in early attention-related brain activity between own- and other-race faces.

People with consistent scanning patterns process masked other-race faces more efficiently.

Abstract

While people are often experts in perceiving and categorizing faces into meaningful social categories (i.e., race), there are suboptimal scenarios such as mask use that may impair face processing. Here we examined how mask use may differentially impact own- and other-race face processing in social categorization, and the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms using simultaneous eye movement and EEG recording. We found that mask use made participants’ face scanning patterns more eyes-focused and consistent, and reduced the differences in both eye movement pattern and early attention-related ERP component P1 between viewing own- and other-race faces. Moreover, mask use did not change how people categorize biracial morphed faces, or the advantage in categorization speed of other-race faces. These results suggest that when perceiving masked faces, information from the eye region may be sufficient for social categorization, and that race-based social categorizations can be impervious to mask use. Interestingly, we found that when viewing other-race faces, where people have less perceptual expertise, those who show more consistent face scanning patterns have more efficient processing of masked faces. These findings have important implications for cross-race face perception, especially when face perception condition becomes suboptimal.

As mask use has become a common practice in response to respiratory virus outbreaks, it has inadvertently altered both health practices and the complex dynamics of social interaction. In a world that values diversity and cross-racial interactions, understanding how masks influence our cognitive processes during cross-race face perception is not just timely but vital. Given this context, we examined the effect of mask use on race categorization, by systematically investigating eye movement behavior, and neural representations of own versus other-race faces, and how these mask-induced changes are associated with each other. By utilizing simultaneous eye movement and EEG recording, our study reveals that the eye region can significantly influence social categorization, suggesting that race-based categorizations persist even in the presence of masks. Interestingly, we found that for other-race faces with which people have less perceptual expertise, those who adjust to a more consistent face scanning pattern for masked faces have more efficient processing of masked faces. This highlights the importance of individuals’ visual routine adaptability when the viewing condition is not optimal. Though the current research is called by the demand for COVID-19, our findings can be generalized to a broader context and enhance our understanding of human visual and social cognition.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41235-026-00704-2.

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