title: Action alters object identification: wielding a gun increases the bias to see guns.
abstract: Stereotypes, expectations, and emotions influence an observer's ability to detect and categorize objects as guns. In light of recent work in action-perception interactions, however, there is another unexplored factor that may be critical: The action choices available to the perceiver. In five experiments, participants determined whether another person was holding a gun or a neutral object. Critically, the participant did this while holding and responding with either a gun or a neutral object. Responding with a gun biased observers to report "gun present" more than did responding with a ball. Thus, by virtue of affording a perceiver the opportunity to use a gun, he or she was more likely to classify objects in a scene as a gun and, as a result, to engage in threat-induced behavior (raising a firearm to shoot). In addition to theoretical implications for event perception and object identification, these findings have practical implications for law enforcement and public safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University. Jessica.Witt@colostate.edu
authors.forename: Jessica K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Brockmole
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult