Top-down influences in social perception

Abstract

The present chapter makes a case for the importance of the study of social perception as a phenomenon separate from impression formation and social categorisation, and of great significance for social psychology. We claim specifically that the development of tasks for studying perception is critical for addressing the question of whether top-down processes influence perception. Three series of studies conducted by the authors, and which relied on newly developed tasks, are presented. The first two series examine the effects of emotion and adult attachment orientation on the perception of facial expression of emotion. The third examines the influences of emotion concepts on perceptual memory for facial expression. The studies together provide good support for influences of emotional state, personality factors, and prior knowledge on the perception of facial expression of emotion, and call, we hope, for greater attention to perceptual processes in social psychology.