Eric Hehman

Biography

Dr. Hehman is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Ryerson University and Director of the Seeing Human Lab. He received his PhD at the University of Delaware working with Sam Gaertner, and did postdoctoral work at Dartmouth College and New York University with Jon Freeman before coming to Ryerson. Generally, Dr. Hehman's research examines how individuals perceive and evaluate one another across group boundaries (e.g., race, gender, sexual-orientation, occupation, etc). To address these questions, he takes a multi-method approach, incorporating a broad range of behavioural (e.g., computer-mouse tracking, digital face modeling, group interactions), neural (e.g., fMRI, EEG), and statistical techniques (e.g., multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling). More specifically, the Seeing Human Lab has three major foci. First, we are interested in how social trait attributions (e.g., trustworthy, physically dominant, prejudiced) rise from the processing of morphological facial features (e.g., eyes, skin colour, facial structure), and how this process might vary across group boundaries (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation). Secondly, using a mix of fMRI and EEG, we examine the neural mechanisms that give rise to these impressions of others. For example, how do perceivers integrate top-down processes, such as motivation or stereotypes, into their representations of targets? When perceivers encounter targets who are inconsistent with their expectations and stereotypes, how is that information integrated at the neural level, and how does it change the overall stereotype? How are these neural processes related to downstream behaviour? Finally, it is particularly important to assess how these social impressions might matter in the real world. Just how might these effects manifest? In what domains (e.g., dating, hiring, voting) are our perceptions of others likely to influence our behaviours? When are our stereotypes and biases particularly likely to change our behaviours? For more information, please visit the lab webpage!

Research Interest

intergroup dynamics; social cognition; person perception