Why is US President Barack Obama—the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya—seen as a black man? Because people learn about new things by noting attributes that distinguish them from the same types of things that they already know.
A new study demonstrates that the same basic learning pattern also applies when people place others into ethnic categories based on facial characteristics.
“Features that are more typical of minority group members draw more attention,” says Jeffrey Sherman, professor of psychology at University of California at Davis.Full story at Futurity.