The effects of information concerning cooperativeness on face memory and behavioral choices: Using the social exchange task

Abstract

Within the evolutionary framework, some studies on facial recognition have demonstrated that recognition is better for faces presented as non-cooperators than for the faces of cooperators (Mealey, Daood, & Krage, 1996; Oda, 1997). However, it remains unclear as to whether level of cooperativeness is remembered as well as faces. In the present study, 60 participants saw photographs of individuals with fictitious labels indicating their behavior (cooperative or non-cooperative) in the one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma game. One week later, the participants were presented randomly with both old and new photographs and asked to judge which faces had been seen before and which individuals they would transact with. The results from this study are not consistent with previous findings, the participants recognized the faces of cooperators and non-cooperators equally well. On the other hand, there was a preference to transact with cooperators rather than with non-cooperators. Interestingly, that tendency was observed not only for remembered faces but also for forgotten faces. These findings suggest that an implicit memory mechanism contributes in distinguishing between cooperators and non-cooperators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)