Using Kinect camera for investigating intergroup non-verbal human interactions

Abstract: A long tradition in social psychology focused on nonverbal behaviour displayed during dyadic interactions generally relying on evaluations from external coders. However, in addition to the fact that external coders may be biased, they may not capture certain type of behavioural indices. We designed three studies examining explicit and implicit prejudice as predictors of nonberval behaviour as reflected in objective indices provided by Kinect cameras. In the first study, we considered White-Black relations from the perspective of 36 White participants. Results revealed that implicit prejudice was associated with a reduction in interpersonal distance and in the volume of space between Whites and Blacks (vs. Whites and Whites), which in turn were associated with evaluations by collaborators taking part in the interaction. In the second study, 37 non-HIV participants interacted with HIV individuals. We found that implicit prejudice was associated with reduced volume of space between interactants over time (a process of bias overcorrection) only when they tried hard to control their behaviour (as captured by a stroop test). In the third study 35 non-disabled children interacted with disabled children. Results revealed that implicit prejudice was associated with reduced interpersonal distance over time.

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