Brain scan 'identifies race bias among white people'

Ananova ^ | 16 NOV 2003

[solitas]

A brain scan that can apparently root out racists has been developed by scientists.

The technique was used on white volunteers shown photographs of black individuals.

In those with racist tendencies, a surge of activity was seen in part of the brain that controls thoughts and behaviour. Scientists believe this reflected volunteers' attempts to to curb their latent racism.

After interacting with real black individuals, the same group performed poorly in a task designed to test mental resources.

The American researchers concluded that harbouring racial prejudice, even unintentionally, stirred up an inner struggle that exhausted the brain.

Dr Jennifer Richeson, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, said: "We were surprised to find brain activity in response to faces of black individuals predicted how research participants performed on cognitive tasks after actual interracial interactions."

The scientists first measured the racial bias of 30 white individuals using a standard technique.

Volunteers were given a computer test to record the ease with which they associated with white and black racial groups with concepts that were positive or negative. Those with higher levels of racial bias took longer to associate white people with negative concepts and black people with positive concepts.

The study participants were then asked to interact with either a white or a black individual. Afterwards, they underwent a test which involved making a mental effort to inhibit instinctive responses.

The scan experiment employed a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map brain activity.

[solitas]

It's interesting that they DIDN'T choose a more-diverse group of participants. I wonder if they'll continue research now that they got the results they wanted.

Maybe this article should've been titled: "Science For The Sake Of Proving Our Point"

[coloradan]

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Repeat the tests with million morons and gun owners. Methinks the million morons will have the same mental struggles and same loss of efficiency - and for the same reason: Bigotry.

[Robert A Cook PE]

"Afterwards, they underwent a test which involved making a mental effort to inhibit instinctive responses. ...

Well, if the enviro's and evolutionists are right, isn't the instinctive reaction inbred there for survival? ....

Those who DON'T follow their instinctive reaction (flying south for winter, hibernating, swimming upstream to breed) ... DIE.

[SandRat]

Call the ACLU sounds like a genetic disability to me and that's protected by the ADA - therefore there can be no hate crime prosecution.

Isn't that the way the left thinks?

[visualops]

It's interesting that they DIDN'T choose a more-diverse group of participants

Only white people are racist, don't you know that?

But heck, why not test black people? Asians? Poor vs rich? Hey c'mon, if we're gonna create studies designed to destroy people, lets get everybody.

[Drango]

Run this test on Jessi Jackson.

[Thebaddog]

Do they have a brain scan for dopes who fund these crazy experiments in racial jingoism?

[AgThorn]

I first was kinda offended by the title, sounding more like "junk science" to me. But after reading it, I can agree that a lot of energy is waisted by racism.

It would be a more fair comparison, since racism is a cross-race disorder, to show the brain activities in blacks related to white faces. And I highly aggree that there are many blacks that feel animosity against whitey, however due to sheer numbers there are more "black sensitive" white bubba's than "white sensative" black panthers.

Integration does have it's great rewards and the big one is that we can start looking at each other in interacting without even noticing what color our skin is. If that is the point of this "brain scan" test, than it is probably right on.

[CurlyDave]

The next candidates for this test have got to be Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton...

[glock rocks]

Run this test on Jessi Jackson.

The scan experiment employed a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map brain activity.

... requires brain activity. wouldn't work on jesse.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

This "research" reminds me of the Bill Murray character in Ghost Busters, a bored charlatan psychic researcher who discovered that pretty young coeds invariably had "latent esp" not found in unattractive females and male subjects.

Remember the researchers at Standford Research Institute who verified the amazing psychic powers of Uri Geller. Powers sadly unreproducable in presence of capable magicians?

[Cobra64]

"The technique was used on white volunteers shown photographs of black individuals."

And we know that they performed the same study using black volunteers of white individuals, right?

/sarcasm

[SandRat]

Can they run the same test on Democrats to see what the reaction is when they show them all things American and then all things Marxist/Socialist? Might be an interesting set of results.

[Senator Goldwater]

"A brain scan that can apparently root out racists has been developed by scientists"

Last I checked, personal opinions about race are perfectly legal.

[watchin]

Whenever you read "Scientists believe" you know it's not really about science.

[mtbopfuyn]

Yet another study designed to prove the result. Someone slept through the lecture on random sampling.

[Arkinsaw]

I think what they are measuring is the section of the brain that has been set aside for self-monitoring of political correctness. Many brains have been trained to have a miniature Jesse Jackson inside constantly prodding them to be afraid of saying the wrong thing amongst the races or accidentally sexually harassing someone.

Instead of just a natural reaction to other people the brain must churn to make sure it doesn't offend anyone.

[eddie willers]

If you showed black women a film of Farrah Fawcett tossing her hair, the results would be off the scale.

[Gringo1]

The bashing of white people continues.........

[shhrubbery!]

Good, now Dartmouth needs to design a "white liberal hypocrisy" test.

I see plenty of that where I live. The liberal white town adjacent to mine is fighting, tooth and nail, a black church that wants to relocate there.

These "progressive" whites who always vote DemocRat, big-time, are trying every excuse in the book (traffic, loss of tax revenue) to pretend that their opposition to the evangelical church (which is actually about 80% black) isn't racist.

The supposed "traffic" problem is baloney, because traffic to the church wouldn't exceed the traffic generated by the site's former occupier, a huge Hewlett Packard installation.

I'd love to see the church relocate here, even though the supposed traffic generated would affect me as much as the liberals.