The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics
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University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
2017
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1511798377909988 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin15117983779099882021-08-03T07:04:45Z The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics Eiler, Brian A. Psychobiology police violence weapons effect shooter bias race implicit association shoot no-shoot There are clear racial disparities in police violence such that being Black puts one at a higher risk of being killed by police (Mapping Police Violence, 2016). One hypothesized mechanism for this disparity is “shooter bias”, which refers to the tendency to shoot unarmed Black men more often, and armed Black men more quickly, than Whites in a shoot/no-shoot task (Correll, Hudson, Guillermo, & Ma, 2014). The current project addressed four potential influences on threat perception and shooting decision-making (biological complexity, implicit racial bias, armed status, and distance). A novel, yet simple, bias awareness feedback method as a potential intervention to reduce discriminatory shooting was also tested. Participants viewed a series of Black and White, armed and unarmed avatars at various distance locations in two experiments. In Exp. 1, participants judged each avatar in terms of threat level while in Exp. 2, participants made shooting decisions, both in virtual reality using a hand held controller. Feedback was given on the shoot/no-shoot task between two trial blocks. Heart rate was measured via the Empatica E4 and implicit bias was measured via a mouse-tracking version of the IAT using the MouseTracker Software. Participants demonstrated stronger associations for stereotype congruent pairings of race and armed status and had higher heart rate during incongruent trial blocks of the IAT. In Exp. 1, results revealed main effects of distance, race, and armed status (no interaction effects) such that armed avatars and closer distances produced the highest threat ratings. White avatars were perceived as more threatening than Black avatars. In Exp. 2, results revealed that participants performed more accurately for White targets than Black targets and held the trigger down for longer (and were more variable) when the target was Black. These trigger pull dynamics were also related to dynamic measures of implicit bias. Finally, performance feedback, resulted in improved performance (i.e., correct shoot/no-shoot decisions). Moreover, participant post-feedback trigger pull dynamics were no longer associated with implicit bias. The results of the pre-experimental testing demonstrated that participant heart rate increased (i.e., higher arousal/stress) during stereotype incongruent trials, illustrating the potential link between arousal and implicit bias. Exp. 1 demonstrated that threat perception was related to armed status and distance. However, participants rated Whites avatars as more threatening than Black avatars, indicating that threat perception can be influenced by social desirability concerns (i.e., aversive racism. The results of Exp. 2, however, were largely consistent with the hypothesis that Black avatars would produce biased shooting performance and shooting dynamics compared to White avatars. The results of Exp. 2, also validated the modified VR paradigm for measuring shoot/no-shoot decision making and the more nuanced dynamical measures of shooter bias employed (i.e., trigger dynamics). Furthermore, results implicated trigger pull dynamics as the underlying link between implicit bias and shooting decision making. Importantly, the results of Exp. 2 also demonstrated that racial differences in shooting behavior may be altered by a simple bias awareness feedback intervention that disrupts the association between race and weapons. 2017 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1511798377909988 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1511798377909988 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Psychobiology police violence weapons effect shooter bias race implicit association shoot no-shoot |
| spellingShingle |
Psychobiology police violence weapons effect shooter bias race implicit association shoot no-shoot Eiler, Brian A. The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| author |
Eiler, Brian A. |
| author_facet |
Eiler, Brian A. |
| author_sort |
Eiler, Brian A. |
| title |
The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| title_short |
The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| title_full |
The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| title_fullStr |
The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Behavioral Dynamics of Shooter Bias in Virtual Reality: The Role of Race, Armed Status, and Distance on Threat Perception and Shooting Dynamics |
| title_sort |
behavioral dynamics of shooter bias in virtual reality: the role of race, armed status, and distance on threat perception and shooting dynamics |
| publisher |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1511798377909988 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT eilerbriana thebehavioraldynamicsofshooterbiasinvirtualrealitytheroleofracearmedstatusanddistanceonthreatperceptionandshootingdynamics AT eilerbriana behavioraldynamicsofshooterbiasinvirtualrealitytheroleofracearmedstatusanddistanceonthreatperceptionandshootingdynamics |
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1719453207216783360 |