Logan C. Burley
I am a senior working with Dr. Susan Gelman in the Conceptual Development Lab, Dr. Victor Mendoza of the Women’s Studies Department, and two grad students, Rachel Fine and Zach Schudson to conduct first-hand research for my honors thesis. My research focuses on if and when people make nonbinary attributions and examines the cognitive representations people have of nonbinary genders. Examining the distinction that the people make between who is a man, who is a woman, and who is nonbinary should provide not only a greater understanding of gender and the gender attribution process, but also create a foundation upon which further research can be built. The studies I am conducting focus particularly on how people perceive gender in other’s faces. The face is recognized quickly and efficiently, and individuals are quick to assume the gender identity of others based on it. Gender is particularly salient upon the face and research has found there to be various gender differences in the features of the eyes and brows, mouth/chin, and the nose. Research looking at how people perceive sexuality in other’s faces found that people could rate sexual orientation at greater than chance rates. Past research makes it clear that individuals perceive gender from the face using binary categories, but this study will explore how (and when) these binary cues fail to clearly categorize an individual’s face, something that has yet to be empirically explored.
Library Mentor: Hailey Mooney