When first impressions conflict with experience
Exploring how facial trustworthiness and outcomes shape decision-making across adulthood.
Collaborative research
Research examining how younger and older adults learn from conflicting social cues.
The question
How do people balance a trustworthy-looking face against evidence from actual outcomes?
My contribution
I contributed to the research program on trust-related decision-making and learning across adulthood. My portfolio includes work on the Social Iowa Gambling Task, and I coauthored the public explanation of the age-group study.
The approach
The age-group study compared the standard Iowa Gambling Task with a social version pairing card decks with faces. It included 143 younger and 129 older adults, allowing the team to examine choices when facial impressions and payouts agreed or conflicted.
What came out of it
Both groups initially favored trustworthy-looking faces. Older adults had more difficulty adapting when those impressions conflicted with the outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of considering both social cues and feedback when studying trust.
Related work
Explore the task-programming case study.
Explore the materials
Continue with the source material behind this case study.
Read the study explanation ↗