Social constraints on the visual perception of biological motion

This chapter sheds light on how the once-clear distinctions between the visual and social approaches to social categorization of the human body have begun to blur. First, it reviews findings from classic studies of biological motion perception that bear directly on domains that social psychologists care deeply about—the perception of social categories, identities, and psychological states. It then describes two ways in which these basic patterns are constrained by social psychological processes. It reviews evidence that social category knowledge constrains the interpretation and evaluation of dynamic body motion for evaluative social judgments. Then, it presents data highlighting how knowledge structures(i.e., stereotypes)can bias one's basic perception of the human body in motion