Abstract
Merely viewing the faces of famous athletes affects the observers' motor system, suggesting that actionbased information is a core feature of person representations, even when no specific action is visible (Bach & Tipper, 2006). Unexpectedly, these person-based motor priming effects were inhibitory. Foot responses were slower when identifying footballers, and hand responses for tennis players. Here, we demonstrate that these inhibitory effects are only evoked when action is implicitly associated with the athletes; when the athletes are seen performing their skilled actions the effect reverses towards facilitation. The contrast between inhibition evoked by implicit action priming and facilitation evoked by the explicit presentation of an action supports the notion of inhibitory control in the motor system. We hypothesise that when no specific action is perceived, a range of actions are activated triggering lateral inhibition, whereas when a specific action is viewed, there is no competition and excitation facilitates similar responses. © 2011 Psychology Press.
DOI
10.1080/20445911.2011.451888
Publication Date
2011-02-01
Publication Title
Journal of Cognitive Psychology
Volume
23
Issue
1
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
ISSN
2044-592X
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
First Page
45
Last Page
51
Recommended Citation
Tipper, S., & Bach, P. (2011) 'The face inhibition effect: Social contrast or motor competition?', Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 23(1), pp. 45-51. Informa UK Limited: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2011.451888
