Weapons Identification Task¶
HED Task ID: hedtsk_weapons_identification
Also known as: Shooter Bias Task, Weapons Task, Payne Task
Speeded categorization of tools vs weapons primed by faces of varying race; congruence effects index implicit racial bias in perception.
Description¶
Participants view face primes (typically Black and White faces, presented briefly) followed by target objects that are either weapons (guns, knives) or non-threatening objects (tools, household items). Participants must rapidly classify the target object while ignoring the face prime. The paradigm measures implicit racial bias through two routes: behavioral errors (misclassifying tools as weapons more often after Black face primes) and EEG markers of error monitoring (enhanced ERN on racially biased error trials). The ERN enhancement on bias-consistent errors indicates that the anterior cingulate cortex detects the conflict between egalitarian goals and automatic stereotype-driven responses, with ERN amplitude predicting subsequent behavioral correction. This paradigm bridges social psychology, implicit cognition, and cognitive neuroscience by providing a neural signature of bias detection.
Inclusion test¶
Procedure |
A face (Black or White) is flashed briefly, followed by an object (weapon or tool); participants classify the object. Racial bias is indexed by differential accuracy or speed. |
Manipulation |
Face race; object type (weapon vs. tool); presentation duration; response deadline. |
Measurement |
Signal-detection measures of racial bias (criterion shift); error rate for weapon/tool by face race; RT differences; shooter bias (shoot/don’t-shoot variants). |
Variations¶
Variation |
Description |
Justification |
|---|---|---|
First-Person Shooter Task (Correll et al., 2002) |
Participants “shoot” or “don’t shoot” armed/unarmed targets in realistic scenes; the classic police-decision paradigm. |
Video-game format shooter task; different motor response and scenario structure |
Weapons Task in Virtual Reality |
Immersive VR versions increasing ecological validity for applied research. |
Immersive VR environment; full-body spatial and motor engagement |
Cognitive processes¶
This task engages the following cognitive processes:
Key references¶
{‘authors’: ‘Amodio, D. M., Harmon-Jones, E., Devine, P. G., Curtin, J. J., Hartley, S. L., & Covert, A. E.’, ‘year’: 2004, ‘title’: ‘Neural Signals for the Detection of Unintentional Race Bias’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychological Science’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychological Science’, ‘volume’: ‘15’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘88-93’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01502003.x’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Amodio, D. M., Harmon-Jones, E., Devine, P. G., Curtin, J. J., Hartley, S. L., & Covert, A. E. (2004). Neural signals for the detection of unintentional race bias. Psychological Science, 15(2), 88–93.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01502003.x’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Payne, B. K.’, ‘year’: 2001, ‘title’: ‘Prejudice and perception: The role of automatic and controlled processes in misperceiving a weapon.’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, ‘volume’: ‘81’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘181-192’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037//0022-3514.81.2.181’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Payne, B. K. (2001). Prejudice and perception: The role of automatic and controlled processes in misperceiving a weapon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2), 181–192.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.81.2.181’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Bartholow, B. D., Pearson, M. A., Dickter, C. L., Sher, K. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G.’, ‘year’: 2005, ‘title’: ‘Strategic control and medial frontal negativity: Beyond errors and response conflict’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychophysiology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychophysiology’, ‘volume’: ‘42’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘33-42’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1111/j.1469-8986.2005.00258.x’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Bartholow, B. D., Pearson, M. A., Dickter, C. L., Sher, K. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2005). Strategic control and medial frontal negativity: Beyond errors and response conflict. Psychophysiology, 42(1), 33–42.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2005.00258.x’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
Recent references¶
{‘authors’: ‘Amodio, D. M.’, ‘year’: 2014, ‘title’: ‘The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping’, ‘venue’: ‘Nature Reviews Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Nature Reviews Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘15’, ‘issue’: ‘10’, ‘pages’: ‘670-682’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1038/nrn3800’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Amodio, D. M. (2014). The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(10), 670–682.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3800’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., & Wittenbrink, B.’, ‘year’: 2002, ‘title’: “The police officer’s dilemma: Using ethnicity to disambiguate potentially threatening individuals.”, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, ‘volume’: ‘83’, ‘issue’: ‘6’, ‘pages’: ‘1314-1329’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1314’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: “Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., & Wittenbrink, B. (2002). The police officer’s dilemma: Using ethnicity to disambiguate potentially threatening individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1314–1329.”, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1314’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Amodio, D. M., & Cikara, M.’, ‘year’: 2021, ‘title’: ‘The Social Neuroscience of Prejudice’, ‘venue’: ‘Annual Review of Psychology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Annual Review of Psychology’, ‘volume’: ‘72’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘439-469’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050928’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Amodio, D. M., & Cikara, M. (2021). The social neuroscience of prejudice. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 439–469.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050928’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}
{‘authors’: ‘Correll, J., Hudson, S. M., Guillermo, S., & Ma, D. S.’, ‘year’: 2014, ‘title’: “The Police Officer’s Dilemma: A Decade of Research on Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot”, ‘venue’: ‘Social and Personality Psychology Compass’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Social and Personality Psychology Compass’, ‘volume’: ‘8’, ‘issue’: ‘5’, ‘pages’: ‘201-213’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1111/spc3.12099’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: “Correll, J., Hudson, S. M., Guillermo, S., & Ma, D. S. (2014). The police officer’s dilemma: A decade of research on racial bias in the decision to shoot. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(5), 201–213.”, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12099’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}