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Alexander Todorov


Alexander Todorov b. 1968

A professor of psychology, Alexander Todorov’s research in the areas of social cognition and person perception have often focused on first impressions. With a particular emphasis on the social dimensions of face perception, he has used multiple methods: from behavioural and fMRI experiments investigating evaluative processes to building of computational models identifying the perceptual properties of objects and faces evoking specific evaluations. Todorov describes how we have evolved these using a network of brain regions dedicated to the processing of faces, suggesting that the impressions we draw from faces reveal a map of our own biases and stereotypes. His work includes examining how we use snap judgments of faces to predict, and what implications this has.

Read Face Value (2017) Princeton University Press

Watch Alexander Todorov's talk on Face Value: First Impressions: