Who shot first? Presence, stereotype priming and memory in a virtual reality environment

Virtual environments (VEs) offer a unique way to study the relationships between racial stereotypes and evaluations of ambiguous situations and memory for stereotype-consistent and inconsistent information. The immersive environment of 360 VEs can increase users’ sense of presence or “being there” in the virtual environment. This can increase engagement with the environment and events and could increase the perceived realism of the situation. The VE experience also differs from that of observing a video or image of an event. In those situations, video creators can frame the event--drawing attention to certain features—and essentially informing the viewer that the information within the screen frame is relevant. In a 360 VE, users’ attention may be drawn to multiple features or events within that environment. This study attempts to determine whether priming racial stereotypes influences interpretations of situations and stereotype-consistent memory of events occurring in virtual reality environments.