Alexander Todorov

Alexander Todorov
Human Neuroscience Human Neuroscience

Professor of Psychology

Ph.D., New York University, 2002
Faculty
Research: Cognitive and neural mechanisms of social perception and social cognition with a particular emphasis on the social dimensions of face perception.
Areas of Research: Social Cognition and Person Perception
atodorov@princeton.edu
Research Lab
609-258-7463
323 Peretsman Scully Hall

Research Focus

In the Social Perception Lab, we study how people perceive, evaluate, and make sense of the social world.
 
We use multiple methods: from behavioral and fMRI experiments investigating evaluative processes to building of computational models identifying the perceptual properties of objects and faces evoking specific evaluations.
 

Selected Publications

  • Todorov, A. (2017). Face Value: The Irresistible Influence of First Impressions. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
  • Todorov, A., Olivola, C. Y., Dotsch, R., & Mende-Siedlecki, P. (2015). Social attributions from faces: Determinants, consequences, accuracy, and functional significance. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 519-545. PDF
  • Mende-Siedlecki, P., & Todorov, A. (2014). The role of the amygdala in face processing. In M. Gazzaniga & G. R. Mangun (Eds.), The Cognitive Neurosciences V (pp. 767-776). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Mende-Siedlecki, P., Baron, S. G., & Todorov, A. (2013). Diagnostic value underlies asymmetric updating of impressions in the morality and ability domains. Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 19406-19415. PDF
  • Mende-Siedlecki, P. M., Verosky, S. C., Turk-Browne, N. B., & Todorov, A. (2013). Robust selectivity for faces in the human amygdala in the absence of expressions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 2086-2106. PDF
  • Todorov, A., Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., Oosterhof, N. N., & Falvello, V. B. (2013). Validation of data-driven computational models of social perception of faces. Emotion, 13, 724-738. PDF
  • Aviezer, H., Trope, Y., & Todorov, A. (2012). Body cues, not facial expressions, discriminate between intense positive and negative emotions. Science, 338, 1225-1229. PDF
  • Said, C. P., Dotsch, R., & Todorov, A. (2010). The amygdala and FFA track both social and non-social face dimensions. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3596-3605. PDF
  • Oosterhof, N. N., & Todorov, A. (2008). The functional basis of face evaluation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 105, 11087-11092. PDF