search by an observer. An observer looking for a target object is more attuned to the object’s attributes and will be able to pick them out more rapidly from a crowd. Social salience of people The social salience of an individual is a compilation of that individual's salient attributes. These may be changes to dress or physical attributes with respect to a previous point in time or with respect to the surrounding environment Salient attributes of an individual may include the following: Clothing (e.g., boldly patterned clothing) Manipulation to physical appearance (e.g., novel hair color) Accessory that is infrequent in presence across the general population or indicative of an individual change (e.g., a leg brace) The social salience of an individual in a group is defined both by individual salient attributes and comparison with the attributes of other members of the group. As with the salience of objects, the social salience of an individual in a group depends on the attributes of the other members of that group. Little is known about social salience between groups but within-group preferences lead to greater social salience for members of an observer’s own group than for members outside of the group or in a different group. Salient attributes of an individual in a group may include the following: Activeness Trustworthiness Friendliness Volume of speech Reliability Moderators of social salience Negative Moderators of Social Salience Machines with multiple channels of communication allow for interpersonal communication among many active parties. Fewer channels lead to a decreased social salience of other members as perceived by any one participant. Compared with direct communication, communication over digital interfaces result in fewer nonverbal cues that provide necessary information as to the relationships between participants (status-specific or otherwise) as well as other social context. As a result, communication over digital interfaces is less personable and less productive than in-person communication. Positive Moderators of Social Salience Oxytocin has a positive impact on the awareness of social cues in individuals with social impairment. The release of oxytocin both mediates directly prosocial behavior and increases perception of social salience. The salience of mortality is also an active moderator of social salience. Mechanistically, increasing salience of mortality increases fear of isolation and thereby improves the rate of altruistic pro-social behavior. This spurs awareness of relevant social cues leading to increased social salience. Notes References McArthur & Ginsberg, 1981 Robbins & Krueger, 2005 Walther et