title: The development of spatial frequency biases in face recognition.
abstract: Previous research has suggested that a mid-band of spatial frequencies is critical to face recognition in adults, but few studies have explored the development of this bias in children. We present a paradigm adapted from the adult literature to test spatial frequency biases throughout development. Faces were presented on a screen with particular spatial frequencies blocked out by noise masks. A mid-band bias was found in adults and 9- and 10-year-olds for upright faces but not for inverted faces, suggesting a face-sensitive effect. However, 7- and 8-year-olds did not demonstrate the mid-band bias for upright faces but rather processed upright and inverted faces similarly. This suggests that specialization toward the mid-band for upright face recognition develops gradually during childhood and may relate to an advanced level of face expertise.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, UK. h.leonard@psychology.bbk.ac.uk
authors.forename: Hayley C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karmiloff-Smith
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013028:Space Perception