title: Preference for human eyes in human infants.
abstract: Despite evidence supporting an early attraction to human faces, the nature of the face representation in neonates and its development during the first year after birth remain poorly understood. One suggestion is that an early preference for human faces reflects an attraction toward human eyes because human eyes are distinctive compared with other animals. In accord with this proposal, prior empirical studies have demonstrated the importance of the eye region in face processing in adults and infants. However, an attraction for the human eye has never been shown directly in infants. The current study aimed to investigate whether an attraction for human eyes would be present in newborns and older infants. With the use of a preferential looking time paradigm, newborns and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month-olds were simultaneously presented with a pair of nonhuman primate faces (chimpanzees and Barbary macaques) that differed only by the eyes, thereby pairing a face with original nonhuman primate eyes with the same face in which the eyes were replaced by human eyes. Our results revealed that no preference was observed in newborns, but a preference for nonhuman primate faces with human eyes emerged from 3months of age and remained stable thereafter. The findings are discussed in terms of how a preference for human eyes may emerge during the first few months after birth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38040 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dupierrix
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38040 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Anne Hillairet
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: de Boisferon
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38040 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Méary
authors.affiliation: Eric Jackman Institute of Child Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2X2, Canada.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Giorgio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simion
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomonaga
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38040 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. Electronic address: olivier.pascalis@upmf-grenoble.fr.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pascalis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D002657:Child Development; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005123:Eye; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008251:Macaca; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D002666:Psychology, Child
keywords: Eye; Face; Infant; Monkey; Newborn; Visual preference