title: Efficient human face detection in infancy.
abstract: Adults detect conspecific faces more efficiently than heterospecific faces; however, the development of this own-species bias (OSB) remains unexplored. We tested whether 6- and 11-month-olds exhibit OSB in their attention to human and animal faces in complex visual displays with high perceptual load (25 images competing for attention). Infants (n = 48) and adults (n = 43) passively viewed arrays containing a face among 24 non-face distractors while we measured their gaze with remote eye tracking. While OSB is typically not observed until about 9 months, we found that, already by 6 months, human faces were more likely to be detected, were detected more quickly (attention capture), and received longer looks (attention holding) than animal faces. These data suggest that 6-month-olds already exhibit OSB in face detection efficiency, consistent with perceptual attunement. This specialization may reflect the biological importance of detecting conspecific faces, a foundational ability for early social interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Krisztina V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Jakobsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Umstead
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Dickerson, MD, USA.|Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: attention capture; eye tracking; face learning; face processing; face specialization; infant; own-species bias; perceptual attunement; saliency; social orienting; visual attention