title: The development of visual search in infancy: Attention to faces versus salience.
abstract: Four experiments examined how faces compete with physically salient stimuli for the control of attention in 4-, 6-, and 8-month-old infants (N = 117 total). Three computational models were used to quantify physical salience. We presented infants with visual search arrays containing a face and familiar object(s), such as shoes and flowers. Six- and 8-month-old infants looked first and longest at faces; their looking was not strongly influenced by physical salience. In contrast, 4-month-old infants showed a visual preference for the face only when the arrays contained 2 items and the competitor was relatively low in salience. When the arrays contained many items or the only competitor was relatively high in salience, 4-month-old infants' looks were more often directed at the most salient item. Thus, over ages of 4 to 8 months, physical salience has a decreasing influence and faces have an increasing influence on where and how long infants look.
authors: Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis.
authors: Mee-Kyoung
authors: MK
authors: Kwon
authors: Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis.
authors: Mielle
authors: M
authors: Setoodehnia
authors: Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology.
authors: Jongsoo
authors: J
authors: Baek
authors: Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis.
authors: Steven J
authors: SJ
authors: Luck
authors: Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis.
authors: Lisa M
authors: LM
authors: Oakes
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013997:Time Factors