title: Children view own-age faces qualitatively differently to other-age faces.
abstract: Like most own-group biases in face recognition, the own-age bias (OAB) is thought to be based either on perceptual expertise or socio-cognitive motivational mechanisms [Wolff, N., Kemter, K., Schweinberger, S. R., & Wiese, H. (2013). What drives social in-group biases in face recognition memory? ERP evidence from the own-gender bias.Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. doi:10.1093/scan/nst024]. The present study employed a recognition paradigm with eye-tracking in order to assess whether participants actively viewed faces of their own-age differently to that of other-age faces. The results indicated a significant OAB (superior recognition for own-age relative to other-age faces), provided that they were upright, indicative of expertise being employed for the recognition of own-age faces. However, the eye-tracking results indicate that viewing other-age faces was qualitatively different to the viewing of own-age faces, with more nose fixations for other-age faces. These results are interpreted as supporting the socio-cognitive model of the OAB.
authors: Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University , Dorset , UK.
authors: Peter J
authors: 0000-0002-0097-9170
authors: PJ
authors: Hills
authors: Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University , Cambridge , UK.
authors: Susan F L
authors: SF
authors: Willis
keywords: Eye-tracking; face recognition; own-age bias; perceptual expertise; pupillometry