Ethnic familiarity does not affect 6- and 10-month-olds’ processing of novel faces
Tanya MacGillivray Broesch, Erin Robbins, Philippe Rochat
Department of Psychology, Emory University
Background and Aims: Previous studies have documented a shift in the ability to discriminate faces as a function of early exposure, indicating that there may be emerging face categories in the first months (de Haan, Belsky, Reid, Volein, & Johnson, 2004; Slater et al., 2000). In particular, Pascalis, de Haan, & Nelson (2002) report a change between 6- and 10-months, in infants’ ability to perceptually discriminate among monkey faces. We further investigated the mechanism underlying this development by recording 6- and 10-month-olds’ visual exploration of novel adult human faces that were either ethnically familiar or unfamiliar (black or white individuals) using a non-invasive (Tobii) eye tracking device.
Methods: Twenty-seven infants were tested using a Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) procedure modeled after Pascalis and co-authors (2002). We used a within subjects design and presented infants with two blocked conditions of faces from either same- or other- ethnic faces. Infants were familiarized to a face, followed by preferential looking test trials in which the Familiar was paired with a Novel face. In order to determine visual discrimination, we recorded and analyzed infants’ visual exploration of Novel and Familiar faces either from same- and other- ethnic faces.
Results: We analyzed total gaze duration to Novel and Familiar faces during test trials, as a function of whether it matched or did not match the infant’s ethnicity. Confirming past studies, 6-month-olds displayed visual discrimination with preferential looking for Familiar faces regardless of matching or non matching ethnicity (black or white). In contrast, 10-month-olds did not show any signs of discrimination in any of the conditions. Consistent with previous developmental studies, 10-month-olds gaze distribution becomes more evenly distributed across regions of the face, compared to gaze patterns of 6 month-olds.
Conclusions: These findings confirm that there is a general developmental shift in face processing between 6- and 10-months that is independent of ethnic familiarity. More studies are needed to understand the potential effect of exposure and familiarity on face processing and social perception in the first year of life. We interpret these findings as indicating a potential shift in what constitutes a familiar face, with familiarity becoming restricted to primary caretakers in the life of the infant by 10-months of age.