1. Race-Based Perceptual Asymmetry in Face Processing Is Evident Early in Life.
- Author
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Hayden, Angela, Bhatt, Ramesh S., Kangas, Ashley, Zieber, Nicole, and Joseph, Jane E.
- Subjects
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STATISTICAL correlation , *EXPERIMENTAL design , *FACE , *INFANT psychology , *SCIENTIFIC observation , *RACE , *RESEARCH funding , *VIDEO recording , *TASK performance , *INTER-observer reliability , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *CHILDREN - Abstract
Adults' processing of own-race faces differs from that of other-race faces. The presence of an 'other-race' feature (ORF) has been proposed as a mechanism underlying this specialization. We examined whether this mechanism, which was previously identified in adults and in 9-month-olds, is evident at 3.5 months. Caucasian 3.5-month-olds looked longer at a pattern containing a single Asian face among seven Caucasian faces than at a pattern containing a single Caucasian face among seven Asian faces. Homogenous and inverted face control conditions indicated that infants' preference was not driven by the majority of faces in arrays or by low-level features. Thus, 3.5-month-olds found the presence of an other-race face among own-race faces to be more salient than the reverse configuration. This asymmetry suggests sensitivity to an ORF at 3.5 months. Thus, a key mechanism of race-based processing in adults has an early onset, indicating rapid development of specialization early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
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