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Damon F, Quinn PC, Méary D, Pascalis O. Asymmetrical responding to male versus female other-race categories in 9- to 12-month-old infants. Br J Psychol 2022; 114 Suppl 1:71-93. [PMID: 35808935 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Faces can be categorized along various dimensions including gender or race, an ability developing in infancy. Infant categorization studies have focused on facial attributes in isolation, but the interaction between these attributes remains poorly understood. Experiment 1 examined gender categorization of other-race faces in 9- and 12-month-old White infants. Nine- and 12-month-olds were familiarized with Asian male or female faces, and tested with a novel exemplar from the familiarized category paired with a novel exemplar from a novel category. Both age groups showed novel category preferences for novel Asian female faces after familiarization with Asian male faces, but showed no novel category preference for novel Asian male faces after familiarization with Asian female faces. This categorization asymmetry was not due to a spontaneous preference hindering novel category reaction (Experiment 2), and both age groups displayed difficulty discriminating among male, but not female, other-race faces (Experiment 3). These results indicate that category formation for male other-race faces is mediated by categorical perception. Overall, the findings suggest that even by 12 months of age, infants are not fully able to form gender category representations of other-race faces, responding categorically to male, but not female, other-race faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrice Damon
- Center for Taste, Smell & Feeding Behavior, Development of Olfactory Communication & Cognition Laboratory, Université de Bourgogne, CNRS, Inrae, Institut Agro Dijon, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Paul C Quinn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - David Méary
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LPNC, Grenoble, France.,LPNC, CNRS, Grenoble, France
| | - Olivier Pascalis
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LPNC, Grenoble, France.,LPNC, CNRS, Grenoble, France
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Taylor LK, Dautel J, Rylander R. Symbols and labels: Children's awareness of social categories in a divided society. JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY 2020; 48:1512-1526. [PMID: 32176326 DOI: 10.1002/jcop.22344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
AIMS How and when children develop an understanding of group boundaries have implications for conflict resolution. When social divisions are not perceptually distinct, symbols become particularly important. Framed by the Social Identity Development Theory, this study was designed to assess children's categorization of symbols with conflict-related group labels. METHOD In Northern Ireland, 218 children (M = 8.14, SD = 1.83, range 5-11 years old) participated in a novel task designed for this study. The sample was evenly split by child gender and community background. RESULTS Children sorted symbols above chance with both the hypothesized national (i.e., British/Irish) and ethno-political (i.e., Protestant/Catholic) labels, showing a stronger association for the former. Sorting was also stronger for ingroup symbols, compared to outgroup symbols, and increased with age. CONCLUSION These findings reflect the potential role that a divided social world has on the development of children's understanding of conflict-related groups. The results also have implications for intergroup relations among children in divided societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura K Taylor
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
| | - Jocelyn Dautel
- School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
| | - Risa Rylander
- School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
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3
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White H, Chroust A, Jubran R, Heck A, Bhatt RS. Waist-to-Hip Ratio Sensitivity in Early Infancy. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2020; 29. [PMID: 34385889 DOI: 10.1002/icd.2170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is correlated with health and associated with sex, attractiveness, and age judgments by adults. We examined the development of sensitivity to the WHR by testing 3.5-month-old infants' (N = 71) preference between images depicting different WHRs. Female 3.5-month-olds exhibited a preference for the WHR associated with attractiveness and mate value by adults (0.7) over a larger WHR (0.9). This preference was exhibited when infants were tested on upright stimuli but not when they were tested on inverted stimuli, indicating that low-level differences (e.g., curviness) were not driving performance. This sensitivity to WHR may lay the foundation for more explicit preferences and categorical associations later in life. In contrast to females, male infants failed to exhibit a significant preference for the 0.7 WHR in either orientation, replicating previous findings of female infants' superior processing of social stimuli. Implications for theories of the development of body knowledge and sex differences in social information processing are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah White
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Alyson Chroust
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Rachel Jubran
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Alison Heck
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Ramesh S Bhatt
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
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4
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Infants' Individuation of Faces by Gender. Brain Sci 2019; 9:brainsci9070163. [PMID: 31373332 PMCID: PMC6680589 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9070163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
By 3 months of age, infants can perceptually distinguish faces based upon differences in gender. However, it is still unknown when infants begin using these perceptual differences to represent faces in a conceptual, kind-based manner. The current study examined this issue by using a violation-of-expectation manual search individuation paradigm to assess 12- and 24-month-old infants’ kind-based representations of faces varying by gender. While infants of both ages successfully individuated human faces from non-face shapes in a control condition, only the 24-month-old infants’ reaching behaviors provided evidence of their individuating male from female faces. The current findings help specify when infants begin to represent male and female faces as being conceptually distinct and may serve as a starting point for socio-cognitive biases observed later in development.
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White H, Jubran R, Heck A, Chroust A, Bhatt RS. Sex-specific scanning in infancy: Developmental changes in the use of face/head and body information. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 182:126-143. [PMID: 30825728 PMCID: PMC6414250 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The current investigation sought to differentiate between contrasting perspectives of body knowledge development by determining whether infants' adult-like scanning of male and female bodies is dependent on relevant information from the face/head alone, the body alone, or a combination of both sources. Scanning patterns of 3.5-, 6.5-, and 9-month-olds (N = 80) in response to images that contained information relevant to sex classification in either the face/head or the body were examined. The results indicate that sex-specific scanning in the presence of only one source of relevant information (i.e., face/head or body) is present only at 9 months. Thus, although sex-specific scanning of bodies emerges as early as 3.5 months, information from both faces/heads and bodies is required until sometime between 6.5 and 9 months of age. These findings constrain theories of the development of social perception by documenting the complex interplay between body and face/head processing early in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah White
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
| | | | - Alison Heck
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
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Dixon KC, Reynolds GD, Romano AC, Roth KC, Stumpe AL, Guy MW, Mosteller SM. Neural correlates of individuation and categorization of other-species faces in infancy. Neuropsychologia 2019; 126:27-35. [PMID: 28986267 PMCID: PMC5882603 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.09.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2017] [Revised: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate 9-month-old infants' ability to individuate and categorize other-species faces at the subordinate level. We were also interested in examining the effects of initial exposure conditions on infant categorization and individuation processes. Infants were either familiarized with a single monkey face in an individuation procedure or familiarized with multiple exemplars of monkey faces from the same species in a categorization procedure. Event-related potentials were recorded while the infants were presented: familiar faces, novel faces from the familiar species, or novel faces from a novel species. The categorization group categorized monkey faces by species at the subordinate level, whereas the individuation group did not discriminate monkey faces at the individual or subordinate level. These findings indicate initial exposure to multiple exemplars facilitates infant processing of other-species faces, and infants are efficient at subordinate-level categorization at 9 months of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate C Dixon
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; University of Louisville, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
| | - Greg D Reynolds
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
| | - Alexandra C Romano
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
| | - Kelly C Roth
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
| | - Alexa L Stumpe
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
| | - Maggie W Guy
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; University of South Carolina, Department of Psychology, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
| | - Sara M Mosteller
- University of Tennessee, Department of Psychology, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; University of East Anglia, School of Psychology, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom.
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White H, Hock A, Jubran R, Heck A, Bhatt RS. Visual scanning of male and female bodies in infancy. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 166:79-95. [PMID: 28888194 PMCID: PMC5724933 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Revised: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/11/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
This study addressed the development of attention to information that is socially relevant to adults by examining infants' (N=64) scanning patterns of male and female bodies. Infants exhibited systematic attention to regions associated with sex-related scanning by adults, with 3.5- and 6.5-month-olds looking longer at the torsos of females than of males and looking longer at the legs of males than of females. However, this pattern of looking was not found when infants were tested on headless bodies in Experiment 2, suggesting that infants' differential gaze pattern in Experiment 1 was not due to low-level stimulus features, such as clothing, and also indicating that facial/head information is necessary for infants to exhibit sex-specific scanning. We discuss implications for models of face and body knowledge development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah White
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
| | - Alyson Hock
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
| | | | - Alison Heck
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
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Damon F, Mottier H, Méary D, Pascalis O. A Review of Attractiveness Preferences in Infancy: From Faces to Objects. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-017-0071-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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9
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Liberman Z, Woodward AL, Kinzler KD. The Origins of Social Categorization. Trends Cogn Sci 2017; 21:556-568. [PMID: 28499741 PMCID: PMC5605918 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 04/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Forming conceptually-rich social categories helps people to navigate the complex social world by allowing them to reason about the likely thoughts, beliefs, actions, and interactions of others, as guided by group membership. Nevertheless, social categorization often has nefarious consequences. We suggest that the foundation of the human ability to form useful social categories is in place in infancy: social categories guide the inferences infants make about the shared characteristics and social relationships of other people. We also suggest that the ability to form abstract social categories may be separable from the eventual negative downstream consequences of social categorization, including prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. Although a tendency to form inductively-rich social categories appears early in ontogeny, prejudice based on each particular category dimension may not be inevitable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Liberman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
| | - Amanda L Woodward
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Katherine D Kinzler
- Departments of Psychology and Human Development, Cornell University, 244 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Abstract
AbstractPredominant experience with females early in development results in infants developing an attractive, female-like facial representation that guides children's attention toward and affective preferences for attractive females. When combined with increased interest in the other sex at puberty, these early emerging biases might help explain the robust prosocial and financial biases men exhibit toward attractive women during adulthood.
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