1
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Kim KK, Fang W, Liu AY, Panesar D, Xiao NG. Altered development of face recognition among infants born amid the COVID-19 pandemic. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 244:105942. [PMID: 38703752 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
To effectively contain the spread of COVID-19, public health agencies mandated special regulations. Although they protected us from COVID-19, these restrictions have inevitably changed the environment around us. It remains unclear how these changes may have affected early cognitive development among infants born during the pandemic. Thus, this study examined how the COVID-19 restrictions have affected infants' face recognition ability, a hallmark of their cognitive capacities. Specifically, we used the familiarization and visual pair comparison paradigm to examine face recognition performance among infants aged 6 to 14 months amid the second wave of the pandemic (February to July 2021). Experiment 1 investigated the recognition of unmasked faces and found that only younger infants, but not older infants, recognized faces by showing a novelty preference. Experiment 2 examined the recognition of faces wearing masks and found that only older infants, but not younger ones, recognized faces by exhibiting a familiarity preference. These results suggest that with limited interactions during the pandemic, infants could have developed an overly specialized face processing ability that failed to recognize the faces of strangers. Moreover, infants could have obtained more information on masked faces during the pandemic and adapted to the current situation. In Expreiment 3, we further confirmed the restriction on infants' interpersonal experiences with a survey conducted both before and during the pandemic. Overall, these findings demonstrated how the pandemic altered early perceptual development and further confirmed that interpersonal experiences during infancy are critical in their cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Kyuri Kim
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Wei Fang
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Anna Y Liu
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Darshan Panesar
- Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada
| | - Naiqi G Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada.
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2
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Butcher N, Bennetts RJ, Sexton L, Barbanta A, Lander K. Eye movement differences when recognising and learning moving and static faces. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024:17470218241252145. [PMID: 38644390 DOI: 10.1177/17470218241252145] [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: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Seeing a face in motion can help subsequent face recognition. Several explanations have been proposed for this "motion advantage," but other factors that might play a role have received less attention. For example, facial movement might enhance recognition by attracting attention to the internal facial features, thereby facilitating identification. However, there is no direct evidence that motion increases attention to regions of the face that facilitate identification (i.e., internal features) compared with static faces. We tested this hypothesis by recording participants' eye movements while they completed the famous face recognition (Experiment 1, N = 32), and face-learning (Experiment 2, N = 60, Experiment 3, N = 68) tasks, with presentation style manipulated (moving or static). Across all three experiments, a motion advantage was found, and participants directed a higher proportion of fixations to the internal features (i.e., eyes, nose, and mouth) of moving faces versus static. Conversely, the proportion of fixations to the internal non-feature area (i.e., cheeks, forehead, chin) and external area (Experiment 3) was significantly reduced for moving compared with static faces (all ps < .05). Results suggest that during both familiar and unfamiliar face recognition, facial motion is associated with increased attention to internal facial features, but only during familiar face recognition is the magnitude of the motion advantage significantly related functionally to the proportion of fixations directed to the internal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Butcher
- Department of Psychology, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
| | | | - Laura Sexton
- Department of Psychology, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK
| | | | - Karen Lander
- Division of Psychology, Communication and Human Neuroscience, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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3
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Xiao NG, Angeli V, Fang W, Manera V, Liu S, Castiello U, Ge L, Lee K, Simion F. The discrimination of expressions in facial movements by infants: A study with point-light displays. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 232:105671. [PMID: 37003155 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105671] [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: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
Perceiving facial expressions is an essential ability for infants. Although previous studies indicated that infants could perceive emotion from expressive facial movements, the developmental change of this ability remains largely unknown. To exclusively examine infants' processing of facial movements, we used point-light displays (PLDs) to present emotionally expressive facial movements. Specifically, we used a habituation and visual paired comparison (VPC) paradigm to investigate whether 3-, 6-, and 9-month-olds could discriminate between happy and fear PLDs after being habituated with a happy PLD (happy-habituation condition) or a fear PLD (fear-habituation condition). The 3-month-olds discriminated between the happy and fear PLDs in both the happy- and fear-habituation conditions. The 6- and 9-month-olds showed discrimination only in the happy-habituation condition but not in the fear-habituation condition. These results indicated a developmental change in processing expressive facial movements. Younger infants tended to process low-level motion signals regardless of the depicted emotions, and older infants tended to process expressions, which emerged in familiar facial expressions (e.g., happy). Additional analyses of individual difference and eye movement patterns supported this conclusion. In Experiment 2, we concluded that the findings of Experiment 1 were not due to a spontaneous preference for fear PLDs. Using inverted PLDs, Experiment 3 further suggested that 3-month-olds have already perceived PLDs as face-like stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naiqi G Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada.
| | - Valentina Angeli
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Wei Fang
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
| | - Valeria Manera
- Cognition Behaviour Technology (CoBTeK), EA 7276, Edmond and Lily Safra Center, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, 06000 Nice, France
| | - Shaoying Liu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Umberto Castiello
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Liezhong Ge
- Center for Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Kang Lee
- Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2X2, Canada
| | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
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4
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Rennels JL. Recommendations for Investigating the Cross-Category Effect Among Hispanic and Latino Populations. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:461-471. [PMID: 36068005 DOI: 10.1177/17456916221100508] [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: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Individuals who are Hispanic or Latino make up a substantial portion of the U.S. and world population yet are vastly underrepresented as both participants and stimuli in the face-perception literature. Perceiving and recognizing faces are critical components of everyday social interactions, but cross-category effects (difficulty recognizing faces from other races or ethnicities) can hinder social interactions. Cross-category effects are the most commonly studied face-perception topic with these ethnic groups, but this empirical knowledge should be expanded via culturally relevant considerations. In this article, I describe (a) errors individuals display when categorizing target faces, (b) how social status influences identity and cross-category effects, (c) the potential impact of flexible and heterogeneous social identities on face processing, (d) a critical need for more developmental research, and (e) methodological expansions and generalizability concerns. Thus, I propose important directions for future studies to address these issues and advance knowledge in the field.
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5
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DeBolt MC, Oakes LM. The impact of face masks on infants' learning of faces: An eye tracking study. INFANCY 2023; 28:71-91. [PMID: 36519625 PMCID: PMC9869981 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
This preregistered study examined how face masks influenced face memory in a North American sample of 6- to 9-month-old infants (N = 58) born during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infants' memory was tested using a standard visual paired comparison (VPC) task. We crossed whether or not the faces were masked during familiarization and test, yielding four trial types (masked-familiarization/masked-test, unmasked-familiarization/masked-test, masked-familiarization/unmasked-test, and unmasked-familiarization/unmasked-test). Infants showed memory for the faces if the faces were unmasked at test, regardless of whether or not the face was masked during familiarization. However, infants did not show robust evidence of memory when test faces were masked, regardless of the familiarization condition. In addition, infants' bias for looking at the upper (eye) region was greater for masked than unmasked faces, although this difference was unrelated to memory performance. In summary, although the presence of face masks does appear to influence infants' processing of and memory for faces, they can form memories of masked faces and recognize those familiar faces even when unmasked.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lisa M Oakes
- University of California, Davis, California, USA
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6
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Carnevali L, Gui A, Jones EJH, Farroni T. Face Processing in Early Development: A Systematic Review of Behavioral Studies and Considerations in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic. Front Psychol 2022; 13:778247. [PMID: 35250718 PMCID: PMC8894249 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.778247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human faces are one of the most prominent stimuli in the visual environment of young infants and convey critical information for the development of social cognition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mask wearing has become a common practice outside the home environment. With masks covering nose and mouth regions, the facial cues available to the infant are impoverished. The impact of these changes on development is unknown but is critical to debates around mask mandates in early childhood settings. As infants grow, they increasingly interact with a broader range of familiar and unfamiliar people outside the home; in these settings, mask wearing could possibly influence social development. In order to generate hypotheses about the effects of mask wearing on infant social development, in the present work, we systematically review N = 129 studies selected based on the most recent PRISMA guidelines providing a state-of-the-art framework of behavioral studies investigating face processing in early infancy. We focused on identifying sensitive periods during which being exposed to specific facial features or to the entire face configuration has been found to be important for the development of perceptive and socio-communicative skills. For perceptive skills, infants gradually learn to analyze the eyes or the gaze direction within the context of the entire face configuration. This contributes to identity recognition as well as emotional expression discrimination. For socio-communicative skills, direct gaze and emotional facial expressions are crucial for attention engagement while eye-gaze cuing is important for joint attention. Moreover, attention to the mouth is particularly relevant for speech learning. We discuss possible implications of the exposure to masked faces for developmental needs and functions. Providing groundwork for further research, we encourage the investigation of the consequences of mask wearing for infants' perceptive and socio-communicative development, suggesting new directions within the research field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Anna Gui
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emily J. H. Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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7
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Zhou X, Vyas S, Ning J, Moulson MC. Naturalistic Face Learning in Infants and Adults. Psychol Sci 2021; 33:135-151. [PMID: 34919451 DOI: 10.1177/09567976211030630] [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: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Everyday face recognition presents a difficult challenge because faces vary naturally in appearance as a result of changes in lighting, expression, viewing angle, and hairstyle. We know little about how humans develop the ability to learn faces despite natural facial variability. In the current study, we provide the first examination of attentional mechanisms underlying adults' and infants' learning of naturally varying faces. Adults (n = 48) and 6- to 12-month-old infants (n = 48) viewed videos of models reading a storybook; the facial appearance of these models was either high or low in variability. Participants then viewed the learned face paired with a novel face. Infants showed adultlike prioritization of face over nonface regions; both age groups fixated the face region more in the high- than low-variability condition. Overall, however, infants showed less ability to resist contextual distractions during learning, which potentially contributed to their lack of discrimination between the learned and novel faces. Mechanisms underlying face learning across natural variability are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shruti Vyas
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University
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8
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Prunty JE, Keemink JR, Kelly DJ. Infants scan static and dynamic facial expressions differently. INFANCY 2021; 26:831-856. [PMID: 34288344 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Despite being inherently dynamic phenomena, much of our understanding of how infants attend and scan facial expressions is based on static face stimuli. Here we investigate how six-, nine-, and twelve-month infants allocate their visual attention toward dynamic-interactive videos of the six basic emotional expressions, and compare their responses with static images of the same stimuli. We find infants show clear differences in how they attend and scan dynamic and static expressions, looking longer toward the dynamic-face and lower-face regions. Infants across all age groups show differential interest in expressions, and show precise scanning of regions "diagnostic" for emotion recognition. These data also indicate that infants' attention toward dynamic expressions develops over the first year of life, including relative increases in interest and scanning precision toward some negative facial expressions (e.g., anger, fear, and disgust).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - David J Kelly
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
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9
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Hillairet de Boisferon A, Kubicek C, Gervain J, Schwarzer G, Loevenbruck H, Vilain A, Fort M, Méary D, Pascalis O. Language familiarity influences own-race face recognition in 9- and 12-month-old infants. INFANCY 2021; 26:647-659. [PMID: 33988894 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
During their first year, infants attune to the faces and language(s) that are frequent in their environment. The present study investigates the impact of language familiarity on how French-learning 9- and 12-month-olds recognize own-race faces. In Experiment 1, infants were familiarized with the talking face of a Caucasian bilingual German-French speaker reciting a nursery rhyme in French (native condition) or in German (non-native condition). In the test phase, infants' face recognition was tested by presenting a picture of the speaker's face they were familiarized with, side by side with a novel face. At 9 and 12 months, neither infants in the native condition nor the ones in the non-native condition clearly recognized the speaker's face. In Experiment 2, we familiarized infants with the still picture of the speaker's face, along with the auditory speech stream. This time, both 9- and 12-month-olds recognized the face of the speaker they had been familiarized with, but only if she spoke in their native language. This study shows that at least from 9 months of age, language modulates the way faces are recognized.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Claudia Kubicek
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Judit Gervain
- CNRS, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Gudrun Schwarzer
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Hélène Loevenbruck
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LPNC, Grenoble, France.,LPNC, CNRS, Grenoble, France
| | - Anne Vilain
- Gipsa-Lab, Département Parole et Cognition, CNRS UMR 5216 & Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Mathilde Fort
- LPNC, CNRS, Grenoble, France.,ESPE de l'Académie de Lyon & Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod- UMR5304 CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France
| | - 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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10
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Oakes LM, DeBolt MC, Beckner AG, Voss AT, Cantrell LM. Infant Eye Gaze While Viewing Dynamic Faces. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11020231. [PMID: 33673342 PMCID: PMC7918747 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Research using eye tracking methods has revealed that when viewing faces, between 6 to 10 months of age, infants begin to shift visual attention from the eye region to the mouth region. Moreover, this shift varies with stimulus characteristics and infants’ experience with faces and languages. The current study examined the eye movements of a racially diverse sample of 98 infants between 7.5 and 10.5 months of age as they viewed movies of White and Asian American women reciting a nursery rhyme (the auditory component of the movies was replaced with music to eliminate the influence of the speech on infants’ looking behavior). Using an analytic approach inspired by the multiverse analysis approach, several measures from infants’ eye gaze were examined to identify patterns that were robust across different analyses. Although in general infants preferred the lower regions of the faces, i.e., the region containing the mouth, this preference depended on the stimulus characteristics and was stronger for infants whose typical experience included faces of more races and for infants who were exposed to multiple languages. These results show how we can leverage the richness of eye tracking data with infants to add to our understanding of the factors that influence infants’ visual exploration of faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa M. Oakes
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (M.C.D); (A.G.B.)
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA;
- Correspondence:
| | - Michaela C. DeBolt
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (M.C.D); (A.G.B.)
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA;
| | - Aaron G. Beckner
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; (M.C.D); (A.G.B.)
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA;
| | - Annika T. Voss
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA;
| | - Lisa M. Cantrell
- Department of Child and Adolescent Development, California State University, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA;
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11
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McCrink K, Veggiotti L, de Hevia MD. A left visual advantage for quantity processing in neonates. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2020; 1477:71-78. [PMID: 32808292 PMCID: PMC7572742 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Forty-eight newborn infants were tested in one of three multimodal stimulus conditions, in which auditory quantities were presented alongside visual object arrays in two test trials. These tests varied with respect to which side (either left or right) numerically matched the auditory number. The infants looked longer to the test trials in which the left side of the visual display exhibited a quantity that matched the presented auditory quantity. This study provides the first evidence for an untrained, innate bias for humans to preferentially process quantity information presented in the left field of vision.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ludovica Veggiotti
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Maria Dolores de Hevia
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
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12
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Picó A, Espert R, Gadea M. How Our Gaze Reacts to Another Person's Tears? Experimental Insights Into Eye Tracking Technology. Front Psychol 2020; 11:2134. [PMID: 32982872 PMCID: PMC7492655 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Crying is an ubiquitous human behavior through which an emotion is expressed on the face together with visible tears and constitutes a slippery riddle for researchers. To provide an answer to the question "How our gaze reacts to another person's tears?," we made use of eye tracking technology to study a series of visual stimuli. By presenting an illustrative example through an experimental setting specifically designed to study the "tearing effect," the present work aims to offer methodological insight on how to use eye-tracking technology to study non-verbal cues. A sample of 30 healthy young women with normal visual acuity performed a within-subjects task in which they evaluated images of real faces with and without tears while their eye movements were tracked. Tears were found to be a magnet for visual attention in the task of facial attribution, facilitating a greater perception of emotional intensity. Moreover, the inspection pattern changed qualitatively and quantitatively, with our participants becoming fully focused on the tears when they were visible. The mere presence of a single tear running down a cheek was associated with an increased emotional inference and greater perception of sincerity. Using normalized and validated tools (Reading the Eyes in the Mind Test and the SALAMANCA screening test for personality disorders), we measured the influence of certain characteristics of the participants on their performance of the experimental task. On the one hand, a higher level of cognitive empathy helped to classify tearful faces with higher emotional intensity and tearless faces with less emotional intensity. On the other hand, we observed that less sincerity was attributed to the tearful faces as the SALAMANCA test scores rose in clusters A (strange and extravagant) and B (immature and emotionally unstable) of our sample. The present findings highlight the advantages of using eye tracking technology to study non-verbal cues and draw attention to methodological issues that should be taken into account. Further exploration of the relationship between empathy and tear perception could be a fruitful avenue of future research using eye tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfonso Picó
- Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Raul Espert
- Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Marien Gadea
- Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM)-Mental Health, Madrid, Spain
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13
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Segal SC, Moulson MC. Dynamic Advances in Emotion Processing: Differential Attention towards the Critical Features of Dynamic Emotional Expressions in 7-Month-Old Infants. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10090585. [PMID: 32847037 PMCID: PMC7564740 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10090585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Infants' visual processing of emotion undergoes significant development across the first year of life, yet our knowledge regarding the mechanisms underlying these advances is limited. Additionally, infant emotion processing is commonly examined using static faces, which do not accurately depict real-world emotional displays. The goal of this study was to characterize 7-month-olds' visual scanning strategies when passively viewing dynamic emotional expressions to examine whether infants modify their scanning patterns depending on the emotion. Eye-tracking measures revealed differential attention towards the critical features (eyes, mouth) of expressions. The eyes captured the greatest attention for angry and neutral faces, and the mouth captured the greatest attention for happy faces. A time-course analysis further elucidated at what point during the trial differential scanning patterns emerged. The current results suggest that 7-month-olds are sensitive to the critical features of emotional expressions and scan them differently depending on the emotion. The scanning patterns presented in this study may serve as a link to understanding how infants begin to differentiate between expressions in the context of emotion recognition.
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14
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Kittler PM, Kim SY, Flory MJ, Phan HTT, Karmel BZ, Gardner JM. Effects of motion and audio-visual redundancy on upright and inverted face and feature preferences in 4-13-month old pre- and full-term NICU graduates. Infant Behav Dev 2020; 60:101439. [PMID: 32438215 PMCID: PMC7671943 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
NICU infants are reported to have diminished social orientation and increased risk of socio-communicative disorders. In this eye tracking study, we used a preference for upright compared to inverted faces as a gauge of social interest in high medical risk full- and pre-term NICU infants. We examined the effects of facial motion and audio-visual redundancy on face and eye/mouth preferences across the first year. Upright and inverted baby faces were simultaneously presented in a paired-preference paradigm with motion and synchronized vocalization varied. NICU risk factors including birth weight, sex, and degree of CNS injury were examined. Overall, infants preferred the more socially salient upright faces, making this the first report, to our knowledge, of an upright compared to inverted face preference among high medical risk NICU infants. Infants with abnormalities on cranial ultrasound displayed lower social interest, i.e. less of a preferential interest in upright faces, when viewing static faces. However, motion selectively increased their upright face looking time to a level equal that of infants in other CNS injury groups. We also observed an age-related sex effect suggesting higher risk in NICU males. Females increased their attention to the mouth in upright faces across the first year, especially between 7-10 months, but males did not. Although vocalization increased diffuse attention toward the screen, contrary to our predictions, there was no evidence that the audio-visual redundancy embodied in a vocalizing face focused additional attention on upright faces or mouths. This unexpected result may suggest a vulnerability in response to talking faces among NICU infants that could potentially affect later verbal and socio-communicative development.
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Affiliation(s)
- P M Kittler
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States.
| | - S-Y Kim
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States
| | - M J Flory
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States
| | - H T T Phan
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States
| | - B Z Karmel
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities and Department of Pediatrics, Richmond University Medical Center, United States
| | - J M Gardner
- Department of Infant Development, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities and Department of Pediatrics, Richmond University Medical Center, United States
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15
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Rennels JL, Kayl AJ, Kulhanek KM. Individual Differences in Infants' Temperament Affect Face Processing. Brain Sci 2020; 10:E474. [PMID: 32718073 PMCID: PMC7464873 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10080474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Infants show an advantage in processing female and familiar race faces, but the effect sizes are often small, suggesting individual differences in their discrimination abilities. This research assessed whether differences in 6-10-month-olds' temperament (surgency and orienting) predicted how they scanned individual faces varying in race and gender during familiarization and whether and how long it took them to locate the face during a visual search task. This study also examined whether infants viewing faces posing pleasant relative to neutral expressions would facilitate their discrimination of male and unfamiliar race faces. Results showed that infants' surgency on its own or in conjunction with their orienting regularly interacted with facial characteristics to predict their scanning and location of faces. Furthermore, infants' scanning patterns (dwell times and internal-external fixation shifts) correlated with their ability and time to locate a familiarized face. Moreover, infants who viewed faces with pleasant expressions showed better discrimination of unfamiliar race and male faces compared with infants who viewed neutral faces. Including temperament in the analyses consistently demonstrated its significance for understanding infant face processing. Findings suggest that positive interactions with other-race individuals and men might reduce processing disadvantages for those face types. Locating familiar adults in a timely manner is a crucial skill for infants to develop and these data elucidate factors influencing this ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L. Rennels
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA; (A.J.K.); (K.M.K.)
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16
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Interactive situations reveal more about children's emotional knowledge. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 198:104879. [PMID: 32590198 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Research examining children's emotion judgments has generally used nonsocial tasks that do not resemble children's daily experiences in judging others' emotions. Here, younger children (4- to 6-year-olds) and older children (7- to 9-year-olds) participated in a socially interactive task where an experimenter opened boxes and made an expression (happy, sad, scared, or disgust) based on the object inside. Children guessed which of four objects (a sticker, a broken toy car, a spider, or toy poop) was in the box. Subsequently, children opened a set of boxes and generated facial expressions for the experimenter. Children also labeled the emotion elicited by the objects and static facial expressions. Children's ability to guess which object caused the experimenter's expression increased with age but did not predict their ability to generate a recognizable expression. Children's demonstration of emotion knowledge also varied across tasks, suggesting that when emotion judgment tasks more closely mimic their daily experiences, children demonstrate broader emotion knowledge.
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17
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Infants' Gaze Patterns for Same-Race and Other-Race Faces, and the Other-Race Effect. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10060331. [PMID: 32486016 PMCID: PMC7349221 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10060331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The other-race effect (ORE) can be described as difficulties in discriminating between faces of ethnicities other than one's own, and can already be observed at approximately 9 months of age. Recent studies also showed that infants visually explore same-and other-race faces differently. However, it is still unclear whether infants' looking behavior for same- and other-race faces is related to their face discrimination abilities. To investigate this question we conducted a habituation-dishabituation experiment to examine Caucasian 9-month-old infants' gaze behavior, and their discrimination of same- and other-race faces, using eye-tracking measurements. We found that infants looked longer at the eyes of same-race faces over the course of habituation, as compared to other-race faces. After habituation, infants demonstrated a clear other-race effect by successfully discriminating between same-race faces, but not other-race faces. Importantly, the infants' ability to discriminate between same-race faces significantly correlated with their fixation time towards the eyes of same-race faces during habituation. Thus, our findings suggest that for infants old enough to begin exhibiting the ORE, gaze behavior during habituation is related to their ability to differentiate among same-race faces, compared to other-race faces.
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18
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Bek J, Poliakoff E, Lander K. Measuring emotion recognition by people with Parkinson's disease using eye-tracking with dynamic facial expressions. J Neurosci Methods 2019; 331:108524. [PMID: 31747554 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Motion is an important cue to emotion recognition, and it has been suggested that we recognize emotions via internal simulation of others' expressions. There is a reduction of facial expression in Parkinson's disease (PD), which may influence the ability to use motion to recognise emotions in others. However, the majority of previous work in PD has used only static expressions. Moreover, few studies have used eye-tracking to explore emotion processing in PD. NEW METHOD We measured accuracy and eye movements in people with PD and healthy controls when identifying emotions from both static and dynamic facial expressions. RESULTS The groups did not differ overall in emotion recognition accuracy, but motion significantly increased recognition only in the control group. Participants made fewer and longer fixations when viewing dynamic expressions, and interest area analysis revealed increased gaze to the mouth region and decreased gaze to the eyes for dynamic stimuli, although the latter was specific to the control group. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS Ours is the first study to directly compare recognition of static and dynamic emotional expressions in PD using eye-tracking, revealing subtle differences between groups that may otherwise be undetected. CONCLUSIONS It is feasible and informative to use eye-tracking with dynamic expressions to investigate emotion recognition in PD. Our findings suggest that people with PD may differ from healthy older adults in how they utilise motion during facial emotion recognition. Nonetheless, gaze patterns indicate some effects of motion on emotional processing, highlighting the need for further investigation in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Bek
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, UK.
| | - Ellen Poliakoff
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, UK.
| | - Karen Lander
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, UK.
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19
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The Frozen Effect: Objects in motion are more aesthetically appealing than objects frozen in time. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215813. [PMID: 31095600 PMCID: PMC6522023 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Videos of moving faces are more flattering than static images of the same face, a phenomenon dubbed the Frozen Face Effect. This may reflect an aesthetic preference for faces viewed in a more ecological context than still photographs. In the current set of experiments, we sought to determine whether this effect is unique to facial processing, or if motion confers an aesthetic benefit to other stimulus categories as well, such as bodies and objects—that is, a more generalized ‘Frozen Effect’ (FE). If motion were the critical factor in the FE, we would expect the video of a body or object in motion to be significantly more appealing than when seen in individual, static frames. To examine this, we asked participants to rate sets of videos of bodies and objects in motion along with the still frames constituting each video. Extending the original FFE, we found that participants rated videos as significantly more flattering than each video’s corresponding still images, regardless of stimulus domain, suggesting that the FFE generalizes well beyond face perception. Interestingly, the magnitude of the FE increased with the predictability of stimulus movement. Our results suggest that observers prefer bodies and objects in motion over the same information presented in static form, and the more predictable the motion, the stronger the preference. Motion imbues objects and bodies with greater aesthetic appeal, which has implications for how one might choose to portray oneself in various social media platforms.
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20
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Nelson NL, Mondloch CJ. Children's perception of emotions in the context of live interactions: Eye movements and emotion judgements. Behav Processes 2019; 164:193-200. [PMID: 31075385 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Research examining children's understanding of emotional expressions has generally used static, isolated facial expressions presented in a non-interactive context. However, these tasks do not resemble children's experiences with expressions in daily life, where they must attend to a range of information, including others' facial expressions, movements, and the situation surrounding the expression. In this research, we examine the development of visual attention to another's emotional expressions during a live interaction. Via an eye-tracker, children (4-11 years old) and adults viewed an experimenter open a series of opaque boxes and make an expression (happiness, sadness, fear, or disgust) based on the object inside. Participants determined which of four possible objects (stickers, a broken toy, a spider, or dog poop) was in the box. We examined the proportion of the trial in which participants looked to three areas of the face (the eyes, mouth, and nose area), and the available contextual information (the box held by the experimenter, the four objects). Although children spent less time looking to the face than adults did, their pattern of visual attention within the face and to object AOIs did not differ from that of adults. Finally, for adults, increased accuracy was linked to spending less time looking to the objects whereas increased accuracy for children was not strongly linked to any emotion cue. These data indicate that although children spend less time looking to the face during live interactions than adults do, the proportion of time spent looking to areas of the face and context are generally adult-like.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Nelson
- Brock University, Department of Psychology, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, L2S3A1, St. Catharines, ON, United States; University of Queensland, School of Psychology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Catherine J Mondloch
- Brock University, Department of Psychology, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, L2S3A1, St. Catharines, ON, United States.
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21
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May L, Baron AS, Werker JF. Who can speak that language? Eleven‐month‐old infants have language‐dependent expectations regarding speaker ethnicity. Dev Psychobiol 2019; 61:859-873. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.21851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Revised: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lillian May
- Department of Psychology University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Andrew S. Baron
- Department of Psychology University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Janet F. Werker
- Department of Psychology University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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22
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White H, Jubran R, Chroust A, Heck A, Bhatt RS. Dichotomous Perception of Animal Categories in Infancy. VISUAL COGNITION 2018; 26:764-779. [PMID: 31447601 PMCID: PMC6707735 DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2018.1553811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a wealth of knowledge on categorization early in life, there are still many unanswered questions about the nature of category representation in infancy. For example, it is unclear whether infants are sensitive to boundaries between complex categories, such as types of animals, or whether young infants exhibit such sensitivity without explicit experience in the lab. Using a morphing technique, we linearly altered the category composition of images and measured 6.5-month-olds' attention to pairs of animal faces that either did or did not cross the categorical boundary, with the stimuli in each pair being equally dissimilar from one another across the two types of image pairs. Results indicated that infants dichotomize the continua between cats and dogs and between cows and otters, but only when the images are presented in their canonical, upright orientations. These findings demonstrate a propensity to dichotomize early in life that could have implications for social categorizations, such as race and gender.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah White
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044,
| | - Rachel Jubran
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044,
| | - Alyson Chroust
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044,
| | - Alison Heck
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044,
| | - Ramesh S Bhatt
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044,
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23
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Xiao NG, Mukaida M, Quinn PC, Pascalis O, Lee K, Itakura S. Narrowing in face and speech perception in infancy: Developmental change in the relations between domains. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 176:113-127. [PMID: 30149243 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Revised: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Although prior research has established that perceptual narrowing reflects the influence of experience on the development of face and speech processing, it is unclear whether narrowing in the two domains is related. A within-participant design (N = 72) was used to investigate discrimination of own- and other-race faces and native and non-native speech sounds in 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants. For face and speech discrimination, whereas 3-month-olds discriminated own-race faces and native speech sounds as well as other-race faces and non-native speech sounds, older infants discriminated only own-race faces and native speech sounds. Narrowing in face and narrowing in speech were not correlated at 6 months, negatively correlated at 9 months, and positively correlated at 12 months. The findings reveal dynamic developmental changes in the relation between modalities during the first year of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naiqi G Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Mai Mukaida
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Paul C Quinn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Olivier Pascalis
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition-Université Grenoble Alpes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 38058 Grenoble, France
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2X2, Canada
| | - Shoji Itakura
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
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24
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Liu S, Quinn PC, Xiao NG, Wu Z, Liu G, Lee K. Relations between scanning and recognition of own- and other-race faces in 6- and 9-month-old infants. Psych J 2018; 7:92-102. [PMID: 29719136 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Infants typically see more own-race faces than other-race faces. Existing evidence shows that this difference in face race experience has profound consequences for face processing: as early as 6 months of age, infants scan own- and other-race faces differently and display superior recognition for own- relative to other-race faces. However, it is unclear whether scanning of own-race faces is related to the own-race recognition advantage in infants. To bridge this gap in the literature, the current study used eye tracking to investigate the relation between own-race face scanning and recognition in 6- and 9-month-old Asian infants (N = 82). The infants were familiarized with dynamic own- and other-race faces, and then their face recognition was tested with static face images. Both age groups recognized own- but not other-race faces. Also, regardless of race, the more infants scanned the eyes of the novel versus familiar faces at test, the better their face-recognition performance. In addition, both 6- and 9-month-olds fixated significantly longer on the nose of own-race faces, and greater fixation on the nose during test trials correlated positively with individual novelty preference scores in the own- but not other-race condition. The results suggest that some aspects of the relation between recognition and scanning are independent of differential experience with face race, whereas other aspects are affected by such experience. More broadly, the findings imply that scanning and recognition may become linked during infancy at least in part through the influence of perceptual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoying Liu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Paul C Quinn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Naiqi G Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Zhijun Wu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Guangxi Liu
- Xiasha Street Community Health Service Center, Hangzhou, China
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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25
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Dynamic facial expressions of emotions are discriminated at birth. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0193868. [PMID: 29543841 PMCID: PMC5854345 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to discriminate between different facial expressions is fundamental since the first stages of postnatal life. The aim of this study is to investigate whether 2-days-old newborns are capable to discriminate facial expressions of emotions as they naturally take place in everyday interactions, that is in motion. When two dynamic displays depicting a happy and a disgusted facial expression were simultaneously presented (i.e., visual preference paradigm), newborns did not manifest any visual preference (Experiment 1). Nonetheless, after being habituated to a happy or disgusted dynamic emotional expression (i.e., habituation paradigm), newborns successfully discriminated between the two (Experiment 2). These results indicate that at birth newborns are sensitive to dynamic faces expressing emotions.
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26
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27
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Leo I, Angeli V, Lunghi M, Dalla Barba B, Simion F. Newborns' Face Recognition: The Role of Facial Movement. INFANCY 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Leo
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
| | | | - Marco Lunghi
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
| | | | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental Psychology; University of Padova
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; University of Padova
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28
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Ellis AE, Xiao NG, Lee K, Oakes LM. Scanning of own- versus other-race faces in infants from racially diverse or homogenous communities. Dev Psychobiol 2017; 59:613-627. [PMID: 28577346 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Revised: 02/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
We examined the role of community face experience on 6- and 8-month-old Caucasian infants' scanning of own- and other-race face scanning. We measured infants' proportional fixation time and scan path amplitudes as indices of face processing. Proportional fixation time to informationally rich face regions varied as a function of age and face race for infants living in a racially homogeneous community, whereas scan path amplitudes varied as a function of age and face race for infants living in a racially diverse community. In both communities 6-month-old infants did not show different responding to own- and other-race faces, whereas 8-month-old infants responded differently to own- and other-race faces. However, 8-month-old infants from the two communities showed different patterns of cross-race face scanning. Therefore, experience in the community beyond the home appears to contribute to the development of differential scanning of own- versus other-race faces between 6 and 8 months of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann E Ellis
- Department of Psychology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
| | - Naiqi G Xiao
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lisa M Oakes
- Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis, Davis, California
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29
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Nishizato M, Fujisawa TX, Kosaka H, Tomoda A. Developmental changes in social attention and oxytocin levels in infants and children. Sci Rep 2017; 7:2540. [PMID: 28566712 PMCID: PMC5451468 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02368-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) signalling represents one of the most critical systems involved in human social behaviour. Although several studies have examined the relationship between social functioning and peripheral OT levels, the association between OT and the development of social attention has not been well studied. Therefore, we investigated the developmental relationship between gaze fixation for social cues and OT levels during young childhood. We examined visual attention using an eye tracking system in infants and children (5-90 months of age) and measured the concentration of OT in saliva samples. We observed a negative association between age and both attention toward social cues and salivary OT levels, and a positive association between age and attention for non-social cues. We also observed that salivary OT levels were modulated by polymorphisms in oxytocin receptor (OXTR) rs53576. Our results suggest that there is an age-dependent association between visual attention for social cues and OT levels in infants and children, and that the development of visual attention to the eyes as social cues is associated with both OXTR polymorphisms and OT levels. Such findings indicate that OT and OXTR status may provide insight into the atypical development of social attention in infants and young children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minaho Nishizato
- Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
| | - Takashi X Fujisawa
- Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Kosaka
- Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui 910-1193, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan
| | - Akemi Tomoda
- Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui 910-1193, Japan.
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan.
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30
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Richoz AR, Quinn PC, Hillairet de Boisferon A, Berger C, Loevenbruck H, Lewkowicz DJ, Lee K, Dole M, Caldara R, Pascalis O. Audio-Visual Perception of Gender by Infants Emerges Earlier for Adult-Directed Speech. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169325. [PMID: 28060872 PMCID: PMC5218491 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Early multisensory perceptual experiences shape the abilities of infants to perform socially-relevant visual categorization, such as the extraction of gender, age, and emotion from faces. Here, we investigated whether multisensory perception of gender is influenced by infant-directed (IDS) or adult-directed (ADS) speech. Six-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants saw side-by-side silent video-clips of talking faces (a male and a female) and heard either a soundtrack of a female or a male voice telling a story in IDS or ADS. Infants participated in only one condition, either IDS or ADS. Consistent with earlier work, infants displayed advantages in matching female relative to male faces and voices. Moreover, the new finding that emerged in the current study was that extraction of gender from face and voice was stronger at 6 months with ADS than with IDS, whereas at 9 and 12 months, matching did not differ for IDS versus ADS. The results indicate that the ability to perceive gender in audiovisual speech is influenced by speech manner. Our data suggest that infants may extract multisensory gender information developmentally earlier when looking at adults engaged in conversation with other adults (i.e., ADS) than when adults are directly talking to them (i.e., IDS). Overall, our findings imply that the circumstances of social interaction may shape early multisensory abilities to perceive gender.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Raphaëlle Richoz
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Paul C. Quinn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States of America
| | - Anne Hillairet de Boisferon
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Carole Berger
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Hélène Loevenbruck
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - David J. Lewkowicz
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Kang Lee
- Institute of Child Study University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Marjorie Dole
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Olivier Pascalis
- LPNC, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- LPNC, CNRS-UMR 5105, University of Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
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31
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Butcher N, Lander K, Jagger R. A search advantage for dynamic same-race and other-race faces. VISUAL COGNITION 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2016.1262487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Butcher
- Social Futures Institute, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
| | - Karen Lander
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Rachel Jagger
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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