Newborns' preference for faces: what is crucial?

Dev Psychol. 2002 Nov;38(6):875-82.

Abstract

Three experiments investigated whether the presence of more elements in the upper part of a configuration (i.e., up-down asymmetry) plays a role in determining newborns' preference for facelike patterns. Newborns preferred a nonfacelike stimulus with more elements in the upper part over a nonfacelike stimulus with more elements in the lower part (Experiment 1), did not show a preference for a facelike stimulus over a nonfacelike configuration equated for the number of elements in the upper part of the configuration (Experiment 2), and preferred a nonfacelike configuration located in the upper portion of the stimulus over a facelike configuration in the lower portion of the pattern (Experiment 3). Results demonstrated that up-down asymmetry is crucial in determining newborns' face preference.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attention*
  • Choice Behavior*
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Face*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn / psychology*
  • Male
  • Orientation
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Perceptual Distortion