Is the Face-Perception System Human-Specific at Birth?

Autor/inn/en	Di Giorgio, Elisa; Leo, Irene; Pascalis, Olivier; Simion, Francesca
Titel	Is the Face-Perception System Human-Specific at Birth?
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 48 (2012) 4, S.1083-1090 (8 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/a0026521
Schlagwörter	Neonates; Preferences; Visual Perception; Visual Discrimination; Human Body; Primatology; Foreign Countries; Italy + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Neugeborenes Kind; Visuelle Wahrnehmung; Menschlicher Körper; Ausland; Italien
Abstract	The present study investigates the human-specificity of the orienting system that allows neonates to look preferentially at faces. Three experiments were carried out to determine whether the face-perception system that is present at birth is broad enough to include both human and nonhuman primate faces. The results demonstrate that the newborns did not show any spontaneous visual preference for the human face when presented simultaneously with a monkey face that shared the same features, configuration, and low-level perceptual properties (Experiment 1). The newborns were, however, able to discriminate between the 2 faces belonging to the 2 different species (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, the newborns were found to prefer looking at an upright, compared with an inverted, monkey face, as they do for human faces. Overall, the results demonstrate that newborns perceive monkey and human faces in a similar way. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the system underlying face preference at birth is broad enough to bias newborns' attention toward both human and nonhuman primate faces. (Contains 3 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10