Abstract
Infants are slower to disengage from faces than non-face patterns when distracted by novel competing stimuli. While this perceptual predilection for faces is well documented, its universality and mechanisms in relation to other aspects of attention are poorly understood. We analysed attention disengagement times for faces and non-face patterns in a large sample of 6-to 9-month-old infants (N = 637), pooled from eye tracking studies in socioculturally diverse settings (Finland, Malawi, South Africa). Disengagement times were classified into distinct groups of quick and delayed/censored responses by unsupervised clustering. Delayed disengagement was frequent for faces (52.1% of trials), but almost negligible for patterns (3.9% of trials) in all populations. The magnitude of this attentional bias varied by individuals, whereas the impact of situational factors and facial expression was small. Individual variations in disengagement from faces were moderately stable within testing sessions and independent from variations in disengagement times for patterns. These results point to a fundamental dissociation of face and pattern processing in infants and demonstrate that the bias for faces can be robust against distractors and habituation. The results raise the possibility that attention to faces varies as an independent, early-emerging social trait in populations.
Highlights
Infants from an early age show an attentional bias for faces over patterns or objects[1,2]
To examine the dissociation of attentional mechanisms for faces and patterns in infants, we examined covariations in attention disengagement times for faces and non-face patterns in a large sample of infants who were 6 to 9 months old and at the age the bias for faces is clearly evident[5,17,18]
30.6% of the valid trials were trials on which the disengagement time (DT) from the central to the lateral stimulus was delayed
Summary
Infants from an early age show an attentional bias for faces over patterns or objects[1,2]. Following Wilmer[22], we predicted that the independence of the mechanisms mediating attention to faces and patterns results in relatively strong covariation of disengagement times for distinct exemplars of faces and relatively lower correlation as well as distinct distribution of disengagement times for faces and patterns. This hypothesis was contrasted with the alternative model predicting overlap in the development of attention disengagement mechanisms for faces and other stimuli[23] as well as significant covariance in disengagement times for faces and patterns (cf.[24])
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