Abstract
When employing between-infant designs young infants' looking style is related to their development: Short looking (SL) infants are cognitively accelerated over their long looking (LL) peers. In fact, looking style is a within-infant variable, and depends on infant i's look distribution over trials. For the paired array setting, a model is provided which specifies the probability, πi ∈ [0, 1], that i is SL. The model is employed in a face preference study; 74 Caucasian infants were longitudinally assessed at 3, 6, and 9 months. Each i viewed same race (Caucasian) vs. other race (African) faces. Infants become SL with development, but there are huge individual differences in rate of change over age. Three month LL infants, , preferred other race faces. SL infants, , preferring same race faces at 3, and other race faces at 6 and 9 months. Looking style changes precede and may control changes in face preference. Ignoring looking style can be misleading: Without considering looking style, 3 month infants show no face preference.
Highlights
Colombo et al have shown that an infant’s looking style which refers to an infant’s duration of visual fixations to a stimulus, is an important indicator of cognitive development
Gauging the importance of looking style has been sharply constrained for two reasons: First, looking style has only been assessed at the between-infant level, with infants classified long looking (LL) or Short looking (SL)
All were raised in a Caucasian environment where they were unfamiliar with African faces or individuals; 46 infants completed all assessments, 21 additional infants provided data at two adjacent ages, the remainder provided data at one age
Summary
Colombo et al have shown that an infant’s looking style which refers to an infant’s duration of visual fixations to a stimulus, is an important indicator of cognitive development. To assess looking style has required a pretest. The potential importance of looking style can only be assessed in settings which employ the pretest, which adds “overhead” to any setting, making subject loss more probable. These difficulties are eschewed in the model detailed here which assesses looking style at the within-infant individual-look level and without additional technology. Infant fixations show dual use: First, for assessing an infant’s short or long looks on each trial, and second for addressing whatever the primary goal of the study might be. The model and associated procedure allows for the assessment of how looking style impacts the major variable of focus
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