Preferential attention to same‐and other‐ethnicity infant faces does not fully overcome the other‐race effect

Abstract

AbstractGiven the attentional and motivational saliency of infant faces, triggered by a set of perceptual baby schema features, other‐ethnicity infant faces may overcome the processing differences associated with the other‐race effect (ORE). Using an attentional bias paradigm, we found that while there was a same‐ethnicity attentional bias for adult faces, there was no difference in attention to same‐ and other‐ethnicity infant faces, suggesting that other‐ethnicity infant faces are equally salient and not subject to the same bias as other‐ethnicity adult faces. To directly measure the ORE, we used a recognition memory test to measure differences between same‐ and other‐ethnicity infant and adult faces. Regardless of age, same‐ethnicity faces were better remembered than other‐ethnicity faces. Further, regardless of ethnicity, adult faces were better remembered than infant faces, a finding consistent with an Other Age Effect. Taken together, these experiments suggest that the saliency of baby schema does not fully overcome the social or perceptual factors leading to the ORE.