Abstract
BackgroundConverging evidence from different species indicates that some newborn vertebrates, including humans, have visual predispositions to attend to the head region of animate creatures. It has been claimed that newborn preferences for faces are domain-relevant and similar in different species. One of the most common criticisms of the work supporting domain-relevant face biases in human newborns is that in most studies they already have several hours of visual experience when tested. This issue can be addressed by testing newly hatched face-naïve chicks (Gallus gallus) whose preferences can be assessed prior to any other visual experience with faces.MethodsIn the present study, for the first time, we test the prediction that both newly hatched chicks and human newborns will demonstrate similar preferences for face stimuli over spatial frequency matched structured noise. Chicks and babies were tested using identical stimuli for the two species. Chicks underwent a spontaneous preference task, in which they have to approach one of two stimuli simultaneously presented at the ends of a runway. Human newborns participated in a preferential looking task.Results and SignificanceWe observed a significant preference for orienting toward the face stimulus in both species. Further, human newborns spent more time looking at the face stimulus, and chicks preferentially approached and stood near the face-stimulus. These results confirm the view that widely diverging vertebrates possess similar domain-relevant biases toward faces shortly after hatching or birth and provide a behavioural basis for a comparison with neuroimaging studies using similar stimuli.
Highlights
Evidence from several different species has led to the proposal that some newborn vertebrates, including humans, have visual predispositions to attend to the head regions and motion pattern of conspecifics or of animate creatures in general [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
In the present study we directly compared data from newly hatched chicks and human newborns to contribute to support the claim, together with previous studies, that some vertebrate species have predispositions to attend to stimuli that resemble the faces of conspecifics, regardless of their spatial frequency composition
It has been claimed that faces have a ‘‘special’’ status in visual processing, due to their relevance in social life throughout evolution. This means that newborns should be equipped with domain-relevant preferences, which are not learned and may be present in a similar form in different vertebrates. Such preferences do not need to be selective for individual identity, for breed or for species: this kind of discrimination will be learned thanks to post-natal visual experience naturally provided by the surrounding social environment
Summary
Evidence from several different species has led to the proposal that some newborn vertebrates, including humans, have visual predispositions to attend to the head regions and motion pattern of conspecifics or of animate creatures in general [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Such preferential attention to socially relevant stimuli often extends to other species. This issue can be addressed by testing newly hatched face-naıve chicks (Gallus gallus) whose preferences can be assessed prior to any other visual experience with faces
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