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Infant preference for individual women's faces extends to girl prototype faces
Paul C Quinn1, Amanda Conforto, Kang Lee
1University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. pquinn@udel.edu
Infant Behavior & Development
|May 4, 2010
Summary
Infants prefer looking at female faces. This preference extends to girl faces, suggesting early learning about gender from faces.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Infant cognition
- Social perception
Background:
- Infants develop social preferences early in life.
- Caregiver gender influences infant face perception.
- Existing research shows infant preference for adult women's faces.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if infant face preferences extend beyond adults to child prototypes.
- To determine if infants transfer gender information from adult faces to child faces.
- To explore the development of gender perception in early infancy.
Main Methods:
- Presenting 3- to 4-month-old infants with prototype faces.
- Measuring infant looking time towards girl versus boy prototype faces.
- Controlling for infant rearing environment (female caregivers).
Main Results:
- Infants showed a spontaneous preference for prototype girl faces over prototype boy faces.
- This preference mirrored the known preference for adult women's faces.
- The findings indicate a transfer of gender-related facial information.
Conclusions:
- Infants' early face preferences are influenced by their social environment.
- Gender perception in infants is shaped by learning from experienced faces.
- This study provides evidence for early transfer of gender-diagnostic facial information.
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