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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
Gender and relational differences in sensitivity to internal and external cues at 12 months
John S Watson1, Judit Futo, Peter Fonagy
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Abstract:
Gender differences favoring women in relation to awareness of the subjective (internal) world are well demonstrated but their origins are poorly understood. We trained 173 12-month-olds to visually fixate a video image in response to an internal cue (opening own mouth), external cue (seeing a face open its mouth), or both cues. Female infants showed significantly greater sensitivity than males to the internal cues suggesting that prioritization of internally accessible experience is already evident at one year of age.
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