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Published on: August 1, 2018
Is attentional prioritisation of infant faces unique in humans?: Comparative demonstrations by modified dot-probe
Hiroki Koda1, Anna Sato, Akemi Kato
1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan. koda.hiroki.7a@kyoto-u.ac.jp
Insights
Newborn faces do not capture the visual attention of Japanese monkeys, unlike humans. This study explored the evolutionary origins of the baby schema (kindchenschema) and caretaking behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Comparative psychology
- Ethology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The baby schema (kindchenschema) describes infantile features that elicit caretaking behavior in humans.
- Newborn faces are known to capture human visual attention, suggesting special processing.
- It remains unknown if this attentional prioritization extends to nonhuman primates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether conspecific newborn faces capture the visual attention of Japanese monkeys.
- To explore the evolutionary basis of the baby schema and its influence on social cognition.
- To validate the dot-probe task for visual attention studies in nonhuman primates.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a dot-probe task, commonly used in human studies, to assess visual attention.
- Tested two Japanese monkeys on their attentional responses to conspecific newborn faces.
- Measured target detection enhancement as an indicator of attentional capture.
Main Results:
- Visual cues successfully enhanced target detection in the monkeys.
- No evidence of attentional prioritization for newborn faces was observed in the monkeys.
- The dot-probe task proved valid for studying visual attention in monkeys.
Conclusions:
- Attentional capture by newborn faces is not a universal trait across all macaques.
- Further comparative research is needed to understand the evolutionary origins of baby schema perception.
- The role of nursing experience in primate perception of infantile stimuli requires further investigation.
Abstract:
Humans innately perceive infantile features as cute. The ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed that the infantile features of mammals and birds, known as the baby schema (kindchenschema), motivate caretaking behaviour. As biologically relevant stimuli, newborns are likely to be processed specially in terms of visual attention, perception, and cognition. Recent demonstrations on human participants have shown visual attentional prioritisation to newborn faces (i.e., newborn faces capture visual attention). Although characteristics equivalent to those found in the faces of human infants are found in nonhuman primates, attentional capture by newborn faces has not been tested in nonhuman primates. We examined whether conspecific newborn faces captured the visual attention of two Japanese monkeys using a target-detection task based on dot-probe tasks commonly used in human visual attention studies. Although visual cues enhanced target detection in subject monkeys, our results, unlike those for humans, showed no evidence of an attentional prioritisation for newborn faces by monkeys. Our demonstrations showed the validity of dot-probe task for visual attention studies in monkeys and propose a novel approach to bridge the gap between human and nonhuman primate social cognition research. This suggests that attentional capture by newborn faces is not common to macaques, but it is unclear if nursing experiences influence their perception and recognition of infantile appraisal stimuli. We need additional comparative studies to reveal the evolutionary origins of baby-schema perception and recognition.
