Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
Detecting 'infant-directedness' in face and voice
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Abstract:
Five- and 3-month-old infants' perception of infant-directed (ID) faces and the role of speech in perceiving faces were examined. Infants' eye movements were recorded as they viewed a series of two side-by-side talking faces, one infant-directed and one adult-directed (AD), while listening to ID speech, AD speech, or in silence. Infants showed consistently greater dwell time on ID faces vs. AD faces, and this ID face preference was consistent across all three sound conditions. ID speech resulted in higher looking overall, but it did not increase looking at the ID face per se. Together, these findings demonstrate that infants' preferences for ID speech extend to ID faces.
Related Concept Videos
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Non-Verbal Cues

