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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
Development of visual preference for own- versus other-race faces in infancy
Shaoying Liu1, Wen Sara Xiao2, Naiqi G Xiao2
1Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University.
Abstract:
Previous research has shown that 3-month-olds prefer own- over other-race faces. The current study used eye-tracking methodology to examine how this visual preference develops with age beyond 3 months and how infants differentially scan between own- and other-race faces when presented simultaneously. We showed own- versus other-race face pairs to 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Chinese infants. In contrast with 3-month-olds' visual preference for own-race faces, 9-month-olds preferentially looked more at other-race faces. Analyses of eye-tracking data revealed that Chinese infants processed own- and other-race faces differentially. These findings shed important light on the role of visual experience in the development of visual preference and its relation to perceptual narrowing.
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