Scanning of own- versus other-race faces in infants from racially diverse or homogenous communities

We examined the role of community face experience on 6- and 8-month-old Caucasian infants' scanning of own- and other-race face scanning. We measured infants' proportional fixation time and scan path amplitudes as indices of face processing. Proportional fixation time to informationally rich face regions varied as a function of age and face race for infants living in a racially homogeneous community, whereas scan path amplitudes varied as a function of age and face race for infants living in a racially diverse community. In both communities 6-month-old infants did not show different responding to own- and other-race faces, whereas 8-month-old infants responded differently to own- and other-race faces. However, 8-month-old infants from the two communities showed different patterns of cross-race face scanning. Therefore, experience in the community beyond the home appears to contribute to the development of differential scanning of own- versus other-race faces between 6 and 8 months of age.