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Updated: Dec 11, 2025
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Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
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A left visual advantage for quantity processing in neonates.
Koleen McCrink1, Ludovica Veggiotti2, Maria Dolores de Hevia2
1Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, New York.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|August 19, 2020
Summary
Newborn infants show an innate bias for processing numerical quantities presented visually on the left. This early visual processing preference suggests a foundational aspect of human numerical cognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Human numerical cognition is a complex field.
- Understanding early biases is crucial for cognitive development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate innate biases in processing visual quantity information in newborns.
- To determine if there is a left-field advantage for numerical processing.
Main Methods:
- Forty-eight newborn infants were exposed to multimodal stimuli.
- Auditory quantities were paired with visual object arrays on the left or right side.
- Infants' looking times were recorded to assess preferential processing.
Main Results:
- Infants looked significantly longer when the visual quantity on the left matched the auditory quantity.
- This indicates a preferential attention to left-sided visual numerical information.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first evidence of an untrained, innate bias in humans.
- Newborns preferentially process quantity information presented in the left visual field.
- This bias may represent a fundamental aspect of early numerical cognition.
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