Infants' Visual Preference for Upright Faces During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Vision Science

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread public mask-wearing, altering face-to-face communication dynamics.
• Understanding infant face perception is crucial for cognitive development studies, especially during unique environmental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether infants perceive masked faces as actual faces.
• To examine infant face recognition abilities under pandemic-related mask conditions.
• To compare infant preferences for upright versus inverted masked and unmasked faces.

Main Methods:

• A novel remote experimental method was employed to study infants' face perception.
• Experiments were conducted with Japanese infants aged 4-5 months and 7-8 months (n=32 per group).
• Infants' preferences for upright versus inverted faces were assessed under both masked and unmasked conditions.

Main Results:

• Infants in both age groups demonstrated a preference for upright over inverted faces, irrespective of mask presence.
• This preference for upright faces was significantly more pronounced in the masked-face condition compared to the unmasked condition.
• Results indicate that infants can recognize masked faces as faces.

Conclusions:

• Japanese infants born during the COVID-19 pandemic successfully recognized masked faces.
• The heightened preference for masked faces suggests adaptation to pandemic-era visual environments.
• Frequent exposure to masked faces during infancy may enhance their recognition as faces.