Is visual attraction for human eyes present at birth?
Résumé
From birth, infants have an early attraction to human faces that has been hypothesized due to an attraction toward the human eyes (Farroni et al., 2005). Human eye is unique and particular as compared to non-human primates and other animals; it is composed of a widely exposed white sclera, paler than the facial skin and iris (Kobayashi & Kohshima, 1997). In adults, at least one ERP study has shown that proficiency for the human species involves visual expertise for human eyes (Itier, Van Roon, & Alain, 2011). The current study aimed to investigate the importance and attraction for human eyes in newborns and older infants and determine when it appears during the first year of life. In a preferential looking time paradigm, newborns, 3-, 6-, and 9-month-olds were simultaneously presented with a pair of non-human primate faces (chimpanzees and Barbarian macaques) that differed only by the presence versus absence of human eyes, pairing a face with original non-human primate eyes with the same face in which eyes were replaced by human eyes. Using non-primate faces have the advantage of presenting stimuli with a structure similar to human faces while avoiding interference from the overall structure of the human face. Results show preference for faces with human eyes from 6 months. No preference was observed before that age. It suggests that visual expertise for human eyes is not present at birth, but seems to emerge later in development when more visual experience with conspecifics has occurred.
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