Developmental Changes in the Scanning of Faces by Young Infants

TLDR

Scanning of faces by infants resembles prior findings for 2‑dimensional shapes but shows face‑specific features. The study recorded eye movements of six 1‑month‑old and six 2‑month‑old infants viewing three faces using corneal photography. 1‑month‑old infants spent most time looking away from faces, rarely at their mothers, and focused on limited face perimeters, whereas 2‑month‑olds fixated faces most of the time, examined more features, and preferentially viewed internal features such as the eyes.

Abstract

6 1-month-old infants and 6 2-month-old infants each viewed 3 faces (his mother's, a strange woman's, and a strange man's) while his eye movements were recorded by corneal photography. The 1-month-olds fixated away from the faces most of the time, and they looked at their mothers even less often than at the strangers. When they did fixate a face, they usually chose a limited portion of the perimeter. By constrast, 2-month-olds fixated the faces most of the time, looked at more features, and were more likely to look at internal features, especially the eyes. This scanning resembles that reported previously for 2-dimensional shapes, although in some respects it appears unique to faces.