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. 2005 Nov 22;102(47):17245-50.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0502205102. Epub 2005 Nov 11.

Newborns' preference for face-relevant stimuli: effects of contrast polarity

Teresa Farroni  1 , Mark H Johnson, Enrica Menon, Luisa Zulian, Dino Faraguna, Gergely Csibra
Affiliations

Newborns' preference for face-relevant stimuli: effects of contrast polarity

Teresa Farroni et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

There is currently no agreement as to how specific or general are the mechanisms underlying newborns' face preferences. We address this issue by manipulating the contrast polarity of schematic and naturalistic face-related images and assessing the preferences of newborns. We find that for both schematic and naturalistic face images, the contrast polarity is important. Newborns did not show a preference for an upright face-related image unless it was composed of darker areas around the eyes and mouth. This result is consistent with either sensitivity to the shadowed areas of a face with overhead (natural) illumination and/or to the detection of eye contact.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Stimuli and looking times in all experiments. Newborns' looking time to each of the pairs of stimuli was measured to reveal their preference. Significant differences are indicated by asterisks (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001). The numbers below the columns represent the number of newborns tested in the corresponding condition.
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