Biased Attention to Threat: Answering Old Questions with Young Infants

Abstract

For decades, researchers have been interested in humans' ability to quickly detect threat-relevant stimuli. Here we review recent findings from infant research on biased attention to threat, and discuss how these data speak to classic assumptions about whether attention biases for threat are normative, whether they change with development, and what factors might contribute to this developmental change. We conclude that while there is some stability in attention biases in infancy, various factors-including temperamental negative affect and maternal anxiety-also contribute to shaping the development of biased attention.

Keywords: Infancy; attention bias; attention to threat; development.

Figure 1.

Summary of passive-viewing eye-tracking tasks used to measure attention biases for threat in infancy. For a comprehensive review of these tasks and how they were modified from classic adult visual attention tasks for use with infants, see Burris et al. (2019).