Similarity and difference in the processing of same- and other-race faces as revealed by eye tracking in 4- to 9-month-olds

Fixation duration for same-race (i e Asian) and other-race (i e Caucasian) female faces by Asian Infant participants between 4 and 9 months of age was investigated with an eye-tracking procedure The age range tested corresponded with prior reports of processing differences between same- and other-race faces observed in behavioral looking time studies with preference for same-race faces apparent at 3 months of age and recognition memory differences in favor of same-race faces emerging between 3 and 9 months of age The eye-tracking results revealed both similarity and difference in infants processing of own- and other-race faces There was no overall fixation time difference between same race and other race for the whole face stimuli In addition although fixation time was greater for the upper half of the face than for the lower half of the face and trended higher on the right side of the face than on the left side of the face face race did not Impact these effects However over the age range tested there was a gradual decrement in fixation time on the internal features of other-race faces and a maintenance of fixation time on the internal features of same-race faces Moreover the decrement in fixation time for the internal features of other-race faces was most prominent on the nose The findings suggest that (a) same-race preferences may be more readily evidenced in paired comparison testing formats (b) the behavioral decline in recognition memory for other-race faces corresponds in timing with a decline in fixation on the Internal features of other-race faces and (c) the center of the face (I e the nose) is a differential legion for processing same-versus other-race faces by Asian infants (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved