Benjamin R. Stephens

Previous studies of face perception during early infancy are difficult to interpret because of discrepant results and procedural differences. We used a standardized method based on the Teller acuity card procedure to test newborns, 6-week-olds, and 12-week-olds with three pairs of face and nonface stimuli modified from previous studies. Newborns' preferences were influenced both by the visibility of the stimuli and by their resemblance to a human face. There appears to be a mechanism, likely subcortical, predisposing newborns to look toward faces. Changes in preferences at 6 and 12 weeks of age suggest increasing cortical influence over infants' preferences for faces.

Models of infant visual preferences with predictions based on the physical attributes of visual patterns were evaluated using pairs of schematic faces and abstract patterns that were identical except for contrast reversals. Preferences at 6 weeks were entirely consistent with the predictions of these models. However, at 12 weeks the preferences for facelike images were in clear violation of the predictions of these models. These results represent the first unambiguous demonstration of a face preference in young human infants. The results also allow rejection of all current stimulus-based models of visual preference and suggest that a fundamental change in the determinants of visual preference occurs between 6 and 12 weeks postnatally.