Sex-Specific Scanning in Infancy: Developmental Changes in the Use of Face/Head and Body Information
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2019
Description
The current investigation sought to differentiate between contrasting perspectives of body knowledge development by determining whether infants’ adult-like scanning of male and female bodies is dependent on relevant information from the face/head alone, the body alone, or a combination of both sources. Scanning patterns of 3.5-, 6.5-, and 9-month-olds (N = 80) in response to images that contained information relevant to sex classification in either the face/head or the body were examined. The results indicate that sex-specific scanning in the presence of only one source of relevant information (i.e., face/head or body) is present only at 9 months. Thus, although sex-specific scanning of bodies emerges as early as 3.5 months, information from both faces/heads and bodies is required until sometime between 6.5 and 9 months of age. These findings constrain theories of the development of social perception by documenting the complex interplay between body and face/head processing early in life
Citation Information
White, Hannah; Jubran, Rachel; Heck, Alison; Chroust, Alyson; and Bhatt, Ramesh S.. 2019. Sex-Specific Scanning in Infancy: Developmental Changes in the Use of Face/Head and Body Information. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Vol.182 126-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.01.006 ISSN: 0022-0965