Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; Data Scientist at 84.51°, Cincinnati, OH 45202, USA.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2022 Oct;230:103733. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103733. Epub 2022 Aug 31.
Perceptual narrowing is a domain-general process in which infants move from a broad sensitivity to a wide range of stimuli to developing expertise within often experienced native stimuli (Maurer & Werker, 2014). One outcome of this is the own-race bias, characterized by an increasing difficulty in discriminating other-race faces with age and experience for those raised in a racially homogenous environment (Anzures, Quinn, Pascalis, Slater, Tanaka, & Lee, 2013). Theorists have proposed that this is due to a categorization-individuation process, wherein infants begin to categorize non-native stimuli but continue to individuate native stimuli (Hugenberg, Young, Bernstein, & Sacco, 2010; Nelson, 2001). Exposure to multiple exemplars during initial learning has been found to facilitate infant categorization of other-species faces while exposure to a single exemplar does not (Dixon, Reynolds, Romano, Roth, Stumpe, Guy, & Mosteller, 2019). The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of initial learning conditions on infants' ability to individuate and categorize own- and other-race faces. Ten-month-old infants were familiarized with a single exemplar or multiple exemplars of own- or other-race faces. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while infants were presented with the familiar face(s) they were exposed to during familiarization, novel faces from the same race used during familiarization, and novel faces from a race other than the one used in familiarization. Infants familiarized with a single exemplar, regardless of race, showed significant differences in both the Nc component (Negative central, associated with visual attention) and the LSW (late slow wave, associated with recognition memory) between familiar and novel faces at the subordinate-level category of race. No differences were found across familiarization conditions for the P400 component associated with face processing. Infants familiarized with multiple exemplars showed no evidence of discriminating faces at the categorical or individual level. Results suggest that, in contrast to other-species faces, infants at this age may process human faces more efficiently when familiarized with a single exemplar. The implications of the current findings are discussed in relation to the impact of initial learning conditions on infants' ability to individuate and categorize own- and other-species faces and social implications of infants' processing of other-race faces.
知觉狭窄是一个普遍的过程，在这个过程中，婴儿从对广泛刺激的广泛敏感性发展到对经常经历的本地刺激的专业知识（Maurer 和 Werker，2014）。其结果之一是本族偏向，其特征是在种族同质性环境中长大的人随着年龄和经验的增长，对异族面孔的辨别能力越来越困难（Anzures、Quinn、Pascalis、Slater、Tanaka 和 Lee，2013）。理论家们提出，这是由于分类个体化过程，在这个过程中，婴儿开始对非本地刺激进行分类，但继续对本地刺激进行个体化（Hugenberg、Young、Bernstein 和 Sacco，2010；Nelson，2001）。研究发现，在初始学习过程中接触多个示例有助于婴儿对其他物种面孔进行分类，而接触单个示例则不行（Dixon、Reynolds、Romano、Roth、Stumpe、Guy 和 Mosteller，2019）。本研究的目的是研究初始学习条件对婴儿区分和分类本族和异族面孔能力的影响。十个月大的婴儿熟悉一个单一的示例或多个本族或异族面孔的示例。当婴儿呈现他们在熟悉过程中接触到的熟悉面孔、熟悉过程中使用的同种族的新面孔以及熟悉过程中使用的种族以外的新面孔时，记录事件相关电位（ERP）。熟悉单一示例的婴儿，无论种族如何，在熟悉和新颖面孔的下属种族类别中，在 Nc 成分（与视觉注意力相关的负中央）和 LSW（与识别记忆相关的晚慢波）上都表现出显著差异。在与面孔处理相关的 P400 成分方面，没有发现熟悉条件之间的差异。熟悉多个示例的婴儿没有表现出在类别或个体水平上区分面孔的证据。结果表明，与其他物种的面孔相比，这个年龄段的婴儿在熟悉单一示例时可能更有效地处理人类面孔。目前的发现结果与初始学习条件对婴儿区分和分类本族和异族面孔的能力以及婴儿对异族面孔的处理的社会影响有关。
