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Multisensory Cues Facilitate Infants’ Ability to Discriminate Other-Race Faces

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Date Issued:
2015
Summary:
Our everyday world consists of people and objects that are usually specified by dynamic and concurrent auditory and visual attributes, which is known to increase perceptual salience and, therefore, facilitate learning and discrimination in infancy. Interestingly, early experience with faces and vocalizations has two seemingly opposite effects during the first year of life, 1) it enables infants to gradually acquire perceptual expertise for the faces and vocalizations of their own race and, 2) it narrows their ability to discriminate the faces of other-race faces (Kelly et al., 2007). It is not known whether multisensory redundancy might help older infants overcome the other-race effect reported in previous studies. The current project investigated infant discrimination of dynamic and vocalizing other-race faces in younger and older infants using habituation and eye-tracking methodologies. Experiment 1 examined 4-6 and 10-12-month-old infants' ability to discriminate either a native or non-native face articulating the syllable /a/. Results showed that both the 4-6- and the 10-12-month-olds successfully discriminated the faces,regardless of whether they were same- or other-race faces. Experiment 2 investigated the contribution of auditory speech cues by repeating Experiment 1 but in silence. Results showed that only the 10-12-month-olds tested with native-race faces successfully discriminated them. Experiment 3 investigated whether it was speech per se or sound in general that facilitated discrimination of the other-race faces in Experiment 1 by presenting a synchronous, computer-generated "boing" sound instead of audible speech cues. Results indicated that the 4-6-month olds discriminated both types of faces but that 10-12-month-olds only discriminated own-race faces. These results indicate that auditory cues, along with dynamic visual cues, can help infants overcome the effects of previously reported narrowing and facilitate discrimination of other-race static, silent faces. Critically, our results show that older infants can overcome the other race-effect when dynamic faces are accompanied by speech but not when they are accompanied by non- speech cues. Overall, a generalized auditory facilitation effect was found as a result of multisensory speech. Moreover, our findings suggest that infants' ability to process other- race faces following perceptual narrowing is more plastic than previously thought.
Title: Multisensory Cues Facilitate Infants’ Ability to Discriminate Other-Race Faces.
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Name(s): Minar, Nicholas J., author
Bjorklund, David F., Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2015
Date Issued: 2015
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 150 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Our everyday world consists of people and objects that are usually specified by dynamic and concurrent auditory and visual attributes, which is known to increase perceptual salience and, therefore, facilitate learning and discrimination in infancy. Interestingly, early experience with faces and vocalizations has two seemingly opposite effects during the first year of life, 1) it enables infants to gradually acquire perceptual expertise for the faces and vocalizations of their own race and, 2) it narrows their ability to discriminate the faces of other-race faces (Kelly et al., 2007). It is not known whether multisensory redundancy might help older infants overcome the other-race effect reported in previous studies. The current project investigated infant discrimination of dynamic and vocalizing other-race faces in younger and older infants using habituation and eye-tracking methodologies. Experiment 1 examined 4-6 and 10-12-month-old infants' ability to discriminate either a native or non-native face articulating the syllable /a/. Results showed that both the 4-6- and the 10-12-month-olds successfully discriminated the faces,regardless of whether they were same- or other-race faces. Experiment 2 investigated the contribution of auditory speech cues by repeating Experiment 1 but in silence. Results showed that only the 10-12-month-olds tested with native-race faces successfully discriminated them. Experiment 3 investigated whether it was speech per se or sound in general that facilitated discrimination of the other-race faces in Experiment 1 by presenting a synchronous, computer-generated "boing" sound instead of audible speech cues. Results indicated that the 4-6-month olds discriminated both types of faces but that 10-12-month-olds only discriminated own-race faces. These results indicate that auditory cues, along with dynamic visual cues, can help infants overcome the effects of previously reported narrowing and facilitate discrimination of other-race static, silent faces. Critically, our results show that older infants can overcome the other race-effect when dynamic faces are accompanied by speech but not when they are accompanied by non- speech cues. Overall, a generalized auditory facilitation effect was found as a result of multisensory speech. Moreover, our findings suggest that infants' ability to process other- race faces following perceptual narrowing is more plastic than previously thought.
Identifier: FA00004525 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Cognition in children
Individual differences in children
Infant psychology
Infants -- Development
Intersensory effects
Perception in infants
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004525
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.