Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants

This study examined the role of intersensory redundancy on 12-month-old infants’ attention to and processing of face stimuli. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 72 12-month-olds were tested using an online platform called Lookit. Infants were familiarized with two videos of an actor re...

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Main Authors: Aslı Bursalıoğlu, Alexandria Michalak, Maggie W. Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1210132/full
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author Aslı Bursalıoğlu
Alexandria Michalak
Maggie W. Guy
author_facet Aslı Bursalıoğlu
Alexandria Michalak
Maggie W. Guy
author_sort Aslı Bursalıoğlu
collection DOAJ
description This study examined the role of intersensory redundancy on 12-month-old infants’ attention to and processing of face stimuli. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 72 12-month-olds were tested using an online platform called Lookit. Infants were familiarized with two videos of an actor reciting a children’s story presented simultaneously. A soundtrack either matched one of the videos (experimental condition) or neither of the videos (control condition). Visual-paired comparison (VPC) trials were completed to measure looking preferences for the faces presented synchronously and asynchronously during familiarization and for novel faces. Neither group displayed looking preferences during the VPC trials. It is possible that the complexity of the familiarization phase made the modality-specific face properties (i.e., facial characteristics and configuration) difficult to process. In Experiment 2, 56 12-month-old infants were familiarized with the video of only one actor presented either synchronously or asynchronously with the soundtrack. Following familiarization, participants completed a VPC procedure including the familiar face and a novel face. Results from Experiment 2 showed that infants in the synchronous condition paid more attention during familiarization than infants in the asynchronous condition. Infants in the asynchronous condition demonstrated recognition of the familiar face. These findings suggest that the competing face stimuli in the Experiment 1 were too complex for the facial characteristics to be processed. The procedure in Experiment 2 led to increased processing of the face in the asynchronous presentation. These results indicate that intersensory redundancy in the presentation of synchronous audiovisual faces is very salient, discouraging the processing of modality-specific visual properties. This research contributes to the understanding of face processing in multimodal contexts, which have been understudied, although a great deal of naturalistic face exposure occurs multimodally.
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spelling doaj.art-00596d968bcb4cf18bfb1f8f3cbc0d1c2023-07-17T22:56:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-07-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12101321210132Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infantsAslı BursalıoğluAlexandria MichalakMaggie W. GuyThis study examined the role of intersensory redundancy on 12-month-old infants’ attention to and processing of face stimuli. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 72 12-month-olds were tested using an online platform called Lookit. Infants were familiarized with two videos of an actor reciting a children’s story presented simultaneously. A soundtrack either matched one of the videos (experimental condition) or neither of the videos (control condition). Visual-paired comparison (VPC) trials were completed to measure looking preferences for the faces presented synchronously and asynchronously during familiarization and for novel faces. Neither group displayed looking preferences during the VPC trials. It is possible that the complexity of the familiarization phase made the modality-specific face properties (i.e., facial characteristics and configuration) difficult to process. In Experiment 2, 56 12-month-old infants were familiarized with the video of only one actor presented either synchronously or asynchronously with the soundtrack. Following familiarization, participants completed a VPC procedure including the familiar face and a novel face. Results from Experiment 2 showed that infants in the synchronous condition paid more attention during familiarization than infants in the asynchronous condition. Infants in the asynchronous condition demonstrated recognition of the familiar face. These findings suggest that the competing face stimuli in the Experiment 1 were too complex for the facial characteristics to be processed. The procedure in Experiment 2 led to increased processing of the face in the asynchronous presentation. These results indicate that intersensory redundancy in the presentation of synchronous audiovisual faces is very salient, discouraging the processing of modality-specific visual properties. This research contributes to the understanding of face processing in multimodal contexts, which have been understudied, although a great deal of naturalistic face exposure occurs multimodally.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1210132/fullinfancyintersensory redundancyface recognitionvisual attentionlook duration
spellingShingle Aslı Bursalıoğlu
Alexandria Michalak
Maggie W. Guy
Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
Frontiers in Psychology
infancy
intersensory redundancy
face recognition
visual attention
look duration
title Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
title_full Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
title_fullStr Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
title_full_unstemmed Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
title_short Intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12-month-old infants
title_sort intersensory redundancy impedes face recognition in 12 month old infants
topic infancy
intersensory redundancy
face recognition
visual attention
look duration
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1210132/full
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AT maggiewguy intersensoryredundancyimpedesfacerecognitionin12montholdinfants