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    Cultural modulation of face and gaze scanning in young children

    Zalla, T. and Senju, Atsushi and Vernetti, Angelina and Kikuchi, Y. and Akechi, H. and Hasegawa, T. (2013) Cultural modulation of face and gaze scanning in young children. PLoS One 8 (8), e74017. ISSN 1932-6203.

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    Abstract

    Previous research has demonstrated that the way human adults look at others’ faces is modulated by their cultural background, but very little is known about how such a culture-specific pattern of face gaze develops. The current study investigated the role of cultural background on the development of face scanning in young children between the ages of 1 and 7 years, and its modulation by the eye gaze direction of the face. British and Japanese participants’ eye movements were recorded while they observed faces moving their eyes towards or away from the participants. British children fixated more on the mouth whereas Japanese children fixated more on the eyes, replicating the results with adult participants. No cultural differences were observed in the differential responses to direct and averted gaze. The results suggest that different patterns of face scanning exist between different cultures from the first years of life, but differential scanning of direct and averted gaze associated with different cultural norms develop later in life.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Research Centres and Institutes: Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD)
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2013 09:00
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:07
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/8069

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