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- Title
Faces are special for newly hatched chicks: evidence for inborn domain-specific mechanisms underlying spontaneous preferences for face-like stimuli.
- Authors
Rosa‐Salva, Orsola; Regolin, Lucia; Vallortigara, Giorgio
- Abstract
It is currently being debated whether human newborns’ preference for faces is due to an unlearned, domain-specific and configural representation of the appearance of a face, or to general mechanisms, such as an up-down bias (favouring top-heavy stimuli, which have more elements in their upper part). Here we show that 2-day-old domestic chicks, visually naïve for the arrangement of inner facial features, spontaneously prefer face-like, schematic, stimuli. This preference is maintained when the up-down bias is controlled for (Experiment1) or when put in direct conflict with facedness (Experiment 4). In contrast, we found no evidence for the presence of an up-down bias in chicks (Experiment 2). Moreover, our results indicate that the eye region of stimuli is crucial in determining the expression of spontaneous preferences for faces (Experiments 3 and 4).
- Subjects
POULTRY hatcheries; CHICKENS; CHICKS; POULTRY housing; AGRICULTURAL egg production
- Publication
Developmental Science, 2010, Vol 13, Issue 4, p565
- ISSN
1363-755X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00914.x