Asymmetry in face processing during childhood measured with chimeric faces

Abstract

Studies with adults have found a left bias in their perception of faces, which suggests a right hemisphere specialisation in processing facial information. Hemispheric asymmetry is observed during the first year of life but it is still unclear at what age such specialisation becomes adult-like during the prolonged period of face-processing development through childhood. In the present study we investigated the development of children's perceptions of gender and emotion using chimeric faces. Our results demonstrate that a right hemisphere bias, similar to that found in adults, is observed from 5 years of age. The results are discussed within a framework of developmental studies and we conclude that although children may be less efficient than adults at encoding faces, their basic manner of encoding is not fundamentally different from that of adults.

Keywords:

• Face
• Development
• Chimeric
• Asymmetry
• Children

Acknowledgements

This research was supported National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant R01 HD046526.

Notes

¹Note that we make a distinction between composite faces, i.e., those that are composed of two halves of the same face, and chimeric faces, which are composed of two halves of different faces.