I can't take my eyes off of you: attentional allocation to infant, child, adolescent and adult faces in mothers and non-mothers.

ABSTRACT: It has been reported previously that infant faces elicit enhanced attentional allocation compared to adult faces in adult women, particularly when these faces are emotional and when the participants are mothers, as compared to non-mothers [1]. However, it remains unclear whether this increased salience of infant faces as compared to adult faces extends to children older than infant age, or whether infant faces have a unique capacity to elicit preferential attentional allocation compared to juvenile or adult faces. Therefore, this study investigated attentional allocation to a variety of different aged faces (infants, pre-adolescent children, adolescents, and adults) in 84 adult women, 39 of whom were mothers. Consistent with previous findings, infant faces were found to elicit greater atte

SUBMITTER: Thompson-Booth C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4212970 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature