7-11-year-old children show an advantage for matching and recognizing the internal features of familiar faces: Evidence against a developmental shift
7-11-year-old children show an advantage for matching and recognizing the internal features of familiar faces: Evidence against a developmental shift
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DOI：
10.1080/02724980343000657
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发表时间：
2004-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Burton, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bonner, L;Burton, M
成年人更善于通过内部面部特征（眼睛、鼻子、嘴巴）识别熟悉的面孔，而不是通过外部面部特征（头发、面部轮廓）。然而，先前的研究表明，这种“内在优势”直到儿童时期相对较晚的时候才会出现，一些研究表明，儿童依靠外部特征来识别所有的面孔，无论熟悉与否。我们使用匹配任务来研究7-8岁和10-11岁儿童的面部加工。我们使用了一种设计，在这种设计中，所有的面部刺激都可以作为熟悉的项目（对于同学来说）和不熟悉的项目（对于来自不同学校的参与者来说）。通过这种设计，我们发现了两组儿童在匹配熟悉面孔时的内在特征优势。然后，研究人员让这些孩子看了他们同学的外表和内心特征，并要求他们说出他们的名字或以其他方式认出他们。再一次地，两个年龄段的人通过内部特征比外部特征更能正确地识别出他们的同学。这是第一次在这个年龄组中发现内在优势。结果表明，7岁的儿童处理面孔的方式与成人相同，一旦克服了程序上的困难，就可以观察到熟悉的标准效应。
Adults are better at recognizing familiar faces from the internal facial features (eyes, nose, mouth) than from the external facial features (hair, face outline). However, previous research suggests that this "internal advantage" does not appear until relatively late in childhood, and some studies suggest that children rely on external features to recognize all faces, whether familiar or not. We use a matching task to examine face processing in 7-8- and 10-11-year-old children. We use a design in which all face stimuli can be used as familiar items (for participants who are classmates) and unfamiliar items (for participants from a different school). Using this design, we find an internal feature advantage for matching familiar faces, for both groups of children. The same children were then shown the external and internal features of their classmates and were asked to name or otherwise identify them. Again, both age groups identified more of their classmates correctly from the internal than the external features. This is the first time an internal advantage has been reported in this age group. Results suggest that children as young as 7 process faces in the same way as do adults, and that once procedural difficulties are overcome, the standard effects of familiarity are observed.