The Other-Race Effect Develops During Infancy: Evidence of Perceptual Narrowing

Experience plays a crucial role in the development

of face processing. In the study reported here, we

investigated how faces observed within the visual environment

affect the development of the face-processing

system during the 1st year of life. We assessed 3-, 6-, and

9-month-old Caucasian infants’ ability to discriminate

faces within their own racial group and within three otherrace

groups (African, Middle Eastern, and Chinese).

The 3-month-old infants demonstrated recognition in all

conditions, the 6-month-old infants were able to recognize

Caucasian and Chinese faces only, and the 9-month-old

infants’ recognition was restricted to own-race faces. The

pattern of preferences indicates that the other-race effect

is emerging by 6 months of age and is present at 9 months

of age. The findings suggest that facial input from the

infant’s visual environment is crucial for shaping the

face-processing system early in infancy, resulting in differential

recognition accuracy for faces of different races in

adulthood.