Mother-stranger face discrimination by the newborn

Tiffany M. Field; Debra Cohen; Robert Garcia; Reena Greenberg

doi:10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80019-3

Mother-stranger face discrimination by the newborn

Tiffany M. Field, Debra Cohen, Robert Garcia, Reena Greenberg

Pediatrics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

216 Scopus citations

Abstract

Newborn infants discriminate their mother's face from the face of a stranger shortly after birth. The neonates (M age=45 hours) showed an initial preference for their mother's face. The mother's face (or face and voice) was then presented to the neonates for repeated trials until the infant reached an habituation criterion. In a subsequent discrimination test the infants looked significantly longer at the stranger's face, suggesting that the mother's face was discriminated after very limited experience. Although voice cues were not required for this discrimination, the possibility remains that other cues, such as the mother's odor, may facilitate the discrimination of her face.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	19-25
Number of pages	7
Journal	Infant Behavior and Development
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80019-3
State	Published - 1984

Keywords

face discrimination
mother-stranger
newborn

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80019-3

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title = "Mother-stranger face discrimination by the newborn",

abstract = "Newborn infants discriminate their mother's face from the face of a stranger shortly after birth. The neonates (M age=45 hours) showed an initial preference for their mother's face. The mother's face (or face and voice) was then presented to the neonates for repeated trials until the infant reached an habituation criterion. In a subsequent discrimination test the infants looked significantly longer at the stranger's face, suggesting that the mother's face was discriminated after very limited experience. Although voice cues were not required for this discrimination, the possibility remains that other cues, such as the mother's odor, may facilitate the discrimination of her face.",

keywords = "face discrimination, mother-stranger, newborn",

author = "Field, {Tiffany M.} and Debra Cohen and Robert Garcia and Reena Greenberg",

note = "Funding Information: * We thank the neonates and mothers who participated in this study. This research was sup-ported by grants from the Administration of Children, Youth and Families, the National Foundation March of Dimes, and by an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award #lkOZMHOO33141 to Tiffany Field. Address reprint requests to the first author at the Department of Pediatrics, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami Medical School, P.O. Box 016820, Miami, FL 33101.",

year = "1984",

doi = "10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80019-3",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "7",

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AU - Field, Tiffany M.

AU - Cohen, Debra

AU - Garcia, Robert

AU - Greenberg, Reena

N1 - Funding Information: * We thank the neonates and mothers who participated in this study. This research was sup-ported by grants from the Administration of Children, Youth and Families, the National Foundation March of Dimes, and by an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award #lkOZMHOO33141 to Tiffany Field. Address reprint requests to the first author at the Department of Pediatrics, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami Medical School, P.O. Box 016820, Miami, FL 33101.

PY - 1984

Y1 - 1984

N2 - Newborn infants discriminate their mother's face from the face of a stranger shortly after birth. The neonates (M age=45 hours) showed an initial preference for their mother's face. The mother's face (or face and voice) was then presented to the neonates for repeated trials until the infant reached an habituation criterion. In a subsequent discrimination test the infants looked significantly longer at the stranger's face, suggesting that the mother's face was discriminated after very limited experience. Although voice cues were not required for this discrimination, the possibility remains that other cues, such as the mother's odor, may facilitate the discrimination of her face.

AB - Newborn infants discriminate their mother's face from the face of a stranger shortly after birth. The neonates (M age=45 hours) showed an initial preference for their mother's face. The mother's face (or face and voice) was then presented to the neonates for repeated trials until the infant reached an habituation criterion. In a subsequent discrimination test the infants looked significantly longer at the stranger's face, suggesting that the mother's face was discriminated after very limited experience. Although voice cues were not required for this discrimination, the possibility remains that other cues, such as the mother's odor, may facilitate the discrimination of her face.

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KW - mother-stranger

KW - newborn

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Mother-stranger face discrimination by the newborn

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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