Infants’ looking preferences for social versus non-social objects reflect genetic variation

Bibliographic Data

ID7931442
AuthorsAna Maria Portugal (0000-0002-3627-0753, Uppsala University, corresponding author), Charlotte Viktorsson (0000-0003-2727-2957, Uppsala University), Mark J Taylor (0000-0001-5161-4182, Karolinska Institutet), Luke Mason (0000-0001-9978-7349, King's College London), Kristiina Tammimies (0000-0002-8324-4697, Karolinska University Hospital), Ann Ronald (0000-0002-9576-2176, University of Surrey), Terje Falck‐ytter (0000-0001-9714-0197, Uppsala University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume8
Issue1
Pages115-124
Publication date2023-11-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNature Human Behaviour (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2397-3374 • E-ISSN: 2397-3374
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1038/s41562-023-01764-w
PMID38012276
OpenAlexW4389045259
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited55

To what extent do individual differences in infants’ early preference for faces versus non-facial objects reflect genetic and environmental factors? Here in a sample of 536 5-month-old same-sex twins, we assessed attention to faces using eye tracking in two ways: initial orienting to faces at the start of the trial (thought to reflect subcortical processing) and sustained face preference throughout the trial (thought to reflect emerging attention control). Twin model fitting suggested an influence of genetic and unique environmental effects, but there was no evidence for an effect of shared environment. The heritability of face orienting and preference were 0.19 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.33) and 0.46 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.57), respectively. Face preference was associated positively with later parent-reported verbal competence ( β = 0.14, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.25, P = 0.014, R 2 = 0.018, N = 420). This study suggests that individual differences in young infants’ selection of perceptual input—social versus non-social—are heritable, providing a developmental perspective on gene–environment interplay occurring at the level of eye movements

Biology · Developmental psychology · Evolutionary biology · Heritability · Perception · Preference · Social preferences · Child and Animal Learning Development · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Face Recognition and Perception · Psychology · Social Psychology