Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Anzures, Gizelle

Abstract

Face perception and recognition abilities develop throughout childhood and differences in viewing own-race and other-race faces have been found in both children (Hu et al., 2014) and adults (Blais et al., 2008). In addition, implicit biases have been found in children as young as six (Baron & Banaji, 2006) and have been found to influence face recognition (Bernstein, Young, & Hugenberg, 2007). The current study aimed to understand how gaze behaviors, implicit biases, and other-race experience contribute to the other-race effect and their developmental effects. Caucasian children’s (5-10 years of age) and young adults’ scanning behaviors were recorded during an old/new recognition task using Asian and Caucasian faces. Participants also completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a race experience questionnaire. Results found an own-race bias in both children and adults. Only adult’s IAT scores were significantly different from zero, indicating an implicit bias. Participants had a greater number of eye to eye fixations for Caucasian faces, in comparison to Asian faces and eye to eye fixations were greater in adults during encoding phases. Additionally, increased nose looking times were observed with age. Central attention to the nose may be indicative of a more holistic viewing strategy implemented by adults and older children. Participants spent longer looking at the mouth of Asian faces during encoding and test for older children and adults, but younger children spent longer looking at own-race mouths during recognition. Correlations between scanning patterns and implicit biases, and experience difference scores were also observed. Both social and perceptual factors seem to influence looking behaviors for own- and other-race faces and are undergoing changes during childhood.

Extent

131 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013636

Format

pdf

Download

Share

COinS