Abstract
Joint visual attention is one of most important ways to communicate and socially relate to others, especially through facial expressions. Previous research using EEG have found an amplified sensitivity to happy faces for 7-month-olds, and a sensitivity similar to that seen in adults in 12-month-olds viewing angry faces (Grossmann, Striano, & Friederici, 2007). In this study, the primary hypothesis was that 6-month-old infants would show a greater gaze allocation to happy faces than angry or neutral, whereas 12-month-old infants would show a greater gaze allocation to angry faces. In addition, we hypothesized that female infants would look longer at faces than male infants in the 12-month-group, more so on angry than neutral or happy faces. Results did not support our hypotheses, but we found an interesting gender difference. Female infants looked longer at the model's face than males, independent of their age and emotion viewed. Possible explanations linked to amygdalar development are discussed.