The enduring legacy of newborns’ face preference.

2025/04/17 by Eloisa Valenza, Francesca Simion, Carlo Umiltà +1 · 1 voice
Medicine · #Breastfeeding Practices and Influences

paper · doi:10.1037/xhp0001263

openalex publication_date 2025/04/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Our 1996 article, "Face preference at birth" (Valenza et al., 1996), sparked much interest and was followed, over the past 3 decades, by many studies on newborns' and young infants' face processing skills. The present article revisits that previous article's theoretical and methodological background and highlights its contribution to our understanding of the developmental pathway toward more complex social abilities. Here, we will examine the evidence presented in the 1996 article and its influence on subsequent investigation of this subject. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Discussions

• To illustrate how thoroughly this negative result has been overlaid with the misleading narrative of a positive result, check this recent retrospective, image left (psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/...). O [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]

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