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Perceptual narrowing during infancy: A comparison of language and faces
Author(s) -
Maurer Daphne,
Werker Janet F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21177
Subject(s) - psychology , attunement , cognitive psychology , perception , stress (linguistics) , masking (illustration) , contrast (vision) , linguistics , neuroscience , computer science , artificial intelligence , medicine , art , philosophy , alternative medicine , pathology , visual arts
In this article, we begin with a summary of the evidence for perceptual narrowing for various aspects of language (e.g., vowel and consonant contrasts, tone languages, visual language, sign language) and of faces (e.g., own species, own race). We then consider possible reasons for the apparent differences in the timing of narrowing (e.g., apparently earlier for own race than for own species). Throughout we consider whether the evidence fits a model of maintenance/loss or is better characterized as enhancement/attunement to exposed categories. Finally, we consider evidence on the malleability of the timing and its implications for the role of endogenous factors versus learning in controlling when narrowing occurs. Overall, the comparison across domains revealed many similarities but also striking differences which lead to suggestions for future research . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc . Dev Psychobiol 56: 154–178, 2014.