Recognizing Themselves and Their Friends: Female Children Do It Better

Abstract

Three experiments were carried out to investigate how adults and children of different age recognize whole faces, facial features and body parts of themselves and their friends. Results were straightforward in demonstrating that, at least when presented with familiar stimuli, adults did not show any evidence of “self-effect” nor of gender difference. In turn, findings from children groups were consistent with the hypothesis that the abilities to process the different internal facial features follow different, specific, developmental courses and processing of the eyes begins and matures earlier than processing of the mouth and the nose. Furthermore, young perceivers showed a clear self-effect because of which they tended to look at their own face longer than other, familiar identities. Finally, data presented here clearly suggest a developmental advantage for female children in face processing.