Face processing
How does our ability to detect faces change as we grow up?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
As children grow from ages 5 to 10, they develop a selective visual preference for horizontal details when identifying faces, but not when identifying houses.
Key findings
The researchers excluded data from 1 child due to low accuracy, leaving 42 children for the final response time analysis. Although overall accuracy exceeded 90% across all groups, older children showed a faster response to horizontal face features than vertical ones. This was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation of 0.32 between age and horizontal bias for faces, whereas the correlation of 0.096 for houses was not significant.
Methodology
To study visual development, researchers tested 43 children between 5 and 10 years of age using a rapid touchscreen classification task. Participants viewed grayscale images of faces and houses that were digitally filtered to show only horizontal patterns, only vertical patterns, or both. Each child completed 144 total trials to determine if age relates to how quickly they process horizontal visual cues compared to vertical ones.
Limitations
This study does not establish whether this emerging horizontal bias is driven by biological brain maturation or by the sheer volume of real-world experience children gain with faces. Additionally, the experimental task relied on static, grayscale, front-facing images, meaning the findings might not fully capture how children process moving or color-rich faces in everyday natural settings. Finally, the relatively small sample size of 42 analyzed participants limits the generalizability of these developmental trajectories to broader populations.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
The selective visual preference for horizontal features in faces—a key component of facial feature integration—develops gradually during middle childhood between the ages of 5 and 10.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
The developmental increase in processing efficiency for horizontal visual patterns during childhood is specific to faces and does not occur for non-face objects like houses.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
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