Poster #197 - Developmental changes in gender-based social referencing

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Social Cognition

Integrative Statement

Infants prefer objects based on their association with emotions (Vaillant-Molina & Bahrick, 2012), but it is unclear whether infants develop preferences for objects based on gender cues. Quinn, Yahr, and Kuhn (2002) found that infants prefer female over male faces. However, it is unknown whether social referencing is affected by gender, i.e., whether infants prefer objects referenced by females over those referenced by males.

In Experiment 1, 3.5- (n = 32) and 6.5-month-olds (n = 24) were familiarized to male and female face-object social referencing situations (i.e., Female Face-Object A; Male Face-Object B; Figure 1a) on eight trials. In order to signal a contingent interaction between the model and the object, the faces were initially neutral and in profile facing the location of the object, but the objects were not visible. After one second, the object appeared and the face shifted to a smile (as if reacting to the object). Following these referencing trials, infants were tested for their preference between the female-associated object versus the male-associated object on two 15-s test trials, during which the objects were presented side-by-side.

A 2 (Gender: female-associated object; male-associated object) x 2 (Age: 3.5-months; 6.5-months) repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant Gender x Age interaction (F(1, 54) = 4.10, p = .048, η_p² = .07). Follow-up paired-sample t-tests indicated that 6.5-month-olds fixated significantly longer on the female-associated object (M = 7.59 s, SE = 0.81) compared to the male-associated object (M = 5.30 s, SE = 0.55), t(23) = 2.21, p = .04. In contrast, 3.5-month-olds did not look significantly longer at either object (female-associated object: M = 6.23 s, SE = 0.61; male-associated object: M = 6.85 s, SE = 0.60), t(31) = -0.63, p = .53, indicating that the female-object preference has not yet developed by 3.5 months.

In Experiment 2, a separate group of 6.5-month-olds (n = 24) was tested using an averted control condition, in which the faces were directed away from the object (Figure 1b). This was done to determine whether the performance of the older age group in Experiment 1 was due to a simple face-object association or whether interaction between the face and object in the form of contingent smiling was necessary. In contrast to Experiment 1, when the faces were averted, 6.5-month-olds failed to look significantly longer at either object (female-paired object: M = 7.33 s, SE = 0.77; male-paired object: M = 7.41 s, SE = 0.84), t(23) = -0.06, p = .95, indicating that some degree of interaction may be necessary for this preference to form.

Thus, 6.5-month-olds prefer female-associated objects, but only when there is some degree of relationship between the face and object. When the face is directed away from the object, this preference no longer appears. In contrast, 3.5-month-olds do not exhibit a preference for the female-associated object even in the directed condition. Thus, preferences based on gender-based social referencing develop between 3.5 and 6.5 months.

Authors

• Alison Heck, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• Hannah White, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ramesh Bhatt, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author