Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

Psychology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Laura Lakusta

Committee Member

Julian P. Keenan

Committee Member

Jason J. Dickinson

Abstract

Recent attention has been paid to the neurological, evolutionary, and developmental correlates of human self-face recognition. In the present study, we examined 12-, 18-, and 24-month-olds using eye tracking to determine if there was a unique visual scan path of faces for self-recognizers as compared to non-recognizers. Results indicated that overall, 12- and 24-month-olds have different scan-paths compared to 18-month-olds. Eighteen-month-olds have an increased number of fixations and fixation time spent on the eyes, mouth and top half of the face, while 12- and 24 month-olds have more fixations on the nose and bottom half of the face. Furthermore, self-recognizers have a generally unique scan-path of self-faces in comparison to non-self-faces, having increased attention to the upper features and mouth on the self-face. This distinction between age groups and self-recognizers presents significant implications for development and the progression of self-awareness.

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