Infants' Visual Preference for Upright Faces During the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Japan

TL;DR

Infants in Japan during the pandemic preferred upright masked faces, suggesting they recognized masked faces as faces due to frequent exposure.

Contribution

A novel remote method was used to study infants' perception of masked faces during the pandemic.

Findings

Infants aged 4–5 and 7–8 months preferred upright to inverted faces in both masked and unmasked conditions.

The preference for upright faces was stronger in the masked-face condition than in the unmasked-face condition.

Infants born during the pandemic recognized masked faces as faces, likely due to frequent exposure.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic required face masks to be worn in public spaces, changing daily face‐to‐face communication. This study investigated whether infants perceived masked faces as faces during the COVID‐19 pandemic, a time when wearing masks in public was nearly universal in Japan. Between July 2021 and November 2022, we conducted an experiment using a novel remote method to examine infants' preferences for upright versus inverted faces under both masked and unmasked conditions. Overall, infants aged 4–5 months and 7–8 months (n = 32 in each age group) preferred upright to inverted faces in both conditions. These results suggest that Japanese infants born during the COVID‐19 pandemic could recognize masked faces as faces. Furthermore, across both age groups, the preference was more pronounced in the masked‐face condition than in the unmasked‐face condition. These results possibly reflect the fact that infants had relatively frequent exposure to masked faces during the pandemic.

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