Inversion of contrast polarity abolishes spontaneous preferences for face-like stimuli in newborn chicks

A spontaneous preference for face-like stimuli has been demonstrated in domestic chicks, similar to that shown by human newborns, suggesting evolutionary continuity across species. Inversion of contrast polarity of face-like stimuli abolishes face preferences in human newborns. Here we investigated the effects of contrast polarity inversion and brain lateralization in chicks’ preferences for faces. In Experiment 1 face-naïve chicks were tested with a negative face obtained from a stimulus that elicited preferential approach in previous research. As in human newborns, reversal of contrast polarity abolished face-preferences. Experiments 2, 3 and 5 investigated the effect of adding a pupil-like dot within the inner features of the negative and of positive stimuli (a manipulation that re-established face-preference in human newborns). Chicks reacted to this by avoiding the face stimulus. In Experiments 4 and 6 we found that the preference expressed by chicks having only their left eye (right hemisphere) in use changed according to contrast polarity, whereas it remained unaffected in chicks having their right eye in use. Thus, in domestic chicks, as in human beings, a stimulus is perceived as face-like only if it presents the correct luminance pattern expected for a face under natural top-lit illumination and the right hemisphere seems to play a crucial role in this kind of social orienting responses.