| Abstract: | Face-like patterns attract attention from both human and nonhuman primates. The present study explored the facial preferences in infant pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina). Twenty-five subjects looked at 20 paired drawings of adult conspecific monkey faces, and their looking time was recorded. The facial features in the drawings were arranged in positions ranging from a normal to a scrambled face. The subjects looked at the normal face more than expected by chance (P < .02), suggesting a preference, whereas the distorted faces were observed randomly. The normal face may have been preferred because the eyes were in a normal position within the facial outline. Am. J. Primatol. 44:169–174, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |
