Infants' Face-Recognition by Primiparous and Multiparous Women
Abstract
We have compared the ability of 49 primiparous and 75 multiparous women to recognize photographs of their newborn infants. In line with previous research on infant cries, we found that multiparous women who had been with their infant 0.5 to 5.0 hr. were significantly more successful in recognizing their infants' photographs than primiparous women with comparable exposure to their newborns. For women who had not been with their infants more than 5 hr., parity was not related to recognition. We propose that the transient performance deficit of the primiparous women indicates a short-lived impairment of perceptual/cognitive skills associated with their more stressful childbearing experience.
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Mothers demonstrate a unique ability to recognize different sensory cues from their own babies, including visual, auditory, or olfactory cues.
“Starting from the early post-partum period, mothers demonstrate a unique ability to recognize different sensory cues from their own babies, including visual (1;2), auditory (3) or olfactory (4) cues.”
From What’s in a smile? Maternal brain responses to infant facial cues (2008) · cites this paper as [2]
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- Authors
- Kaitz, M., Rokem, A. M., & Eidelman, A. I.
- Affiliations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Shaare Zedek Medical Center (IL)
- Venue
- Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1988-10
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 495-502
- ISSN
- 0031-5125 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-688X
- OpenAlex
- W2093673807
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Perceptual and Motor Skills (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- infant face recognition, parity, primiparous women, multiparous women, perceptual impairment
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Face, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Labor, Obstetric, Memory, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers, Parity, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Pregnancy
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