Aimed at integrating cutting-edge psychological science into the classroom, columns about teaching Current Directions in Psychological Science offer advice and how-to guidance about teaching a particular area of research or topic in psychological science that has been the focus of an article in the APS journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Pickron, C. B., & Bayet, L. (2026). From a baby’s point of view: How infants’ face diets shape their face perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 35(4), 247–253.

Imagine you’re a baby in a stroller in New York City, traveling a local sidewalk on the way to daycare. The faces you see are mostly smiling—who doesn’t love to see a baby?—but that’s not all. Some faces belong to older people, some younger. Some faces have darker skin, some lighter. People have hair that is long, short, black, blonde, gray, curly, and straight.

Now imagine you’re a baby who lives in a suburb. You don’t ride to daycare in a stroller; your caregiver is your grandmother, who arrives by car. What faces do you see now? Perhaps they have mostly the same skin tone. Maybe everyone’s hair is the same color. Maybe you’ll see more faces of women than men.

As these examples illustrate, babies have different face diets. The term, coined by Pickron and Bayet (2026) in a recent Current Directions in Psychological Science article, captures the fact that babies are exposed to different faces, either because of where they live or because of how they perceive the social world. Because of who takes care of them, some babies see mostly women; others see women and men equally. Because of where they live, some babies see more ethnic diversity. And because they experience certain cultures or medical events, some babies view people wearing face coverings or masks.

Why faces matter

Face diets matter because babies are evolutionarily primed to use faces to learn about the world.

You can illustrate this importance with a “made you look!” demonstration. Place two objects (perhaps your backpack and a water bottle) at opposite ends of a table at the front of your classroom. Face your class and get everyone’s attention. Once they’re ready, turn your eyes (and head, if needed) toward one of the two objects. Keep your gaze directed there for a count of 4 or 5 seconds.

Release your gaze and ask your class, “Did you look?” Many probably did. As humans, we just can’t help it!  What’s more, we’ve been doing this since we were 5 months old (Scaife & Bruner, 1975).

Developmental scientists believe that babies use gaze-following to learn what words mean. Babies don’t know anything at first. But if they see a caregiver looking at an object while saying “backpack,” they’re more likely to learn that new word (Tomasello & Farrar, 1986).

Babies consult faces for other reasons, too. As Pickron and Bayet explain, babies use the emotions on their caregivers’ faces to decide whether something is safe or scary. They watch people’s mouths when they talk to understand words. And when babies follow a gaze or point to an object, they engage joint attention, a process that supports early theory of mind. Looking at adults’ faces and following their gazes helps babies learn.

Face diets shape learning

Another study found that babies were more likely to follow the gaze of an adult who either had a familiar race or who was speaking the same language (Dillman et al., 2024). In other words, babies might be more prepared to learn (about words, faces, or objects) from people who match their face diet.

Babies come into the world with individual differences, too. Children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often look less at others’ faces in infancy. Because they are less likely to follow gazes, Pickron and Bayet suggest they might experience social and communication challenges later on.

Researcher Teacher-Feature

Almost all university researchers are teachers, too. We invite the scientists featured in our column to answer questions about their own teaching. We hope that this feature inspires you and sparks your curiosity!

This interview with Morling and Pickron was edited for length.

What’s your institution and which courses do you teach the most? How large are your classes?

I teach in the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. I’ve taught two types of undergraduate courses: (1) a small “welcome to college” type course, which focuses on a common book (last year was The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson), and (2) special topics, such as Infant Development or a course on the foundations of racial bias in early childhood.

For my special topics courses, I often use a face memory exercise to demonstrate face processing biases for familiar-race faces vs. unfamiliar-race faces. Then, we discuss the nuances of perceptual biases vs. social biases—which is something that people get confused about.

What aspect of teaching do you like the best? Can you tell us a story about how you approach this aspect of teaching?

I went to a small liberal arts college (Mount Holyoke) and want to create the meaningful connections that I had there, at a much larger institution. Finding ways to connect with students in a 70-person class can be challenging. One strategy is to include as much discussion as possible. I try to build community to foster better learning and more engaged discussions during class. I pose a class opening question, like “What did you watch over the weekend?” or have them reflect on what we discussed last time.

I also have about 10 undergraduates working with me as research assistants. Many stay 3–4 years so I see them throughout their time in college. It is particularly rewarding to get emails after they have graduated to share how they are using content from class in their own lives (often when they start a family or are working with children). I even had a former student participate in one of my studies with her infant.

Do you discuss your own research findings in class? If so, what do you want your students to know about it? How do students react?

Yes. This is especially easy to do for my infant development course. Students appreciate hearing what it is like to collect data from infants and toddlers. When discussing race or gender related biases, either perceptual or social, I make sure we do some build-up to it first, spend time discussing our experiences about these topics as well as setting some grounding definitions. I try to be aware of the diversity of identities in the classroom and make space for multiple voices to be heard and respected. We discuss the limitations of studies, including my own, to support critical thinking. Students react to learning about perceptual and social biases in early childhood. Some are not surprised because of their own experiences and others are frustrated that they hadn’t learned about this earlier. It makes for good discussion.

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