Our Research
Our lab explores how early life experiences shape the human mind. We have moved away from the old idea that infants are just passive observers; instead, our research shows that the infant brain is active, predictive, and capable of complex processing from birth. We use safe, infant-friendly technology like functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and eye-tracking to see how babies think and learn.
Beyond theory, we are modernizing developmental science by building better tools. We have developed open-source software and smartphone apps that allow us to study child development accurately and easily, even outside of the lab. Most of our work focuses on how babies perceive faces and voices, as these are the most common and important social signals they encounter. By understanding how these skills develop, we aim to support healthy growth and identify ways to help when development takes an atypical path.
Focused Areas
How do movement and space change how we see faces?
In the real world, faces are rarely still—they move, talk, and exist at different distances from us. Our research challenges the traditional use of static photos by showing that facial movement and physical context are essential to how we learn. We found that even three-month-old babies pay more attention to faces that move naturally compared to those with artificial motion. We also discovered that how close a face is to us changes how our brain processes it, a perception that is influenced by social and emotional cues. Furthermore, we are looking at how babies from different cultures use visual cues from moving lips to learn language.
Is the infant brain a passive sponge or an active predictor?
For decades, scientists believed that babies simply absorbed sensory information like a sponge. Our work has overturned this view by proving that the infant brain is a dynamic system that actively predicts what will happen next. In a study of sleeping newborns, we found that their visual brains lit up in response to sound cues, showing they were predicting a visual image even when none was there. This proves that the brain’s ability to predict sensory information is present right at birth. We are continuing to study how this predictive ability helps babies specialize in recognizing the faces they see most often.
How does real-world experience shape development?
We believe that a child's development cannot be understood without looking at their specific environment. Our research treats real-world experiences—like where you live and who takes care of you—as critical factors in brain development. For instance, we found that babies raised in diverse communities keep a broader ability to scan different types of faces. We also studied the unique impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and found that babies born during lockdown, who saw fewer faces, had difficulty recognizing new people. This confirms that the brain adapts directly to the "statistics" of its daily life.
Where do social biases come from?
Many people think social biases are learned from parents or society later in childhood. Our research suggests these biases actually stem from basic brain processes in the first year of life. We found that because babies process familiar faces (like their own race) more easily, they automatically connect those faces with positive feelings. Conversely, the brain works harder to process unfamiliar faces, which can lead to negative associations. This means bias isn't necessarily about social hate, but about how the brain manages information. Our goal is to use this knowledge to advocate for exposing babies to more diversity early on, building the foundation for a more inclusive society.
Publications
2026
Leveraging ubiquitous mobile sensors to track infant expressions and movements
Pazdera, Ripley, Fang, Fink, Schmidt, Rutherford, Troje, Trainor, & Xiao
Emotional consistency as a guide for toddlers' social engagement
Fang & Xiao
Infants Recognized Other‐Race Faces When Learning Them With Incidental Emotional Sounds
Guan, Geller, Mammon, & Xiao
Evidence of Top‐Down Sensory Prediction in Neonates Within 2 Days of Birth
Xiao, Robertson, & Emberson
2025
Physical attractiveness and clinical decision-making in non-melanoma head and neck skin cancer: A cross-sectional survey study
Chalmers, Staibano, Sahlollbey, Krasotkina, Xiao, & Gupta
Emotional Consensus Matters: Impact on Toddlers' Visual Exploration Behaviors
Fang & Xiao
Enhanced Prototype Formation for Other-Race Faces in Infancy: Developmental Trajectories and Environmental Adaptations
Guan, Quinn, Yan, & Xiao
Derivation of Novel Imaging Biomarkers of Neonatal Brain Injury Using Bedside Diffuse Optical Tomography: Protocol for a Prospective Feasibility Study
Mastroianni, Vinod, Xiao, Johnson, Thabane, Fang, & Goswami
Perceptual narrowing effects in face and language domains
Xiao, Liu, & Potter
2024
Racial ambiguity impairs holistic face processing: Evidence from racially distinctive and racially ambiguous faces
Yan, Tang, Wang, Sun, & Xiao
Altered development of face recognition among infants born amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Kim, Fang, Liu, Panesar, & Xiao
Infants’ top-down perceptual modulation is specific to own-race faces
Xiao, Ghersin, Dombrowski, Boldin, & Emberson
2023
Face recognition ability can be predicted by microstructural properties of white matter: a study of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
Zhou, Xiao, Sun, Li, & Liu
Visual Perception Is Highly Flexible and Context Dependent in Young Infants: A Case of Top-Down-Modulated Motion Perception
Xiao & Emberson
The discrimination of expressions in facial movements by infants: A study with point-light displays
Xiao, Angeli, Fang, Manera, Liu, Castiello, Ge, Lee, & Simion
Facial dominance augments perceived proximity: Evidence from a visual illusion.
Fang, Galusca, Wang, Sun, Pascalis, & Xiao
2022
The “Fat Face” illusion: A robust adaptation for processing pairs of faces
Galusca, Fang, Wang, Zhong, Sun, Pascalis, & Xiao
2020
Emotional expressions reinstate recognition of other-race faces in infants following perceptual narrowing
Quinn, Lee, Pascalis, & Xiao
2019
Infants use knowledge of emotions to augment face perception: Evidence of top-down modulation of perception early in life
Xiao & Emberson
Monolingual but not bilingual infants demonstrate racial bias in social cue use
Singh, Quinn, Xiao, & Lee
2018
Relations between scanning and recognition of own- and other-race faces in 6- and 9-month-old infants
Liu, Quinn, Xiao, Wu, Liu, & Lee
The fusiform face area plays a greater role in holistic processing for own-race faces than other-race faces
Zhou, Liu, Xiao, Wu, Li, & Lee
Infants rely more on gaze cues from own‐race than other‐race adults for learning under uncertainty
Xiao, Wu, Quinn, Liu, Tummeltshammer, Kirkham, Ge, Pascalis, & Lee
iTemplate: A template-based eye movement data analysis approach
Xiao & Lee
Older but not younger infants associate own-race faces with happy music and other-race faces with sad music
Xiao, Quinn, Liu, Ge, Pascalis, & Lee
Narrowing in face and speech perception in infancy: Developmental change in the relations between domains
Xiao, Mukaida, Quinn, Pascalis, Lee, & Itakura
2017
Processing of face race in infants: Development of perceptual and social biases
Xiao, Quinn, Lee, & Pascalis
Bilingual infants demonstrate perceptual flexibility in phoneme discrimination but perceptual constraint in face discrimination
Singh, Loh, & Xiao
Own-Group Face Recognition Bias: The Effects of Location and Reputation
Yan, Wang, Huang, Sun, Judges, Xiao, & Lee
Scanning of own- versus other-race faces in infants from racially diverse or homogenous communities
Ellis, Xiao, Lee, & Oakes
Facial movements facilitate part-based, not holistic, processing in children, adolescents, and adults
Xiao, Quinn, Ge, & Lee
2016
An adult face bias in infants that is modulated by face race
Heron-Delaney, Damon, Quinn, Méary, Xiao, Lee, & Pascalis
2015 & Prior
Development of visual preference for own- versus other-race faces in infancy.
Liu, Xiao, Xiao, Quinn, Zhang, Chen, Ge, Pascalis, & Lee
Visual scanning and recognition of Chinese, Caucasian, and racially ambiguous faces: Contributions from bottom-up facial physiognomic information and top-down knowledge of racial categories
Wang, Xiao, Quinn, Hu, Qian, Fu, & Lee
Eye tracking reveals a crucial role for facial motion in recognition of faces by infants.
Xiao, Quinn, Liu, Ge, Pascalis, & Lee
Asian infants show preference for own-race but not other-race female faces: The role of infant caregiving arrangements.
Liu, Xiao, Quinn, Zhu, Ge, Pascalis, & Lee
Natural, but not artificial, facial movements elicit the left visual field bias in infant face scanning.
Xiao, Quinn, Wheeler, Pascalis, & Lee
On the facilitative effects of face motion on face recognition and its development.
Xiao, Perrotta, Quinn, Wang, Sun, & Lee
The Eye-Size Illusion: Psychophysical Characteristics, Generality, and Relation to Holistic Face Processing
Xiao, Fu, Quinn, Sun, Xiao, Wang, Chen, Pascalis, Damon, & Lee
Elastic facial movement influences part-based but not holistic processing.
Xiao, Quinn, Ge, & Lee
Development of face scanning for own- and other-race faces in infancy
Xiao, Xiao, Quinn, Anzures, & Lee
Rigid facial motion influences featural, but not holistic, face processing.
Xiao, Quinn, Ge, & Lee
A new "fat face" illusion
Sun, Ge, Quinn, Wang, Xiao, Pascalis, Tanaka, & Lee
Similarity and difference in the processing of same- and other-race faces as revealed by eye tracking in 4- to 9-month-olds
Liu, Quinn, Wheeler, Xiao, Ge, & Lee