On the reasons for newborns' responses to faces

Kleiner (1987) carried out a study to examine whether or not the linear systems model (LSM) of infants' visual preferences could predict neonates' preferences among facelike and abstract patterns. Her data showed that for one crucial comparison this model did not predict the data. Despite this discrepancy, claims are being made that Kleiner's data show that newborns' preferences for facelike patterns can be predicted entirely on the basis of the LSM model.