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Questions and Answers
What was the belief regarding infant vision until a few decades ago?
What was the belief regarding infant vision until a few decades ago?
It was assumed that infants' vision was almost non-existent and barely functional.
Which of these methods are used for studying visual perception in infants? (Select all that apply)
Which of these methods are used for studying visual perception in infants? (Select all that apply)
In the Preferential Looking Paradigm, infants should look longer at a stimulus they can distinguish.
In the Preferential Looking Paradigm, infants should look longer at a stimulus they can distinguish.
True
What are the two main factors that influence an infant's preference in the Preferential Looking Paradigm?
What are the two main factors that influence an infant's preference in the Preferential Looking Paradigm?
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What is the main principle that the Habituation Paradigm takes advantage of?
What is the main principle that the Habituation Paradigm takes advantage of?
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The Habituation Paradigm assesses the infant's ability to discriminate between stimuli.
The Habituation Paradigm assesses the infant's ability to discriminate between stimuli.
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Describe briefly what happens during the Habituation phase of the Habituation Paradigm.
Describe briefly what happens during the Habituation phase of the Habituation Paradigm.
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Dishabituation occurs when the infant shows greater interest in the new stimulus than the habituated one.
Dishabituation occurs when the infant shows greater interest in the new stimulus than the habituated one.
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Infants generally display a preference for novel stimuli.
Infants generally display a preference for novel stimuli.
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What is visual acuity?
What is visual acuity?
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Visual acuity is assessed using the habituation paradigm.
Visual acuity is assessed using the habituation paradigm.
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What is the reason for poor visual acuity at birth?
What is the reason for poor visual acuity at birth?
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What is the approximate age when infants achieve adult-like visual acuity?
What is the approximate age when infants achieve adult-like visual acuity?
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At birth, infants see in full colour.
At birth, infants see in full colour.
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At what age does colour vision develop in infants?
At what age does colour vision develop in infants?
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When do infants attain adult-like colour perception?
When do infants attain adult-like colour perception?
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Visual scanning refers to the ability of infants to smoothly track moving objects from birth.
Visual scanning refers to the ability of infants to smoothly track moving objects from birth.
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Describe the development of visual scanning abilities in infants.
Describe the development of visual scanning abilities in infants.
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Visual scanning is a significant skill for infants because it helps them control their learning experience.
Visual scanning is a significant skill for infants because it helps them control their learning experience.
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Newborns exhibit a preference for faces over non-face stimuli.
Newborns exhibit a preference for faces over non-face stimuli.
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The "top-heavy" hypothesis suggests that infants are attracted to faces because of a general bias towards stimuli with more weight on the top.
The "top-heavy" hypothesis suggests that infants are attracted to faces because of a general bias towards stimuli with more weight on the top.
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Research has demonstrated that infants show a preference for upright faces over upside-down faces.
Research has demonstrated that infants show a preference for upright faces over upside-down faces.
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Infants show a stronger preference for top-heavy scrambled faces compared to bottom-heavy scrambled faces.
Infants show a stronger preference for top-heavy scrambled faces compared to bottom-heavy scrambled faces.
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What does the research on infant face perception suggest about the nature of this preference?
What does the research on infant face perception suggest about the nature of this preference?
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Infants quickly learn to recognize their mother's face and exhibit a preference for it over other faces.
Infants quickly learn to recognize their mother's face and exhibit a preference for it over other faces.
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What term describes the increased ability of infants to distinguish between faces that they frequently encounter?
What term describes the increased ability of infants to distinguish between faces that they frequently encounter?
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Infants are equally good at distinguishing between faces of different races.
Infants are equally good at distinguishing between faces of different races.
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Describe the Other Race Effect in infants.
Describe the Other Race Effect in infants.
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What is the main factor influencing the Other Race Effect in infants?
What is the main factor influencing the Other Race Effect in infants?
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What is Perceptual Narrowing?
What is Perceptual Narrowing?
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Perceptual narrowing enhances the infant's ability to distinguish between stimuli that are not present in their environment.
Perceptual narrowing enhances the infant's ability to distinguish between stimuli that are not present in their environment.
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Perceptual narrowing is a result of synaptic pruning in different perceptual domains.
Perceptual narrowing is a result of synaptic pruning in different perceptual domains.
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What is synaptic pruning?
What is synaptic pruning?
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Synaptic pruning results in hyper-connectivity in the brain.
Synaptic pruning results in hyper-connectivity in the brain.
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What is perceptual constancy?
What is perceptual constancy?
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The study on perceptual constancy in infants involved habituating newborn infants to a cube presented at different distances.
The study on perceptual constancy in infants involved habituating newborn infants to a cube presented at different distances.
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The results indicated that infants perceived the small and large cubes presented at different distances as distinct objects.
The results indicated that infants perceived the small and large cubes presented at different distances as distinct objects.
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What is object segregation?
What is object segregation?
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Movement is a significant cue for object segregation.
Movement is a significant cue for object segregation.
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Newborns are less likely to distinguish a single rod from a broken rod, showing an inability to segregate objects.
Newborns are less likely to distinguish a single rod from a broken rod, showing an inability to segregate objects.
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What is binocular disparity?
What is binocular disparity?
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Binocular disparity develops at 4 months old.
Binocular disparity develops at 4 months old.
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What is a sensitive period?
What is a sensitive period?
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What is the sensitive Period for binocular vision?
What is the sensitive Period for binocular vision?
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Babies who do not receive normal binocular visual input until age 3 are likely to experience lifelong difficulties with depth perception.
Babies who do not receive normal binocular visual input until age 3 are likely to experience lifelong difficulties with depth perception.
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What are monocular depth cues?
What are monocular depth cues?
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Monocular depth cues develop at 6 months old.
Monocular depth cues develop at 6 months old.
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Infants who are 6 months old will readily crawl over a visual cliff.
Infants who are 6 months old will readily crawl over a visual cliff.
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Study Notes
Visual Development
- Visual development is a complex process, starting at birth and continuing throughout the first years of life.
- Initially, infants' vision is limited, but it rapidly improves over time.
- Infants' visual abilities are not entirely innate, and experiences also play a significant role.
Methods in Infant Research
- Methods used to study infant visual perception include preferential looking paradigm and habituation paradigm.
- Preferential looking paradigm assesses preference for one stimulus over another.
- Habituation paradigm assesses the ability to discriminate between stimuli. Repeated exposure to a stimulus until the baby loses interest is a key part of this method.
What do Babies See at Birth?
- Previous belief: Infants had poor or non-existent visual skills at birth.
What do Babies See?
- Current understanding: Infants can visually scan their environment and show interest in certain things at birth.
- Researchers use creative methods since they cannot directly ask the infants.
Preferential Looking Paradigm
- Employed to ascertain infant preferences regarding stimuli.
- Two stimuli are presented simultaneously to the infant.
- Researchers measure the infant's looking time to determine their preference.
- This method is crucial for examining infants' discrimination abilities and preferences for stimuli.
What is Interesting to Infants?
- Infants exhibit a preference for stimuli that are complex, highly saturated in color, and familiar.
Habituation Paradigm
- Infants are repeatedly exposed to a stimulus until they lose interest (habituation).
- A novel stimulus is then introduced to observe if the infant shows renewed interest (dishabituation).
- The habituation paradigm assesses an infant's ability to discriminate between different stimuli.
Familiarity vs. Novelty
- Typically, infants display a greater preference for familiar objects or stimuli.
- Repeated exposure to a particular stimulus leads to a shift toward novel stimuli.
Summary
- The preferential-looking paradigm presents two stimuli and assesses what an infant looks at longer.
- In the habituation paradigm, infants are exposed to stimuli until they stop engaging with them, when a novel stimulus is presented. Both assess differences between stimuli.
- Infants generally have a preference for familiar and/or complex stimuli.
Visual Acuity and Colour Perception
- Infants' visual acuity (sharpness of vision) is poor at birth.
- They are most interested in highly contrasting patterns.
- Infants gradually improve their visual acuity.
- Initially, they see in shades of gray until color perception develops.
- Color vision becomes more developed around 5 months of age.
- Cone cells are responsible for color awareness and become mature over time.
Development of Visual Acuity
- Visual acuity develops gradually, typically reaching adult-like levels around 8 months old.
Colour Perception
- Infants see in shades of gray at birth.
- Color perception begins to develop around two months, gradually achieving adult-like levels by 5 months.
Visual Scanning
- At birth, infants scan their environment in jerky movements (due to immature skills).
- By 4 months, infants can track moving objects smoothly.
- Improvements in visual scanning reflect brain maturation.
- Visual scanning is a critical skill for learning and understanding the world.
Face Perception
- At birth, infants show a preference for faces and face-like stimuli.
- Infants distinguish between their mother's face and others.
Why are Infants Drawn to Faces?
- One hypothesis is that infants have a bias toward "top-heavy" stimuli.
- A key part of face perception is that it is not innate, but rather a result of experience with top-heavy stimuli.
Becoming a Face Specialist
- Over the first year of life, infants develop specialized face perception.
- They are better at distinguishing between faces they frequently encounter. Conversely, they are less adept at distinguishing faces they less frequently see.
Other-Race Effect in Infants
- Infants tend to more readily discriminate between faces of their own racial group than between faces from other races. This does not apply to babies under 3 months.
- Exposure plays a role in this.
- Perceptual narrowing affects a child's ability to distinguish among different faces.
Perceptual Narrowing
- Infants' perceptual systems adapt to the specific stimuli they encounter daily.
- This adaptation is a result of synaptic pruning, which fine-tunes neural connections over time.
Recap: Synaptic Pruning
- Synaptic pruning is the elimination of synapses to increase neural communication efficiency.
- It's a "use it or lose it" process.
- Synaptogenesis is the initial formation of synapses.
- Development of synapses is rapid, resulting in excessive initial connectivity that must be refined.
Recap: Synaptic Pruning Timetable
- Brain development occurs in distinct stages across several months or years.
Synaptic Pruning Across Domains
- Specific brain regions develop rapidly within the first few years. The development of these regions is essential for complex functions like visual and auditory processing, language, and complex thought.
Face Perception in Children with ASD
- Infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may show different face preferences than typically developing children.
- They may have trouble with facial expressions or have a different preference for patterns than typically developing children.
Summary of Face Perception
- Infants exhibit a preference for faces from birth, especially facial features.
- This preference develops over time, and experience influences what they focus on.
- Infants’ initial preferences are strongly based on their own environment.
Object Perception
- Understanding objects and their properties, including size, shape, and color.
Perceptual Constancy in Infants
- Infants exhibit perceptual constancy from birth; they understand that objects remain the same despite changes in their retinal images.
Object Segregation in Infants
- Infants develop the ability to separate objects from their surroundings.
- This skill relies on various cues, including movement, over time.
Depth Perception
- Binocular disparity is the difference in retinal images between the two eyes.
- Infants perceive depth due to combining the differing neural signals in their visual cortex.
- Depth perception develops during a sensitive period.
Sensitive Period for Binocular Vision
- A specific time period is critical for normal binocular vision development. Visual input during this phase is vital.
- If an infant does not receive proper binocular vision input, it could contribute to future problems with depth perception.
Depth Perception: Monocular Depth Cues
- These relate to depth perception using only one eye.
- Examples include relative size and overlap.
- Monocular depth cues develop gradually.
- The visual cliff is a technique for testing depth perception in infants.
Visual Cliff
- Visual cliff testing measures an infants depth perception skills.
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Description
Explore the fascinating journey of visual development in infants, starting from birth and continuing through their early years. Learn about the methods researchers use to study how babies perceive their visual world, including the preferential looking and habituation paradigms, and how these insights shape our understanding of infant perception.
