Infant Visual Preference and Acuity

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Questions and Answers

What does the preferential-looking paradigm assess in infants?

An infant's preference for one stimulus over another (correct)

An infant's emotional responses to stimuli

An infant's ability to imitate behaviors

An infant's motor skill development

What indicates that an infant has habituated to a stimulus?

Confused responses to the stimulus

Preference for the old stimulus

Decreased looking time at the old stimulus (correct)

Increased looking time at the stimulus

What visual characteristic do infants prefer at birth?

Patterns with high visual contrast (correct)

Complex stimuli with numerous colors

Patterns with low visual contrast

Familiar objects over new stimuli

In the habituation paradigm, what does dishabituation signify?

Infants can distinguish between the old and new stimulus Signup and view all the answers

How is visual acuity typically assessed in infants?

Using the preferential-looking paradigm with striper patterns Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary reason infants are drawn to faces according to Macchi et al. (2004)?

Preference for top-heavy stimuli Signup and view all the answers

When do infants typically start to recognize and prefer their mother's face over others?

A few days after birth Signup and view all the answers

What occurs during the first year of life in relation to infants' face recognition abilities?

They become face specialists Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'other-race effect' signify in infants?

Infants find it easier to distinguish faces of their own racial group Signup and view all the answers

How do infants become more proficient in distinguishing faces during their first year?

By focusing more on familiar faces Signup and view all the answers

What does the habituation paradigm with newborns test regarding perceptual constancy?

Whether infants perceive size consistency despite retinal image changes. Signup and view all the answers

What was a key finding from the study by Slater et al. regarding infants and size perception?

Infants recognized the repeated small cube as a constant size object. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary cue that helps infants identify separate objects according to the concept of object segregation?

Movement of the objects. Signup and view all the answers

In the habituation paradigm testing object segregation, what was shown to infants moving behind a box?

A rod moving side-to-side behind a box. Signup and view all the answers

What conclusion can be drawn about perceptual constancy in infants from the results of Slater et al.'s study?

Perceptual constancy is present from birth. Signup and view all the answers

At what age do infants typically demonstrate adult-like visual acuity?

8 months Signup and view all the answers

What significant change in colour perception occurs at 5 months of age?

Adult-like colour perception is achieved Signup and view all the answers

How do infants' abilities to track moving objects change by 4 months?

They can smoothly track moving objects if the speed is slow. Signup and view all the answers

What innate bias do infants exhibit when looking at stimuli?

Preference for top-heavy stimuli Signup and view all the answers

What type of stimuli do newborns prefer over non-face-like stimuli?

Faces or face-like stimuli Signup and view all the answers

In the context of face perception, what should infants prefer if faces are special?

Upright faces Signup and view all the answers

What factor contributes to infants' improved visual scanning abilities by 8 months?

Brain maturation Signup and view all the answers

What outcome occurs as infants reach 5 months in terms of colour discrimination?

They can discriminate between colour categories and hues. Signup and view all the answers

What indicates that 4-month-old infants understand the concept of object segregation?

They prefer to look at the broken rod. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main factor that affects the development of depth perception from binocular disparity in infants?

Normal visual input from both eyes. Signup and view all the answers

At what age are monocular depth cues typically perceived by infants?

At 6 months. Signup and view all the answers

What is the sensitive period for binocular vision development?

From birth to age 3. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of depth cues do infants not demonstrate until after 6 months of age?

Monocular depth cues. Signup and view all the answers

What does the visual cliff experiment suggest about depth perception in infants?

It requires experience to develop. Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of visual development is typically poor at birth?

Visual scanning. Signup and view all the answers

If an infant does not receive normal visual input until age 3, what may result?

Life-long difficulties with depth perception. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Novelty

Infants prefer familiar stimuli
Prolonged exposure to a stimulus leads to a preference for novel stimuli

Preferential Looking Paradigm

Two stimuli presented side by side
Assesses infant preference for one stimulus over another
Infants prefer familiar and complex stimuli

Habituation Paradigm

Infant is presented with a stimulus repeatedly until habituated (bored)
A novel stimulus is presented alongside the familiar stimulus
Assesses the infant’s ability to distinguish between stimuli
Infants prefer novel stimuli as indicated by longer looking times (dishabituation)

Visual Acuity

Sharpness of visual discrimination
Assessed using Preferential Looking Paradigm
Infants are presented with paddles with increasingly narrower stripes and gaps
Infants cannot distinguish between striped and plain paddles when the stripes and gaps are too narrow

Visual Acuity at Birth

Infants have poor visual acuity
Prefer high contrast patterns
Cannot discriminate between low contrast stimuli
The immaturity of cone cells in the retina causes poor visual acuity
Cone cells are light-sensitive neurons involved in seeing fine details and colour

Development of Visual Acuity

8 months old: Infant visual acuity is like an adult’s

Colour Perception

At birth - Infants see in grayscale
2 months - Colour vision appears
5 months - Adult-like colour perception
Development of cones and visual cortex are crucial for colour perception
Infants can discriminate between colour categories and between hues of the same colour.

Visual Scanning

Infants scan their environment and pause to look at objects from birth
Infants have trouble tracking moving stimuli because their eye movements are jerky
4 months: Infants can smoothly track slowly moving objects
8 months: Infants have adult-like visual scanning and can smoothly follow objects
Brain maturation leads to improved visual scanning
Visual scanning is important because it allows infants to control what they observe and learn

Face Perception

Newborns prefer faces or face-like stimuli to non-face-like stimuli

Why are Infants Drawn to Faces?

Infants have a general bias for stimuli that are top-heavy
This bias can explain the preference for faces
Infants prefer upright faces to upside-down faces.
Infants prefer scrambled top-heavy faces to scrambled bottom-heavy faces

Faces Become Specialized

Over the first year of life, infants become face specialists
They are better at distinguishing between faces that are frequently encountered
They are less able to distinguish between faces that are rarely encountered

Other-Race-Effect in Infants

People are better at distinguishing between faces of individuals from their own racial group
This is also seen in infants
Researchers habituated infants to faces from their own race and other races
Infants who were habituated to faces from their own race were better at distinguishing between two faces from that race

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual Constancy is present from birth
Infants are habituated to a small cube at different distances
The retinal image differed with each presentation
Infants were presented with two cubes in the test phase: the original small cube and a larger cube that was further away (projected the same sized retinal image as the small cube)
Infants looked longer at the larger cube that was further away

Object Segregation

The ability to identify objects that are separate from each other
Movement is a key cue to object segregation
Separate objects move independently of each other

Object Segregation in Infants

Infants are habituated to a rod moving side-to-side behind a box
In the test phase, infants are shown a single rod and a broken rod
4 month olds prefer to look at the broken rod (indicating they see the rod behind the box as a single object)
Newborns look at both the single and broken rod equally (indicating they do not understand that the rod behind the box was a single object)
Object segregation is not innate and must be learned with experience
Improved visual scanning also plays a role in object segregation

Depth Perception

Binocular Disparity: The different retinal images of an object in each eye
The visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity
Depth perception based on binocular disparity is present at 4 months old

Sensitive Period for Binocular Vision

Sensitive period: A period where certain experiences are necessary for normal development
The sensitive period for binocular vision is from birth to age 3
Depth perception based on binocular disparity is the natural result of brain maturation as long as infants have normal visual input from both eyes
If infants do not receive normal binocular visual input by age 3, they will not develop normal binocular vision and will experience life-long difficulties with depth perception

Monocular Depth Cues

Perceived at 6 months old
Assessed using the visual cliff
Examples include relative size and overlap
6 month olds will not crawl over the visual cliff

The Visual Cliff

An apparatus used to assess depth perception in infants

Visual Development Timeline

At birth: Rudimentary visual scanning, poor acuity, preference for high contrast, gray scale, preference for faces over non-faces
2 months: Colour vision appears
4 months: Smooth tracking of slow moving objects, depth perception based on binocular disparity
6 months: Monocular depth cues
8 months: Adult-like visual acuity, adult-like visual scanning
1 year: Infant becomes a “face specialist”

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Description

Explore the fascinating concepts of novelty, preferential looking, and habituation in infant visual preference. This quiz covers how infants respond to familiar versus novel stimuli and their visual acuity development. Test your knowledge on the methodologies used to assess these important aspects of early development.