Psychology
Vivifab
Helpforassignment.pptxInfant Sensory Capabilities
Vision
least mature of sensory capabilities
changes in light changes in subcortical pupillary reflex
neonates sensitive to light
more likely to track faces than other patterns (disappears in month or two)
Neonates see the world in color; trouble distinguishing between certain colors.
Poor visual acuity (20/600); need sharper visual contrasts to see them
Early Pattern Perception (0-2 months)
infants prefer to look at high-contrast patterns with many sharp boundaries between light and dark areas, and at moderately complex patterns that have curvilinear features
Sees dark blob when looking at highly complex checkerboard
Prefer to look at whatever they see well!
What are the “best” toys for an infant?
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Why do neonates track faces? Adaptive remnant of our evolutionary history – a reflex, controlled by subcortical areas of the brain, that serves to orient babies to their caregivers & promote social interactions (Johnson et al., 1991).
They have trouble distinguishing between blues and greens; and reds from yellows.
Color vision does improve quickly by two months they can discriminate between all basic colors. By 4-5 months, recognize that an object’s color does not change when it grows brighter or dimmer. Also able to group colors of slightly different shades into the same basic categories – the reds, the greens, blues, and yellows that adults do.
Visual acuity a person’s ability to see small objects and fine detail
Visual contrast the amount of light/dark transition in a visual stimulus
Infants’ Visual Perception
Visual Acuity
Color
Perceiving Patterns
Depth Perception
Visual Expectations
20/600 at birth, near adult levels by 1 year
Sees green and red at birth, all colors by 2 months
Prefer patterns at birth; face scanning improves by 2 months
Developed by 7-8 months
Begins by 4 months;
expect gravity by 6-8 months
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William James 1890/19050 said newborns perceptual world – blooming, buzzing confusion – he was wrong!
But it is different to what you might expect:
1 month old
2 month old
3 month old
1 year old
Evidence that infants see objects as bounded, unitary, solid, and separate from their background, possibly at birth or shortly thereafter
Definitely by 3 or 4 months of age
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Remember this is only an estimation
But remember they can see the mother in about 2 days – because they are up close – you can see how their senses might be important from an evolutionary/survivalist point of view
1 yr old = approx adulthood vision
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By the time these two checkerboards are processed by eyes with poor vision, only the checkerboard on the left may have any pattern left to it.
Poor vision in early infancy helps to explain a preference for moderately complex rather than highly complex stimuli.
