Young infants' perception of the trajectories of two- and three-dimensional objects.

Johnson, Scott P and Bremner, J. Gavin and Slater, Alan M and Shuwairi, Sarah M and Mason, Ursula and Spring, Joanne and Usherwood, Barrie (2012) Young infants' perception of the trajectories of two- and three-dimensional objects. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113 (1). pp. 177-185. ISSN 0022-0965

Abstract

We investigated oculomotor anticipations in 4-month-old infants as they viewed center-occluded object trajectories. In two experiments, we examined performance in 2D and 3D dynamic occlusion displays, and in an additional 3D condition with a smiley face as the moving target stimulus. Rates of anticipatory eye movements were not facilitated by 3D displays or by the (presumably) more salient smiley face relative to the 2D condition. However, latencies of anticipations were reduced, implying that 3D visual information may have supported formation of more robust mental representations of the moving object. Results are interpreted in a context of perceptual constraints on developing cognitive capacities in early infancy.