Discrepancy detection and developmental changes in attentional engagement in infancy

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Authors
Bhatt, Ramesh S
Gilbert, Jaime
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
1999
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Infant Behavior and Development
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Series
Series number
Volume
22
Issue / Number
2
Pages / Duration
197-219
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Elsevier
Place of publication / Event location
Edition
Version
Programming language
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Practice partner / Client
Abstract
The processing of discrepancies in visual arrays is fundamental to basic visual processes such as figure-ground segregation and object recognition. In six experiments, we examined this function in 3- and 5.5-month-olds. In Experiment 1, 5.5-month-olds detected a textural discrepancy induced by changes in individual color and shape features but not one induced by changes in relations among these features. These results suggest that, in infancy, as in adulthood, there are differences in the processes that detect featural discrepancies versus those that detect discrepancies in relations among features. Experiments 2, 3A, and 3B suggested that, unlike in the case of 3-month-olds in prior studies, textural and singleton discrepancies in arrays that 5.5-month-olds detect do not hold their attention in the presence of other attention-seeking cues. A comparison of the performance of 3- and 5.5-month-olds in Experiments 4A and 4B confirmed the presence of this developmental change. Altogether, these results indicate that infants’ detection of color and shape textural discrepancies is consistent with models of adult visual processing that posit a preattentive system for processing features and a resource-demanding attentional system for processing relations among features. They also suggest that the ability to disengage attention from a discrepancy and deploy it at another location develops between 3 and 5.5 months of age.
Keywords
Attentional development, Visual attention, Eatures versus conjunctions, Visual pop-out texture segregation
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ISBN
ISSN
1879-0453
0163-6383
1934-8800
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
License
Citation
Bhatt, R. S., Bertin, E., & Gilbert, J. (1999). Discrepancy detection and developmental changes in attentional engagement in infancy. Infant Behavior and Development, 22(2), 197–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(99)00005-3