Area 3- child Flashcards
what is topic 3
perceptual development in children and how this can be studied in animals
what does studying behaviour in animals and humans show
evolutionary links so behaviour must be innate
what is perception
organisation or interpretations of sensory information
whats the main debate of perception
Nature/nurture - is our ability to perceive something innate or learnt
what are the 2 cognitive concepts
top down processing - past experiences- brain effect what being seen - expectation
bottom up processing -data driven
what is the nativist view of perception
humans are born with at least some genetically predisposed perceptual abilities, even if they don’t appear immediately they will later
what is the constructivist view of perception
perceptual abilities develop through learning as we make sense of sensations we experience- born with little or no perceptual abilities
what is the interactionist view of perception
born with strong disposition to develop certain abilities important to survival but these develop in response to environment (born with tools)
what is depth perception
3-dimmensional- ability to perceive depth or distance promotes survival - prevents falling
occurs because brain can interpret depth cues
whats mean by constancy
we perceive something as constant even if it changes angle or distance ( something may look different by we know its the same)
what are the 3 constancies
colour e.g, sun hits grass we know is not light green and dark green grass
shape- angle
size - distance
what are the 4 depth cues
superimposed- layered
linear perspective- lines get closer together to show distance
height in plane- distance e.g., beach is halved for sea and sand
texture gradient- less detail further away
who research the nature of perception
Tom bower
what did tom bower do
tested babies ability to perceive depth
8-17 days old
2 cubes, 1 large cube 20 cm away and 1 small cube 8 cm away
images projected onto retina would be same size
what did tom bower find
babies raised their arms in response to closer object - distinguish between 2 objects as they knew which one way closer - have some degree of depth
who researched the nurture of perception
William Hudson
what did William Hudson do
gave several 2D drawings to south African children and adults who had been schooled or unschooled
e.g., hunter appears to be holding spear in general direction of elephant or antelope but elephant is smaller than antelope and on higher ground suggesting it is further away
what did William Hudson find
schooled participants knew it was the antelope but unschooled chose elephant- suggests depth is partly learnt as if it was present at birth the unschooled would have guessed correct
what did Fantz do
conducted famous study which he showed new born babies 2 versions of faces normal and scrambled
what did Fantz find
found babies looked at image on left (normal) than other images - young babies no preference for correct image over a scrambled one but they did at 3 months
one month they can see edges
2 months they can see depth
2/3 months- centre of face probably controlled by cerebral cortex
perception is there but appears later- 3 months
what is preferential looking
babies look at things they find interesting - study in animals shows that it is universal- measured amount of time spent looking at 2 stimuli
how did Fantz gather inter-rater reliability
videoing the babies when presented with photos
what’s meant by babies perception becoming habituated or dishabituated
babies spend longer looking at something new but when they are used to it, it becomes habituated and look elsewhere
how does an EEG measure perception
geodesic sensor net secured by cap but on head to measure brain waves and spikes in response to visual stimuli
