ch. 3: Coming to perceive the world Flashcards
Binocular cues
A cue to the perception of depth that arises from the use of both eyes.
Convergence
A binocular cue to depth that arises from the sensation that occurs when the two eyes converge to focus on an object.
Dishabituation
The expression of interest in a new display or scene, as shown by increased responses to the novel stimulus.
Dynamic cues
A cue to the perception of depth that arises from moving objects and surfaces.
Feedback loop
In developmental psychology, the constant interplay between an infant and his environment, in which an experience causes a change in the infant’s state, which in turn influences how the infant’s next experiences are encountered.
Habituation
The gradual decline of interest in a display or scene, as shown by a decrease in responses to a repeated stimulus.
Habituation method
A method to determine if an infant can distinguish a new stimulus from a familiar stimulus. An infant’s responses (for example, looking time) will decrease with repeated presentation of a familiar stimulus, but they will increase if the infant perceives that
there is a new stimulus.
Motion parallax
A cue to depth that arises from the relative motion of objects at different distances.
Perceptual narrowing
A process in which infants increase their processing ability and precision in a narrow category, but often at the expense of processing outside that category.
Preferential looking method
A method to determine whether a subject can detect a difference between two types of displays, implied when the subject looks at one display more than the other.
Sensitive period
A period in development when learning a particular kind of information is much easier. Before or after such a period, learning is more difficult.
U-shaped developmental curve
A developmental pattern in which an early, rudimentary
ability or capacity initially declines with increasing age and then increases, becoming more
sophisticated than it was at the start. This pattern is associated with the replacement of an
early system with a later- emerging, more mature one.
Visual cliff
An apparatus for assessing depth perception in infants. It consists of a large,
transparent and nonreflective pane of glass with two similar patterned displays below it. Onehalf of the glass pane has a pattern directly beneath it, so that the surface appears solid, and the other half of the glass pane has the same pattern roughly 3 feet below, giving the
impression of a sudden drop- off. If the infant perceives depth, she will be afraid to crawl
over the half of the glass pane that appears to have a drop- off.
Visually evoked potential (VEP) method
A method of measuring at what point of resolution the changing patterns that an infant is watching on a screen no longer cause corresponding changes in his brain’s electrical activity.
