CH 5.4: Sensory and Perceptual Processes Flashcards
infants typically prefer which stimuli over which other stimuli?
prefer novel over familiar
what receptors are functional in the fetus before birth?
smell and taste
can infants distinguish between pleasant and unpleasant odours?
yes; they change their facial expressions to communicate it
most infants seem to have a _____ tooth
sweet
what demonstrates that infants perceive touch?
touching them produces a reflex
why is it hard to determine if infants experience pain?
because it can be confused with stress and they can’t communicate to us that they’re in pain
at what point can a fetus start to hear?
7-8 months
what is measured to determine how well a baby can hear?
auditory threshold: the quietest sound a person can hear
wat does it mean that babies have the ability called auditory localization?
they are able to detect the general location and distance of a sound
most babies full auditory capacity is reached when?
2.5 years
what is measured to determine how well an infant can see?
their visual acuity: the smallest pattern that can be distinguished dependably
when does an infant’s visual acuity typically become the same as a normal adult’s?
12 months
when do cones start functioning and infants colour perception seems similar to adults’?
3-4 months
what does it mean that infants view stimuli the same as adults do?
view them by colour
what does it mean to say babies master size constancy early on?
they can tell that an object’s actual size remains the same regardless of the distance they’re seeing it from (although it’s farther away, it’s still the exact same size as it was previously seen, maybe from a closer distance)
what 3 constancies babies achieve by 4 months?
size, colour and shape
what experiment proved that babies can perceive depth by the time they’re old enough to crawl?
visual cliff experiment: a baby is placed on a glass platform where one side of the glass appears to have the floor be way deeper than it really is. babies won’t crawl onto that side of the glass even when their mother is calling them to go over there.
when does a baby’s heart rate often decelerate/accelerate?
decelerates when noticing something interesting, accelerating when in fear
what cues to infants use to infer depth?
retinal disparity: both eyes see slightly different version of the same scene
texture gradient: closer objects are more distinct than further objects
relative size: nearby objects look larger than distant objects
interposition: closer objects partially obscure more distant objects
what helps infants distinguish stationary objects?
edges (of shapes)
why are babies so attracted to human faces?
they fit the 2 principles of perception: faces have moving stimuli and stimuli with dark and light contrast
by what age can babies distinguish faces?
2-3 months
why do we say babies are well prepared to make sense out of their environment?
because they integrate their senses by a considerably young age (7 months ish); coordinating a bunch of sensory info at once is pretty easy for them
