Child topic 3 - Perceptual development

Question 1

What was the aim of Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 1

To see if human children and young animals are able to perceive depth innately (and therefore know not to crawl or walk over a visual cliff edge)

Question 2

What was the sample of the human part of Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 2

36 children (aged 6-14 months)

Question 3

What were the results of Gibson and Walk’s human study?

Answer 3

100% of children crawled across the shallow side
11% of the children crawled across the deep side of the cliff

Question 4

What was the conclusion of Gibson and Walk’s human study?

Answer 4

Children can perceive depth by the time they can crawl

Question 5

What was the procedure of Gibson and Walk’s human study

Answer 5

Each child was placed on a board laid across a large sheet of heavy glass. There was a shallow side and a deep side . The Childs mother would stand on one end and encourage their child to crawl towards them

Question 6

What 6 animals were included in Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 6

Chicks
Goat kids
lambs
Kittens
Rats
turtles

Question 7

Summarise the chicks in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 7

Less than 24 hours old
Never crossed the deep side - always hopped off on the shallow sde

Question 8

Summarise the goat kids and lanbd in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 8

Less than a day old
Would stand when on the shallow side; refused to put their legs down or made their legs go limp when on the deep side

Question 9

Summarise the kittens (not dark reared) in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 9

about 4 weeks old
Would freeze when placed on the deep side, or would crawl aimlessly backward in a circle

Question 10

Summarise the dark reared kittens in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 10

27 days
had no preference for either side (but after one week they avoided the deep side of the cliff)

Question 11

Summarise the rats in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 11

provided their whiskers could reach the glass from the centre board, they would cross the deep side. but when the board was raised so they couldn’t feel the glass with their whiskers, they chose to descend on the shallow side 95-100%

Question 12

Summarise the turtles in Gibson and Walk’s study

Answer 12

76% of aquatic turtles crawled off the board on the shallow side.

Question 13

What was the conclusion of Gibson and Walk’s animal study

Answer 13

The findings support evolutionary theory, confirming that animals develop discrimination of depth by the time they take up independent locomotion

Question 14

How did Gibson and Walk control for the checked pattern that was used? What was the effect?

Answer 14

A grey surface was placed on both sides
Rats showed no preference for either the shallow or the deep side

Question 15

How did Gibson and Walk control for the reflection on the glass? What was the effect?

Answer 15

The patterned surfaces were lit up from below the glass
Rats still consistently chose the shallow side

Question 16

How did Gibson and Walk control for the optical difference between the two sides of the board? What was the effect?

Answer 16

Placed the patterned surface the same distance beneath the glass
When the pattern was against the under-surface of the glass, the rats would descend without preference on either side. When the pattern was lowered 10 inches below the glass on both sides, the rats stayed on centre board

Question 17

How did Gibson and Walk test relative size?

Answer 17

They increased the size and spacing of the pattern elements on the deep side in proportion to its distance from the eye

Question 18

What was the result of the test of relative size in Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 18

Infant rats, chicks and dark-reared rats still chose the shallow side near;y 100% of the time.

Question 19

at was the result of the test of motion parallax in Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 19

Chicks and dark-reared rats showed no significant preference for the larger pattern

Question 20

at was the the test of motion parallax in Gibson and Walk’s study?

Answer 20

researchers placed the pattern material directly against the glass on either side of the centre board but used smaller and more densely spaced pattern elements on the ‘deep’ side.

Question 21

What were the conclusions of Gibson and Walk’s test for depth cues?

Answer 21

Relative size is the learned depth cue, and motion parallax is innate

Question 22

What was the aim of Blakemore & Cooper’s study?

Answer 22

To investigate physiological and behavioural effects of limited visual experience

Question 23

What was the method of Blakemore & Cooper’s study?

Answer 23

new born kittens placed in a dark room until 2 weeks old - then placed in a cylinder with either horizontal or vertical stripes for 5 hours a day. Field of vision restricted to 130 degrees. After 5 months, they were placed in a small, well lit room and tested how how well they could perform on certain tasks. After 7 1/2 months two of the kittens were anaesthetized and their neurophysiology was examined

Question 24

What were the results of Blakemore & Cooper’s study?

Answer 24

were all visually impaired; demonstrated no visual placing and had no startle response, but guided mainly y touch. Showed fear when on the edge of a surface and behavioural blindness. After 10 hours, kittens showed visual placing and some startle response but reached for things far beyond their reach and followed objects with clumsy head movements.

Question 25

What was the conclusion of Blakemore & Cooper’s study?

Answer 25

Brain development is affected by early experiences and environmental factors rather than just genetics and there is clear evidence of brain plasticity.

Question 26

What did Fantz find in his study?

Answer 26

Babies prefer complex patterns to simple ones. Babies under 5 days old spent more time looking at faces or patterns than plain colours - suggesting an innate perceptual ability to recognise faces.

Question 27

What did the looking chamber do in Fantz’ study?

Answer 27

presents stimuli to the infant and allows the researcher to record infant visual fixation

Question 28

What happened in the visual preference method of Fantz’ study?

Answer 28

The researcher presented pair of stimuli to the baby. The researcher observes the infant through a hidden vantage point they recorded the visual fixation of the baby by the reflection in their eyes.

Question 29

What were the results of Hudson’s study?

Answer 29

Both children and adults found it difficult to perceive depth in the pictures

Question 30

What was the procedure of Hudson’s study?

Answer 30

Showed a picture - a correct interpretation is that the hunter is trying to spear the antelope, which is nearer than the elephant. Participants were asked: What do you see?, Which is nearer, the antelope or the elephant?, What is the man doing?

Question 31

What were the depth cues tested in Hudson’s study?

Answer 31

Overlapping objects, size difference

Question 32

What happens after the initial assessment in sensory integration therapy?

Answer 32

The occupational therapist desiges a structured programme of sensory experiences for the child, choosing activities that will work together on all of the child’s senses in a structured, repetitive way.

Question 33

What types of sensory activities could be included in Sensory Integration Therapy?

Answer 33

Play activities (brushes on skin, wearing a weighted vest, dancing to different types of music)
specialist equipment (e.g. therapy balls)
everyday objects (e.g. sand paper, chewing gum)

Question 34

How effective if Sensory Integration Therapy?

Answer 34

Although it is popular and regularly used with young children, there is limited evidence of its effectiveness.