Infant perceptual & motor development Flashcards
Perceptual development: vision
what is the least developed sense at birth?
vision
* newborns can distinguish visual forms if close enough
* 20/400 vision
Perceptual development: vision
what is visual acuity?
sharpness of vision; clarity that fine details can be detected
Perceptual Development: Vision
visual acuity at 6 months:
acuity approximates normal adult vision
Perceptual Development: Vision
visual acuity at 8 months:
more interest in distant objects, tiny objects
Perceptual Development: Vision
colour perception for a newborn:
prefer colour to grey
Perceptual Development: Vision
colour perception for 2-4 month olds:
see full colour spectrum
Perceptual Development: Vision
pattern perception for a newborn:
prefer patterns to plain stimuli
Perceptual Development: Vision
pattern perception for 2 month olds:
prefer more complex patterns to simpler ones
Perceptual Development: Vision
visual scanning at 1 month:
edges
Perceptual Development: Vision
visual scanning at 2 months
internal features
* sticky fixation: difficulty disengaging visual attention away from one feature to focus on another
Perceptual Development: Vision
visual scanning at 6 months:
adult-like scanning
Perceptual Development: Vision
percieving parts vs. wholes
Cohen & Younger, 1983
not just edges & corners, but whole shape
* improves over 1st year
Perceptual Development: Vision
perceiving parts vs. wholes for 4 month olds:
see subjective contours
Perceptual Development: Vision
perceiving parts vs. wholes at 12 months:
recognise incomplete line drawings
Perceptual Development: Vision
what is habituation?
A form of learning reflected in a decrease in the strength
of response to a repeated stimulus
Perceptual Development: Vision
face perception: Nature
new borns track faces more than other stimuli
Johnson et al., 1991
Perceptual Development: Vision
Face perception: Nurture
this bias gives them much experience with faces
Perceptual Development: Vision
face perception for 2-4 month olds:
prefer more complex facial stimuli; prefer mother’s face; discriminate individual faces
Perceptual Development: Vision
face perception for 5-12 month olds:
discriminate emotional expressions
Perceptual Development: Vision
what is depth perception?
the ability to see things in 3 dimensions (length, width and depth)
Perceptual Development: Vision
depth perception in 1 month olds
kinetic cues
kinetic cues are visual features that provide clues as to the distance of an object from the viewer
Perceptual Development: Vision
depth perception in 3-5 month olds:
binocular cues
binocular cues are the images taken in by both eyes to give depth perception
Perceptual Development: Vision
what is motion parallax?
motion parallax is when nearby objects appear to move faster than distance ones
Perceptual Development: Vision
what is disparity?
disparity is when the brain percieves depth when combining slightly different angle from each eye
Perceptual Development: Vision
depth perception in 3-7 month olds:
pictorial cues
Pictorial cues are visual cues or clues that provide information about depth and distance in a two-dimensional image
Perceptual Development: Vision
what are the two types of pictorial cues?
depth perception
interposition
* an object that overlaps another appears nearer
linear perspective
* parallel lines appear to converge in distance
Perceptual Development: Vision
what is a visual cliff?
depth perception
involves an apparent, but not actual drop from one surface to another, originally created to test babies’ depth perception
Gibson & Walk, 1960
Perceptual Development: Hearing
what is an auditory threshold?
the quietest sound can hear
Aslin et al., 1998
Perceptual Development: Hearing
auditory threshold: newborn babies
- newborns less sensitive than adults to quietest sounds
- most sensitive to sounds in range of speech
Perceptual Development: Hearing
what is soundn localisation?
the ability to identify the location of a sound source in a sound field
Musiek & Chermak 2015
Perceptual Development: Hearing
sound localisation in newborns
newborn turn their heads towards sound
Perceptual Development: Hearing
sound localisation in 7 month olds
7 month olds know when sounding object in dark is within reach
Perceptual Development: Hearing
sound localisation in 2 year olds
adult-like
Perceptual Development: Hearing
music to newborn babies:
newborns prefer music to non-melodic sounds
Perceptual Development: Hearing
music to 4-6 month olds:
4-6 month olds prefer more common chords
Perceptual Development: Hearing
music to 6 month olds:
distinguish western vs. non-western music scales
Perceptual Development: Hearing
speech to newborn babies:
- they prefer to hear infant-directed speech
- voice of mother > voice of stranger
- familiar rhyme heard during last 6 wks of pregnancy vs. novel rhyme
Perceptual Development: Taste
taste in newborn babies:
detect 4 main tastes from 2 hours old (& prefer sweet)
Perceptual Development: Taste
taste in 4 month olds:
prefer salty to plain
Perceptual Development: Smell
smell in newborns:
& 3 examples
newborns prefer familiar odours:
* amniotic fluid
* breast milk
* perfume
Perceptual Development: Touch
what can newborns feel?
4 things
- pressure
- texture
- temperature
- moisture
Perceptual Development: Touch
what parts of newborns are most sensitive to touch?
face, hands and feet
Perceptual Development: Touch
pain in newborns
- same pain receptors as adults
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what is a reflex?
a reflex is an involuntary response to external stimulation
McGraw, 1940
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what are essential reflexes for newborns
4 reflexes
- rooting
- sucking
- swallowing
- swimming
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what are nonessential newborn reflexes
4 reflexes
- moro (startle)
- gripping
- stepping
- babinski
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what is Cot death or SIDS
(SIDS = sudden infant death syndrome)
unexplained sudden death of an infant less than 1 year, usually during sleep
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what is the critical period for SIDS
newborns are at risk at 1-4 months when reflexes are wane
Motor Development: Newborn Reflexes
what newborns are vulnerable from SIDS
- those who experienced physical problems from birth
- those exposed to external stressors (smoking/sleep position)
Motor Development: Patterns
what are the two main patterns in motor development?
- Cephalocaudal (head to tail)
- Proximodistal (near to far)
Motor Development: Patterns
what is cephalocaudal?
when motor control proceeds from head to toe
Motor Development: Patterns
what is proximodistal?
when motor control proceeds from trunk to limbs
Motor Development: Sequence
fine motor (hand) skills in newborns:
pre-reaching
Motor Development: Sequence
fine motor (hand) skills in 3-4 month olds:
goal-directed reaching
Motor Development: Sequence
fine motor (hand) skills in 5 month olds:
grasp anticipates object orientation
Motor Development: Sequence
fine motor (hand) skills in 9 month olds:
anticipate object size
Motor Development: Sequence
fine motor (hand) skill in 18 month olds:
tool use e.g. spoon to feed self
