Perception

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

The ability to interpret sensory information

Question 2

Nature vs. Nurture

Answer 2

it is argued whether babies are born with certain perceptual capacities or whether they are acquired through learning

Question 3

Studying Children?

Answer 3

Young children do not have the ability to effectively communicate and so data must be inferred (concluded from evidence and reasoning), which leaves space for misinterpretation and therefore the reliability of studies is questionable

Question 4

Using existing knowledge

Answer 4

Preference: children look at things they like for longer periods of time
eg. Fantz- preference for patterns

Habituation: Once they lose interest in something they will look at something new

Conditioning: An infant will learn to carry out a behaviour if it is reinforced
eg. Watson & Ramey- Contingency Mobile

Question 5

Perceptual Perception

Answer 5

The ability to know that as an object moves and it’s visual imagery protected on to our eye changes, the object it’s self doesn’t.

Infants are believed to posses this ability from birth

Question 6

Auditory Perception

Answer 6

Develops before birth- auditory acuity is very good and their ability to locate sound is very accurate

Can distinguish between their mother’s voice and another woman’s within the few after immediately after birth

Question 7

Olfactory Perception

Answer 7

Learn about odors in the few minutes immediately after birth

Study- Babies received a heel prick. They were then given breast milk which they could smell. Babies who received their mother’s breast milk were soothed by it, unlike the babies who received a strangers breast milk

Question 8

Proprioception

Answer 8

The ability to know where your body is in relation to the space. This is needed so we are aware of our surroundings and can avoid harm

Children learn this through variations of play
eg. playing in different positions, locations and with a variety of toys

Question 9

Depth Preception- Visual Cliff

Answer 9

Originally developed by Gibson & Walk

but Schwartz et al wanted to test the reason for babies not going over the visual cliff- was it because they actually understood there was a drop?
Used heart motioning
5 months= low heart rate because they were concentrating —-> no depth perception
9 months= High heart rate because they were scared —> Depth preception