Topic 3: Perceptual Development Key Study Flashcards
What was the aim of the study of the visual cliff?
to investigate when infants of both humans and animals develop the ability to perceive height.
How many infants were part of the sample?
36 Infants
What young animals were part of the sample?
Chicks, lambs, kids, kittens, aquatic turtles and rats.
What was the type of experiment used?
A lab experiment
Describe the visual cliff set up.
On one side, a sheet of patterned material was placed underneath a sheet of glass. (Shallow Side)
On the other side, the cliff side, the same patterned material was laid on the floor to create an illusion of depth.
What was the procedure of the study?
Each infant was placed in the middle of the board. Their mother stood first on the shallow side and then on the cliff side to encourage them to cross to that side. The behaviour of the child was recorded.
And Recorded the behaviour of young animals on the board.
What are two cues involved in perceiving depth?
- Difference in object size: the more distant the object, the smaller it will seem to the retina.
- Motion parallax: as we move, objects that are closer move farther across our field of vision. Seem to move slower in the distance.
27 of the infants did what?
Moved off the board and crawled to the shallow side.
How many crawled to the cliff side?
3 infants
What did the other babies do if they did not crawl to the cliff side?
Crawl away from their mother and/or cry.
Before backing away from the cliff side, what did infants do? And what did this show about them?
They looked through the glass and it showed that infants are dependent on vision to determine movement.
What were kittens raised in the dark likely to do without fear?
Move across both cliff and shallow sides.
What happened to the kittens when they were exposed to normal light? And what does this show about visual maturation?
They preferred the shallow side and light is necessary for visual maturation.
When guided by motion parallax, which side did chicks and rats show preference for? What does this suggest about motion parallax?
The shallow side. Motion parallax is innate.
When guided by object size, which side did chicks and rats show preference for? What does this suggest about object size?
Neither side. This skill develops later.
How was the difference in object size tested?
They placed patterns at the same level to remove motion parallax cues.
How was motion parallax tested?
Researchers used a larger pattern of the low side of the cliff.
What did Gibson and Walk conclude?
- Nature and nurture influence the development of depth perception.
- Binocular cues (e.g. motion parallax) are innate, and monocular cues (e.g. difference in object size) are learned.
- Humans and some animals have developed some depth perception by the time they become mobile.
