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| Research article summary (published 30 May 2003): |
Early binocular vision in human infants: limitations on the generality of the Superposition Hypothesis.
Full Abstract
The Superposition Hypothesis states that the binocular vision of newborn infants blends together the monocular visual responses of the two eyes, even when the visual stimulus evokes binocular rivalry in adults. According to the Superposition Hypothesis, this blending is replaced by binocular rivalry after the emergence of stereopsis [Neonate Cognition:
Beyond the Blooming, Buzzing Confusion, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1985, p. 37; Early Visual Development Normal and Abnormal, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993, p. 201]. The main evidence for the Superposition Hypothesis is a preferential looking experiment [Vision Res., 26 (3) (1986) 501], in which 8-12-week-old infants fixated a rivalrous (for adults) dichoptic plaid, in preference over a fusible grating of parallel lines. This report describes our attempt to repeat that important experiment. Infant stereopsis emerged at 8.6 weeks under our conditions, but infants did not preferentially fixate the dichoptic plaid at any age between age 5 and 16 weeks. Control experiments showed that our result was not due to technical differences between their experiment and ours (red/green vs. polarizing glasses, the use of a fixation point, or the infant observation apparatus). Therefore, blending of the visual responses to rivalrous (for adults) stimuli is not a general feature of the pre-stereoptic infant visual system.
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Author information
Author/s: Brown, Angela M (AM); Miracle, Jaime A (JA);
Affiliation: The Ohio State University, College of Optometry, 320 W 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1240, USA. brown.112(-atsign-)osu.edu
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Journal: Vision research (Vision Res), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jun; vol 43 (issue 14) : pp 1563-74
Dates: Created 2003/06/03; Completed 2003/08/12; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12782070, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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