The perception of static subjective contours in infancy.

Full Abstract

Only a few empirical investigations have focused on infants' ability to perceive static subjective contours. Furthermore, these experiments have provided contradictory findings regarding the age at which this capability emerges. The present study examined the development of infants' sensitivity to an elliptical version of the subjective circle described by Ehrenstein. A habituation-dishabituation procedure was used to test the ability of 4-, 5-, and 7-month-old infants (N = 128) to differentiate between a subjective ellipse and a nonsubjective pattern that was constructed by displacing the inducing elements of the illusory figure. Results indicated that even the 4-month-olds were capable of discriminating between the subjective ellipse and the nonillusory display. A control experiment secured that this behavior was not generated by certain local differences between the test patterns. Furthermore, the results suggest that the perceived strength of the subjective contour was size dependent. This observation is discussed within the context of more recent neurophysiological models.

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Author information

Author/s: Kavsek, Michael J (MJ);

Affiliation: University of Bonn, Department of Psychology, Germany. kavsek(-atsign-)uni-bonn.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Child development (Child Dev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2002 Mar-Apr; vol 73 (issue 2) : pp 331-44

Dates: Created 2002/04/12; Completed 2002/10/24; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 11949895, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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