Abstract
In this study we sought to determine whether infants, like adults, utilize previous experience to guide figure/ground processing. After familiarization to a shape, 5-month-olds preferentially attended to the side of an ambiguous figure/ground test stimulus corresponding to that shape, suggesting that they were viewing that portion as the figure. Infants’ failure to exhibit this preference in a control condition in which both sides of the test stimulus were displayed as figures indicated that the results in the experimental condition were not due to a preference between two figure shapes. These findings demonstrate for the first time that figure/ground processing in infancy is sensitive to top-down influence. Thus, a critical aspect of figure/ground processing is functional early in life.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |
| Volume | 25 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 30 2018 |
Keywords
- attention
- figure/ground perception
- perceptual organization in infancy
- top-down influences on figure/ground perception
- top-down processing in infancy
Disciplines
- Child Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology