Albert Yonas

Infants’ sensitivity to the depth cue of shading

Five- and 7-month-old infants were tested for sensitivity to the depth cue of shading. Infants were presented with two displays: a surface in which a convexity and a concavity were molded and a photograph in which shading specified a convexity and a concavity. Each display was presented under both monocular and binocular viewing conditions. Reaching was observed as the dependent measure. Infants in both age groups reached preferentially for the actual convexity in both the monocular and binocular viewing conditions. In the monocular photograph condition, the 7-month-olds reached preferentially for the apparent convexity specified by shading, indicating that they perceived it to be an actual convexity. These infants showed no significant reaching preference in the binocular photograph condition. This finding rules out interpretations of the infants’ reaching not based on perceived depth. The results therefore suggest that the 7-month-olds perceived depth from shading. The 5-month-olds showed no significant reaching preferences when viewing the photograph; thus, they showed no evidence of depth perception from shading. These findings are consistent with the results of a number of studies that have investigated infants’ sensitivity to pictorial depth cues. Together, these studies suggest that the ability to perceive depth from pictorial cues may first develop between 5 and 7 months of age.

Development of sensitivity to information for impending collision

Infants were tested in three experiments to study the development of sensitivity to information for impending collision and to investigate the hypothesis that postural changes of very young infants in response to an approaching object are of a tracking rather than of a defensive nature. Experiment 1 involved the presentation of three types of shadow projection displays, specifying (1) collision, (2) noncollision, and (3) a nonexpanding rising contour, to infants from 1 to 9 months of age. Avoidance of collision appears to be absent in 1- to 2-month-olds, begins to develop in 4- to 6-month-olds, and is present in 8- to 9-month-old infants. In Experiment 2, 1- to 2-month-old infants were presented with optical expansion patterns which specified collision and noncollision. The top contour of these displays stayed at eye level. No significant difference was observed between reaction to the collision and the noncollision displays, suggesting that the young infants were tracking the displays and not attempting to avoid collision. Experiment 3 was designed to determine whether an approaching real object might elicit an avoidance response in infants not sensitive to an optical display specifying collision. No evidence of avoidance behavior was observed in the 1- to 2-month-olds; however, avoidance, as indexed by blinking, does appear to be present at 4 months of age.

Relative motion: Kinetic information for the order of depth at an edge

A new source of kinetic information for depth at an edge was investigated with adult subjects. The relationship between the motion of optical texture, indicating a surface, and the motion of a contour, indicating an edge, determines whether the surface is perceived as occluding or occluded. Subjects viewed computer-generated random-lot displays in which this relative-motion information provided the only information for depth order and a second type of display in which order in depth was specified both by relative-motion information and by the accretion and deletion of texture. Reliable depth effects were obtained in both conditions. These results indicate that adults are sensitive to the relative motion of texture and contour as information for depth at an edge.

The Development of Sensitivity of Kenetic, Binocular and Pictorial Depth Information in Human Infants

A program of research is described that explores the development of sensitivity to three classes of spatial information in human infants. The research suggests that sensitivity to kinetic, binocular and pictorial depth information develops in a fixed sequence. Some sensitivity to kinetic information may be present at birth or soon thereafter; sensitivity to binocular information appears between three and five months; and sensitivity to static monocular information appears between five and 7 months of age. These findings may direct research on the development of neural mechanisms that underlie the emergence of responsiveness to spatial information in human infants.

Perception of three-dimensional shape specified by optic flow by 8-week-old infants

Sensitivity of 8-week-old infants to optical flow specifying the shape of a three-dimensional object was assessed. Infants viewed kinetic random-dot displays that specified three-dimensional cubes. The cubes were identical except for the presence or absence of an interior corner. Half of the infants viewed the full display. The other half viewed the central region of the displays, where the flow specifying the presence or absence of the corner differed. Infants in the full-view condition looked significantly longer to a novel cube than to the familiar cube following habituation. In contrast, infants in the partial-view condition looked equally to the novel and familiar cubes, ruling out the possibility that infants who viewed the full displays merely discriminated differences in motion in the central region of the two displays. These findings suggest that infants as young as 8 weeks perceive three-dimensional object shape from optic flow.

Infants' sensitivity to accretion and deletion of texture as information for depth at an edge.

Based on Gibsons hypothesis that accretion and deletion of texture in the optic array provides unambiguous information for the spatial layout of surfaces, we sought evidence of early responsiveness to this information with infant subjects. 5- and 7-month-olds viewed computer-generated random-dot displays in which accretion and deletion of texture provided the only information for contours, specifying either a foreground surface moving in front of and occluding a moving background surface or 2 partially overlapping surfaces. The infants in both age groups showed significant preferences to reach for the apparently nearer regions in the displays. Since previous research has shown that infants reach more frequently for the nearer of 2 surfaces, these results indicate that 5- and 7-month-olds are sensitive to accretion and deletion of texture as information for the spatial layout of surfaces.

Infants’ sensitivity to kinetic information for three-dimensional object shape

Infant sensitivity to kinetic information specifying three-dimensional object shape was assessed using computer-generated random-dot displays. Four-month-old infants were habituated to displays of an object oscillating about two different axes on alternating trials. Following habituation, the infants were tested for recovery from habituation to a display of the same object and a novel object. Both test displays employed a new axis of rotation. The infants generalized habituation to the same object and increased their looking to the new object. These results provide evidence that infants are sensitive to motion-carried information specifying three-dimensional object shape, since the random-dot displays minimized static information that differentiated the two objects. These findings suggest that, at least by 4 months of age, infants can detect subtle differences in shape from purely kinetic information.

Development of Sensitivity to Information Provided by Cast Shadows in Pictures

The shadow cast by an object in a two-dimensional picture can specify for the observer the spatial relations between that object and its surroundings, and also the shape and size of the object itself. Some sensitivity to this information is present even in three-year-old children. Experiment 1 provided evidence that three- and four-year-old children can rely on the shape of the shadow cast by an object to judge the shape of the object. In experiment 2, with adults and three- and four-year-old children, the location of the shadow cast by an object influenced the perceived depth and height off the ground plane of the object. Although even the three-year-old children were sensitive to the location of the cast shadows, there was evidence of improvement with age in judging the distance and size of the object. The three-year-olds were not able to judge the objects size when the location of the cast shadow provided the only differential information for size. In contrast, they were significantly better in judging size when the location of the object, rather than the location of the shadow, was varied.

Effects of luminance and texture motion on infant defensive reactions to optical collision

Abstract Infants saw a textured light area expand and contract on a dark rear-projection screen. The texture elements (15 black dots) expanded and contracted radially from the center of the screen as though they were on a single surface (single-depth display) or independent (multiple-depth display). None of the texture elements was on a “collision” trajectory with the infants face. The single-depth display elicited greater defensive reactions (blinking and backward head movement) on expansion than contraction trials in both 4- to 8-week-olds and 10- to 14-week-olds. A different group of 4- to 8-week-olds did not exhibit greater overall blinking or backward head movement to expansion versus contraction of the multiple-depth display. The findings suggest that young infants utilize flow field information to distinguish between approaching subjective surfaces and voids in the regions between sparse texture.

Development of sensitivity to static pictorial depth information

Sensitivity to the pictorial depth cues of shading, linear perspective, and position on the picture plane were investigated with children from 3 to 7 years of age as well as with adults. Using a discriminative learning method, all Ss were found to be sensitive to shading information for depth when the display was oriented vertically, but not when it was oriented horizontally. In addition, binocular view did not decrease sensitivity relative to monocular view. Linear perspective was found to be effective in controlling 3-year-olds’ size discriminations of equal-area figures, while position on the picture plane was ineffective in the absence of other information for depth.