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Young Infants Detect the Direction of Biological Motion in Point‐Light Displays
Author(s) -
Kuhlmeier Valerie A.,
Troje Nikolaus F.,
Lee Vivian
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00003.x
Subject(s) - biological motion , motion (physics) , psychology , directionality , sagittal plane , point (geometry) , communication , action (physics) , computer vision , cognitive psychology , computer science , physics , mathematics , anatomy , medicine , biology , genetics , geometry , quantum mechanics
In the present study, we examined if young infants can extract information regarding the directionality of biological motion. We report that 6‐month‐old infants can differentiate leftward and rightward motions from a movie depicting the sagittal view of an upright human point‐light walker, walking as if on a treadmill. Inversion of the stimuli resulted in no detection of directionality. These findings suggest that biological motion displays convey information for young infants beyond that which distinguishes them from nonbiological motion; aspects of the action itself are also detected. The potential visual mechanisms underlying biological motion detection, as well as the behavioral interpretations of point‐light figures, are discussed.