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The Effects of Graded Occlusion on Manual Search and Visual Attention in 5‐ to 8‐Month‐Old Infants
Author(s) -
Shinskey Jeanne L.,
Bogartz Richard S.,
Poirier Christopher R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1207/s15327078in0103_3
Subject(s) - distraction , object permanence , object (grammar) , visual search , opacity , psychology , occlusion , cognitive psychology , computer vision , artificial intelligence , computer science , cognition , medicine , cognitive development , neuroscience , physics , optics , cardiology
Abstract Young infants may be limited in searching for hidden objects because they lack the means‐end motor skill to lift occluders from objects. This account was investigated by presenting 5‐ to 8‐month‐old infants with objects hidden behind transparent, semitransparent, and opaque curtains. If a means—end deficit explains search limitations, then infants should search no more for an object behind a transparent curtain than for objects behind semitransparent or opaque curtains. However, level of occlusion had a significant effect on manual search and visual attention. Infants retrieved and contacted the object more, contacted the curtain more, and looked away less with the transparent curtain than with the semi transparent or opaque curtains. Adding a time delay before allowing search and presenting a distraction after occlusion further depressed infants' behavior. The findings fail to support the means—end deficit hypothesis, but are consistent with the account that young infants lack object permanence.