Visual orientation toward a peripheral stimulus by newborns and 7-week-old infants was examined with both a central stimulus present and absent. General conclusion is that, contrary to previous assessments, the neonate appears to exercise internal control over his sampling of the stimulus array rather than being passively captured by it.…

This study uses a search task to investigate the development of word superiority effects in visual perception. Subjects are kindergarten, second and fourth grade children, and college students. (CM)