A remarkable amount of perceptual development occurs in the first year after birth. In this article, we spotlight the case of color perception. We outline how within just 6 months, infants go from very limited detection of color as newborns to a more sophisticated perception of color that enables them to make sense of objects and the world around…

Recent years have seen a rise in the popularity of eye-tracking methods to evaluate infant and toddler interpretation of visual stimuli. The application of these methods makes it increasingly important to understand the development of infant sensitivity to the perceptual properties implicated in such methods. In light of recent studies that…

We respond to the commentary of Franklin, Wright, and Davies ("Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102", 239-245 [2009]) by returning to the simple contrast between nature and nurture. We find no evidence from the toddler data that makes us revise our ideas that color categories are learned and never innate. (Contains 1 figure.)

This study examined whether color perception is atypical in children with autism. In experiment 1, accuracy of color memory and search was compared for children with autism and typically developing children matched on age and non-verbal cognitive ability. Children with autism were significantly less accurate at color memory and search than…

An experiment with monochromatic lights is discussed in terms of the selective effects of wavelength on looking time and pleasantness, comparisons of infant and adult data, and differentiation of the selective effects of color category centers and color category boundaries. (JMB)

This study compared role of motion in adults' and infants' perception of object unity. Findings favored ecologically-oriented accounts of object perception. Motion was a determinant of object unity for infants. Alignment and common motion contributed to adults' object-unity perception; synchronous color changes did not. Infants detected…

Four experiments examined the perceptual features used by 4.5- to 11.5-month olds to individuate objects involved in occlusion events. Results indicated that 4.5-month olds used shape and size features to individuate objects in occlusion events. By 7.5 months, infants used pattern, and by 11.5 months, they used color to reason about object…

Changes to a scene often go unnoticed if the objects of the change are unattended, making change detection an index of where attention is focused during scene perception. We measured change detection in school-age children and young adults by repeatedly alternating two versions of an image. To provide an age-fair assessment we used a bimanual…

Examined length of fixation time responses of neonates to pairs of red, blue, and green acetate stimuli. (Author)

Reports on age differences found in children's (1) ability to execute appropriate differences in the uses of color while completing partially drawn scenes; and (2) sensitivity to differences between heraldic, gradation, harmonic, and pure use of color in a matching task. (GC)

Tested the ability of 3.5-month-old infants to detect audiovisual relations. Results demonstrated infants' visual recovery to changes in temporal synchrony of sight and sound and in composition of objects. Infants did not demonstrate visual recovery to changes in the relationship between pitch and color or shape. (BC)

Describes two studies that demonstrate young children's perception of color materials differs from that of adults in two ways: (1) the stimulus dimensions of hue, chroma, and value appear to result in somewhat more separable perception for young children than for adults, and (2) the perceived similarities the color materials are not the same for…

Recent empirical research into the meaning of words for color provides evidence that contradicts two widely held beliefs in linguistics and the philosophy of language. This paper presents a summary of this evidence, uses it as a basis to construct a general model of basic color-term semantics, and explores the implications of this model for…

Two experiments explored the nature of perceptual development in 5- and 10-year olds and adults. The primary finding was that preassessed salience significantly influenced 5-year olds' ability to discriminate two objects, while salience did not affect 10-year olds' or adults' response times. Results showed that salience effects in perceptual…