THE PROBLEM OF THE RESEARCH WAS TO STUDY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND COGNITION FACTORS IN THE GROWING CHILD. A CENTRAL TASK WAS TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT FOR ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIZE CONSTANCY IN A PROCEDURE IN WHICH THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE ACTIVITY COULD BE EITHER CONTROLLED OR EVALUATED. USING A NUMBER OF CONSIDERATIONS, THE…

This study investigates the relationship between selected facets of perceptual-cognitive development at the kindergarten level and subsequent reading achievement during first grade. (Author)

Examined the ability of 1-year olds to remember the location of nonvisible targets. Found that infants were able to associate a nonvisible target with a direct landmark and to code its distance and direction with respect to themselves or the larger framework. Difficulty of coding with indirect landmarks was associated with cognitive complexity and…

Reviews Gibson's contributions to the domain of perceptual learning, including her classic experiment concerning the perception of scribbles. Discusses Gibson's research on differentiation and the links between perception and learning, the status of her research and ideas, and her experimental approach. (BG)

Examined 2-month-old infants' perception of sparse random-dot displays depicting an illusory shape against a background in three experiments in which background texture, luminance cues, and relative motion information were added or deleted. Found that infants preferred novel stimuli in each condition, revealing an early capacity to perceive shape…

Investigated early determinants of infants' self--other discrimination when presented with a live image of themselves or another person that was either contingent or contingent with delay. Found that infants 4 months and older perceived and acted differently when facing the image of themselves compared to that of another; 9-month-olds showed more…

Contrary to Piaget's predictions, adolescent retardates and 9-year-old normals were more susceptible to the Oppel-Kundt Illusion than high school sophomores and adults. No group differences were found on the Poggendorf Illusion. (MH)

Witkin's concepts of field dependence-independence and restructing are discussed with reference to studies in Russia and in the Netherlands. These concepts are related to differences in style of perception and to success on both cognitive tasks and social tasks. It is suggested that restructing abilities may be trained and restructing ability may…

Studies were made of (1) young children's use of body-weight type for processing information about peers, and (2) the development of children's stereotypical knowledge about characteristics associated with body-weight type. For the first study, a measure was developed to assess "body salience," or the degree to which children use weight…

Pre-existing cognitions may influence a child's social perceptions, and the extent of this influence is measured in groups of children from grades 1-6. The children were shown slide shows of congruous (e.g. doctor befriending bullied child) and incongruous (e.g. minister shoplifting) interpersonal behavior. Half of the children saw stories in…

Pioneering research has shown that infants are capable of perceptual discrimination and has provided some indication of the nature of the discrimination; that is, what stimuli are differentiable. Studies have demonstrated that significant effects exist, in stimulus-pair comparisons, for age of infant, speed of movement of stimulus during…