Three experiments are described which relate to models of infant visual preferences and to the ways in which preferences can be modified or created by habituation. Results suggest that the Banks and Salapatek's contrast sensitivity model can be a powerful predictor of preferential looking in newborns and that preferences based on experience can be…

Tests infants' dual-process performance (a process mediating response decrements called habituation and a state-dependent process mediating response increments called sensitization) on visual habituation-dishabituation tasks. (HOD)

The relation between perceptual organization and categorization processes in 3- and 4-month-olds was explored. The question was whether an invariant part abstracted during category learning could interfere with Gestalt organizational processes. A 2003 study by Quinn and Schyns had reported that an initial category familiarization experience in…

The ability of 5-month-old infants to recognize two-dimensional (pictorial) representations of three-dimensional objects was investigated. Subjects were 24 5-month-old infants. The novelty preference technique was employed: all infants were familiarized with a three-dimensional object--a doll. Following familiarization, three novelty tests were…

Describes two studies in which young children were shown pictures that represented sound with postures and contexts, with conventions, and with combinations of information. Shows that the different types of pictorial representation of sound were not equivalent in their ability to evoke a correct interpretation. (HOD)

Infants' visual fixations were monitored while they viewed predictable and unpredictable sequences of stimuli. Analyses of anticipatory fixations indicated that by two months of age, infants form expectations for the reappearance of visual stimuli positioned opposite to each other. By three months, infants rapidly form expectations for asymmetric…

In order to enhance the understanding of visual literacy, one of its constituents, visual learning (VL), is examined in terms of underlying assumptions, hypothesized behaviors, and implications of both assumptions and behaviors. Assumptions are: (1) VL encompasses all changes in behavior arising from the individual's responses to visual…

The proceedings of the first national conference on visual literacy held in Rochester, New York (March 23-6, 1969) contain papers describing the concept of visual literacy (defined as vision competencies of integrating and interpreting sensory experiences fundamental to learning and communication). Related research is explored in areas such as…

Investigates developmental changes in the accuracy of aimed movements made to an illuminated target lamp by children between the ages of 1.5 and 8 years. Shows accuracy decreased with decreasing availability of visual information and improved with age under all conditions. (HOD)

Beginning with a survey of work previously done on the subject, this study attempts to learn more about how, and to what extent, children benefit from pictorial illustrations, with a view to improving instructional materials. Three areas were investigated with experiments using children from nursery schools and kindergarten to sixth grade. The…

Preparing students to be both constructors and consumers of visual information will be an important responsibility for all teachers. This will mean giving learners the tools to go beyond what is merely visual to the deeper, human meanings that lie beneath. One important way that educators can prepare students to be wise visual consumers is to help…

Under the sponsorship of the National Project in Agricultural Communications, a series of 14 lessons by various authors has been compiled to serve as a reader or training manual in the field of visual communications. Several models of communications are outlined and evaluated. Many studies which concern themselves with the concepts of source,…

A study examined the use of a body awareness microcomputer program on young children as a predictor of early reading achievement. Subjects, 58 preschool and kindergarten students (prereaders) from a university laboratory school in the southern region of the United States, were asked to work in the microcomputer center in small groups to identify…