Infants looked at visual displays of two or three items while listening to auditory sequences of two or three sounds. When the rate and duration of sounds were constant, infants looked longer at the visual display that was numerically equivalent to the auditory sequence. When the rate and duration of sounds varied, infants showed no preference for…

Four-, 6-, and 8-year olds were shown a test picture of three related objects and two target pictures of three objects in the same or different relation. Older subjects, but not 4-year olds, identified the relationally similar target picture when the test and target also differed in dimensions of size or color saturation and in direction of size…

Eight experiments involving 99 college students examined the role of edge-assignment in a contour matching task. Edge-matching performance was not based solely on a raw description of the edges themselves. Results suggest a pervasive tendency within the visual system to go beyond the edges toward figural shapes. (SLD)

Examined the processing of potential auditory and visual cues that differentiate statements from echoic questions. Found that both auditory and visual cues reliably conveyed statement and question intonation, were successfully synthesized, and generalized to other utterances. (Author/VWL)

In first of 2 experiments, an early negative component of 400 4 to 6 year olds distinguished between happy and angry expressions. A later positive component distinguished between target and nontarget events. Both components were observed in a second experiment. Results are discussed in the context of children's allocation of attentional and memory…

In 5 experiments, 10 month olds were habituated to exemplars of a form category and tested for categorization in paired-comparison trials involving in-category versus out-of-category stimuli. Results suggest infants' internal representation for category will not include stimulus dimension not varied in exemplars from which the category was…

Preferences for moving versus static bars were assessed in 8-, 16-, and 20-week-old infants. Findings revealed that at both 16 and 20 weeks, preferences were affected only by the velocity of the bar's movement. This effect persisted at 20 weeks even when static reference features were added to the display. (RH)

Data suggest that human newborns are capable of making a chromatic discrimination within the spectral region above 540 nm (the Rayleigh region), but their ability is limited to chromatic stimuli of very wide spectral separation and of very large size. Possible neurological bases underlying this immaturity are discussed. (RH)

Investigated the role of an external clock in two temporal conditioning situations involving three-year olds. One situation required the spacing of responses to visual stimuli; the other, producing a response for a set duration. Found that the presence of the clock increased the efficiency of performance. (SW)

Argues that "persistence of vision" myth (the succession of still images perceived as continuous motion) has a place in the history of film scholarship but can no longer be given currency in film theory. Suggests replacement of the concept of the passive viewer implied by the myth by an enlightened understanding of how viewers actually…

Three experiments using the familiarization-novelty preference procedure confirmed the hypothesis that three-month-old infants could form categorical representations of spatial relations above and below. The infants, after being shown a familiarization diagram with a dot appearing in multiple locations below a line, showed a preference for a novel…

Memory for object motion in three-month-old infants was investigated across different time intervals in three studies using a novelty preference method. Results indicated a significant preference for the novel motion after a one-minute delay, a significant preference for the familiar motion after a one-month delay, and no preferences at the…

The role of occlusion configurations in binocular vision was studied in 4 experiments with 10 adult observers. Results reveal that occlusion relationships are sensed during the earliest stages of binocular processing. A simple theoretical framework that unifies fusion, stereopsis, and occlusion is advanced. (SLD)

Infants averaging 5 weeks and 12 weeks of age were presented with object models and a live model to determine whether infants reliably responded to the models with movement-matching facial gestures. Object models produced no reliable elicitation of gestures, but the live model increased the incidence of gestures among infants of five weeks. (SH)

Two experiments studied infants' use of remembered knowledge of auditory-visual events to guide reaching and grasping. Results indicated that reaching was initiated and completed after sound cues ceased. Accurate searching depended on subjects' experience in light presentation. Results suggest that 6 1/2-month-olds can represent unseen objects and…