Infant visual habituation

Abstract

The use of visual habituation in the study of infant cognition and learning is reviewed. This article traces the history of the technique, underlying theory, and procedural variation in its measurement. In addition, we review empirical findings with respect to the cognitive processes that presumably contribute to habituation, studies of developmental course and long-term prediction, as well as recent attempts to address or explain the phenomenon of visual habituation through the use of mathematical or quantitative models. The review ends with an appeal for a return to the study of habituation per se as a valid measure of infant learning, rather than relegating the phenomenon to its use as a technique for familiarizing infants in procedures testing for discrimination or recognition.

Figure 1

The earliest plots of visual habituation. In both panels, decline in looking across time is shown for infant chimpanzees. The height of the habituation curve varies as a function of the relative rate of stimulus flicker (a), and the rate of habituation varies with speed of rotation (b). Both figures reprinted with permission from Berkson, G. & Fitz-Gerald, F. L. (1963a), Perceptual and Motor Skills, 17, 107–117.

Figure 2

Data on infant-controlled habituation modeled from the Colombo et al. (2004) database. This graph shows the modeled intercept as a function of age, showing clearly that the intercept (height of curve) drops across the first year, with significant drops from 3 to 4 months and from 6 months to beyond.

Figure 3

Data on infant-controlled habituation modeled from the Colombo et al. (2004) database. This graph shows the linear component of the modeled curves as a function of age. The linear term increases from a strong negative toward zero, thus showing that the curve flattens out with age.