Serial habituation or regression to the mean?
The serial habituation hypothesis states that the order that infants fixate and habituate to component features of a complex form is determined by the salience of those features. Infants' fixation of the most salient feature of a complex form is reduced after exposure to that complex form, supporting the serial habituation hypothesis. Regression to the mean can also explain this result. In the present study, 4-month-olds were either presented with a complex form containing the relevant feature, or they were presented with another complex form lacking that feature. If the reduction in fixation to the most salient feature is due to the presentation of the complex form, then a reduction in fixation should only be observed in the condition in which the complex form containing that feature was presented. A reduction was observed in both conditions supporting a regression to the mean interpretation of the data.
D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D005556:Form Perception; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012691:Serial Learning