title: Operant measurements of contrast sensitivity in infant macaque monkeys during normal development.
abstract: The development of contrast sensitivity was measured longitudinally in seven Macaca nemestrina monkeys. Operant conditioning methods were used to train and then test infant monkeys from the ages of 1 to 12 months. Several changes were observed in the contrast sensitivity function, including an overall increase in sensitivity to contrast, a shift in the peak of the function toward higher spatial frequencies, and an increase in the cutoff spatial frequency. The time-courses for the changes in the contrast sensitivity function were characterized by rapid development during the first 10-20 weeks, followed by a gradual asymptotic development to adult levels over the remainder of the year. Sensitivity to contrast was found to develop with different time-courses for different spatial frequencies; sensitivity to low spatial frequencies reached adult levels much earlier than sensitivity to high spatial frequencies.
authors.affiliation: Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Boothe
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kiorpes
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Teller
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D008251:Macaca / Q000254:growth & development*; D008254:Macaca nemestrina / Q000254:growth & development*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*