Spatial localization in infancy: position constancy in a square and circular room with and without a landmark.
The ability of 8-month-old infants to localize an event from a new direction of facing was tested in a square and a circular room with and without a landmark. Subjects were trained to anticipate the site from 2 directions of facing and then tested in a new direction of facing. The number of trials to a criterion of learning, the number of subjects looking first at the event site after reorientation, and the time spent in doing so were recorded. Taken together, the results show that at 8 months ability to identify the site of an event after reorientation is based on the spatial relationship between the event and environmental features. The latter include features associated with room shape as well as a landmark at the site of the event.
D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009949:Orientation; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012931:Social Environment; D013028:Space Perception