The scanning of compound figures by young infants.
We studied infants' scanning of two compound stimuli, in each case by presenting features inside a frame, the frame alone, and the features alone. One stimulus was composed of squares and was like that studied by P. Salapatek (in L. Cohen & P. Salapatek (Eds.), New York: Academic Press, 1975); the other was a schematic face. Newborns and 1-month-olds looked at the small square when it was presented alone, but rarely looked at it when it was framed by the larger square. In contrast, 2-month-olds looked at the small square for long periods whether or not it was framed. However, when newborns and 1-month-olds were shown a schematic face, they looked at its internal features at least half the time. Thus, young infants show no external bias when scanning a schematic face.
D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development; D005133:Eye Movements; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013997:Time Factors; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology