title: The role of visual and body movement information in infant search.
abstract: Three experiments investigated the use of visual input and body movement input arising from movement through the world on spatial orientation. Infants between 9 1/2 and 18 months participated in a search task in which they searched for a toy hidden in 1 of 2 containers. Prior to beginning search, either the infants or the containers were rotated 180 degrees; these rotations occurred in a lit or dark environment. These experiments were distinguished by the environmental cues for object location; Experiment 1 used a position cue, Experiment 2 a color cue, and Experiment 3 both position and color cues. Accuracy was better in Experiments 2 and 3 than in Experiment 1. All studies found that search was best after infant movement in the light; all other conditions led to equivalently worse performance. These results are discussed relative to a theoretical characterization of spatial coding focusing on the uses of spatial information.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. marksch@banks.scar.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schmuckler
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Tsang-Tong
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011434:Proprioception; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception