Prof. Greg Francis 7/8/081Complex perceptual developmentIIE 366: DevelopmentalPsychologyGreg FrancisLecture 12Chapter 5: Perceptual andMotor DevelopmentModule 5.2 Complex PerceptualProcessesChildren and Their Development, 4/e by Robert Kail5.1 Integrating SensoryInformation Infants can recognize visually an object thatthey have only touched previously Infants can detect relations between visual andauditory information Infants’ sensory systems are attuned tointersensory redundancy: They learn best wheninformation is presented simultaneously to morethan one sensory system.5.2 Complex Perceptual andAttentional ProcessesPerceiving ObjectsFacesModal / Amodal perception There are at least two different “types” of visual perception Modal perception: visual awareness of a surface Color Brightness Usually referred to as “seeing” Amodal perception: visual awareness of an arrangement of visual information Without a direct experience of color or brightness Sometimes confused with “seeing” More aptly called “knowing” without “seeing”Kanizsa, 1979Perception In this image you have a modal percept of the vertical lines Black color You also have an amodal percept of a horizontal contour It has no colorProf. Greg Francis 7/8/082Perception In this image you havea modal percept of theblack dots You also have anamodal percept of thedots being organized ina circular arrangement It has no color You do not see the bigcircles, but you knowof themAmodal percepts Is amodalperception justinference? NO! Statisticalinference impliesthe occludedchecks should bedifferent from theirneighbors But it “looks”(amodally) to bethe same colorKanizsa, 1979Amodal percepts Amodal perceptsoften come aboutfrom occlusion But occlusion is notalways bad fordetection It is difficult to identifythese elementsBregman, 1981Amodal percepts Identification iseasier with anoccluding ink blot The occluder allowsfor amodal perceptsto be constructed Which aidrecognition in thiscase by connectingdisparate elementsof the fractured lettersSeeing Seeing is knowledge about surface properties Brightness ColorSeeing surfaces Color spreads across a defined surfacePinna et al., 2001Prof. Greg Francis 7/8/083Amodal perception Gestaltgroupingprinciples Elements areconnectedwithoutconnectionbeing “seen”Horizontal andvertical areroughly balancedHorizontal wins5.2 Perceiving Objects Motion, color, texture, and aligned edges areused to perceive objectsUse of Motion to Perceive Objects5.2: Perceiving ObjectsPerceiving Objects Using Color,Texture, and Aligned Edges5.2: Perceiving Objects5.2 Perceiving Objects Motion, color, texture, and aligned edgesare used to perceive objects Infants master perceptual constanciesearly: By 4 months, infants have size,shape, brightness, and color constancyShape Constancy5.2: Perceiving ObjectsProf. Greg Francis 7/8/0845.2 Perceiving Objects Motion, color, texture, and aligned edgesare used to perceive objects Infants master perceptual constanciesearly: By 4 months, infants have size,shape, brightness, and color constancy Many cues are used to infer depthPerceiving depth: the visual cliff paradigmCues that infants used to judge depthTexture gradientRelative sizeInterposition5.2 Perceiving Objects Motion, color, texture, and aligned edges areused to perceive objects Infants master perceptual constancies early: By4 months, infants have size, shape, brightness,and color constancy Many cues are used to infer depth Infants like to look at human facesInfants’ Scanning of Faces5.2: Perceiving ObjectsUniversal facial expressions There is evidence that humans have some universal facialexpressions Happiness Surprise Sadness Anger Disgust FearProf. Greg Francis 7/8/085Universal facial expressions There is evidence that humans have some universal facialexpressions Everyone judgesthese expressionsin nearly thesame way Across people Across culturesUniversal facial expressions Moreover, blended facial expressions do not look likemuch of anythingInfant facial expressions Infants exhibit many of the universalexpressionsInfant directed expressions Mothers use particular faces when addressing infants They can be described by their muscle combinationsOochie expression Lip pucker, lip pull, lips part/jaw drop Unlike any adult emotion (fish mouth face) Emotion judged as:» Undergraduates: Comfort & caring, Interest &attention» Mothers: Comfort & caringJoy expression Inner/outer eyebrow raise, lip corner pull, mouthstretch Similar to adult expression of happy Emotion judged as:» Undergraduates: Happiness, Love & warmth» Mothers: Happiness, praise & admirationProf. Greg Francis 7/8/086Wow expression Cheek raise, lip corner pull, lips part/jaw drop Similar to an adult expression of surprise (mocksurprise) Emotion judged as:» Undergraduates: Surprise» Mothers: Interest & attention, excitement &enjoyment, surpriseFacial expressions These faces were made by both English speakingmothers and Chinese-speaking mothers Presumably, there would not be this common patternof faces unless infants (4-7 months) could detectthem and discriminate between them» Often the faces go with words that conveycomfort, surprise, praiseNext time Attentional development Motor