The comparator model of infant visual habituation and dishabituation: Recent insights

• Published in: Developmental psychobiology Vol. 55; no. 8; pp. 793 - 808
• Main Author: Kavsek, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2013
• Subjects: Attention - physiology; Child Development - physiology; comparator model; Habituation, Psychophysiologic - physiology; Humans; Infant; infant attention; infant perception; infant visual dishabituation; infant visual habituation; Models, Psychological; perceptual development; Problem Solving - physiology; Visual Perception - physiology; infant visual dishabituation; infant perception; perceptual development; comparator model; infant visual habituation; infant attention
• ISSN: 0012-1630; 1098-2302
• DOI: 10.1002/dev.21081

Current knowledge of the perceptual and cognitive abilities in infancy is largely based on the visual habituation–dishabituation method. According to the comparator model [e.g., Sokolov (1963a) Perception and the conditioned reflex. Oxford: Pergamon Press], habituation refers to stimulus encoding and dishabituation refers to discriminatory memory performance. The review also describes the dual‐process theory and the attention disengagement approach. The dual‐process theory points to the impact of natural stimulus preferences on habituation–dishabituation processes. The attention disengagement approach emphasizes the contribution of the ability to shift the attention away from a stimulus. Moreover, arguments for the cognitive interpretation of visual habituation and dishabituations are discussed. These arguments are provided by physiological studies and by research on interindividual differences. Overall, the review shows that current research supports the comparator model. It emphasizes that the investigation of habituation and dishabituation expands our understanding of visual attention processes in infants. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 55: 793–808, 2013.