Perceptual organization of complex visual configurations by young infants

• Published in: Infant behavior & development Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 35 - 46
• Main Authors: Quinn, Paul C., Brown, Candice R., Streppa, Michele L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 1997; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Developmental psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Newborn. Infant; perceptual organization Gestalt principles part-whole perception infants goood continuation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; perceptual organization Gestalt principles part-whole perception infants goood continuation; Human; Organization; Vision; Infant; Perception; Gestalt theory; Perceptual development
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453
• DOI: 10.1016/S0163-6383(97)90059-X

Two experiments using the familiarization-novelty preference procedure were performed to determine if 3- and 4-month-old infants can organize visual patterns consisting of two intersecting forms. The results of both experiments indicate that infants can parse complex configurations of contour information into coherent forms in a manner predicted by the Gestalt principles of good continuation and perhaps closure. The data also suggest the possibility that spontaneous preferences for certain stimulus features (e.g., curvature) may play a facilitative role in the parsing of forms containing those features. The findings are discussed in terms of a developmental account of form perception in which the visual system of the young infant is hypothesized to be biologically constrained to follow certain basic Gestalt organizational principles that become more powerful with maturation and/or experience.