Several propositions deduced from the discrepancy hypothesis were tested with four-month-old infants using random shapes in a habituation/discrepancy paradigm. (JMB)

Five experiments tested four-month-old infants' ability to recognize degraded visual targets as a function of individual differences in fixation duration. Found that short-looking infants were able to recognize degraded forms in both vertex (top or highest point)-absent and vertex-present conditions, but the vertex-absent discrimination was more…

Human neonates selectively fixated patterns with curved rather than straight contours when the outermost contours differed in this form variable and when quantitative variables were controlled. Data indicated the presence from birth of a discrimination ability basic to later form perception. (Author/ED)

Examined age-related changes in visual selective attention--ability to resist interference--in children 5 to 12 years old and adults. The interference effect on stimulus evaluation did not discriminate between age groups; however, the interference effect on correct response activation showed a pronounced age-related reduction, suggesting a…

Preschool, second-, and sixth-grade children performed developmentally gradated, easy and difficult visual discrimination tasks in a quiet room or with one of two levels of extraneous auditory stimulation. Subjects' errors, response latencies, and glances away from the task were recorded. (Author/RH)