Three experiments explored effects of stimulus and task factors on tendency to categorize according to taxonomic relations when those relations conflict with appearances. When provided with information that constrained categorization, preschoolers and adults reliably based their decisions on taxonomic relations between physically dissimilar items.…

Human recognition behavior is influenced by the phenomenon of shape constancy, which occurs when the shape of an object is correctly perceived regardless of the orientation of the object in space. The research reported here tests the validity of the shape-slant invariance hypothesis, a theoretical formulation of the phenomenon of shape constancy.…

Four experiments investigated newborns' ability to discriminate, recognize, and learn visual information embedded in the schematic face-like patterns preferred at birth. Results indicated that newborns discriminated face-like stimuli relying on their internal features and recognized a perceptual invariance between face-like configurations in…

After computerized training on visual-visual identity matching, a 5-year old with autism was given visual-visual and auditory-visual matching-to-sample tests with new stimuli. He performed poorly on matching visual stimuli until the stimulus array was changed to resemble the computer-stimulus arrangement, indicating the influence of small…