Mendelson M J, Hath M M
Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 1976;41(4):1-72.
Four studies were conducted to investigate the relation between audition and vision in the human newborn. In all four studies visual activity was recorded with infrared corneal-reflection technqiues in 1- to 4-day-old infants. Study 1 concerned the effects of sound at midline on scanning in darkness and in a lit but formless field. In the dark compared to light, newborns maintained better eye control, centralized fixations, scanned with smaller eye movements, scanned less dispersely, and were wider-eyed. In a blank field, sound caused newborns to maintain better eye control, centralize fixations, scan with small eye movements, constrain fixations, and be wider-eyed than in silence. Sound had little effect on scanning in the dark beyond constraining fixations. Study 2 concerned the effects of sound at midline on scanning vertical and horizontal edges. Visual activity was different for the two visual stimuli. While viewing a vertical rather than a horizontal edge, newborns maintained better eye control and fixated closer to the position of the vertical edge. Newborns crossed the position of the horizontal edge when that edge was present. Sound affected scanning in general, centralizing fixations for newborns not already looking centrally, but sound did not affect the frequency of edge crossing. Study 3 concerned the effects of laterally presented sound on scanning spatially consonant or dissonant vertical bars. The major finding was that infants were sensitive to the spatial property of sound. Infants shifted fixations first toward and then gradually away from sound. Study 4 was an attempt to determine whether there is an effort constraint on the simultaneous functioning of auditory and visual systems. The effects of two differentially salient sounds on scanning two differentially salient visual stimuli were examined. Although the results appeared to support the idea of an effort constraint, the data were accounted for parsimoniously in terms of the spatial influence of sound of scanning. The data on visual activity were discussed in terms of the presence of inherent information-acquisition routines in the newborn. It was concluded that sound influences visual epistemic behavior even at birth.
开展了四项研究以调查人类新生儿听觉与视觉之间的关系。在所有四项研究中，均采用红外角膜反射技术记录1至4日龄婴儿的视觉活动。研究1关注中线处声音对在黑暗中和有光亮但无形状的视野中扫描的影响。与有光亮的情况相比，在黑暗中新生儿能更好地控制眼睛，注视更集中，扫描时眼球运动更小，扫描分布更集中，眼睛睁得更大。在空白视野中，声音使新生儿比在安静状态下能更好地控制眼睛，注视更集中，扫描时眼球运动更小，限制注视，眼睛睁得更大。除了限制注视外，声音对黑暗中的扫描几乎没有影响。研究2关注中线处声音对垂直和水平边缘扫描的影响。两种视觉刺激的视觉活动有所不同。在观看垂直边缘而非水平边缘时，新生儿能更好地控制眼睛，注视更靠近垂直边缘的位置。当水平边缘出现时，新生儿会越过其位置。声音总体上影响扫描，使原本未注视中央的新生儿注视更集中，但声音不影响越过边缘的频率。研究3关注侧向呈现的声音对空间上和谐或不和谐的垂直条纹扫描的影响。主要发现是婴儿对声音的空间特性敏感。婴儿的注视先朝向声音，然后逐渐远离声音。研究4试图确定听觉和视觉系统同时运作时是否存在努力限制。研究了两种不同显著程度的声音对两种不同显著程度的视觉刺激扫描的影响。尽管结果似乎支持存在努力限制的观点，但数据可以用声音对扫描的空间影响来简洁地解释。根据新生儿中存在的固有信息获取程序对视觉活动数据进行了讨论。得出的结论是，即使在出生时，声音也会影响视觉认知行为。
