Slater A, Mattock A, Brown E, Bremner J G
Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Devon, U.K.
J Exp Child Psychol. 1991 Jun;51(3):395-406. doi: 10.1016/0022-0965(91)90084-6.
Cohen (1988; Cohen & Younger, 1984) has suggested that there is a shift in the perception of form sometime after 6 weeks of age. Prior to this age infants can remember the specific orientations of line segments, but cannot process and remember the angular relations that line segments can make. Experiment 1 used simple line stimuli with newborn infants to test this suggestion. Following habituation to a simple two-line angle the newborns dishabituated to a change of orientation but not to a change in angle, confirming Cohen and Younger's suggestion that orientation is a powerful cue in early shape perception. In Experiments 2 and 3 newborns were familiarized either to an acute or to an obtuse angle that changed its orientation over trials. On subsequent test trials the babies gave strong novelty preferences to a different angle. Alternative interpretations of the results are discussed, but these experimental findings are compatible with the suggestion that newborns can quickly learn to process angular relations, and that rudimentary form perception may not be dependent on a lengthy period of learning and/or maturation for its development.
科恩（1988年；科恩和扬格，1984年）提出，在6周龄后的某个时间，对形状的感知会发生转变。在这个年龄之前，婴儿能够记住线段的特定方向，但无法处理和记住线段之间的角度关系。实验1使用简单的线条刺激对新生儿进行测试，以验证这一观点。在对一个简单的二线角进行习惯化训练后，新生儿对方向的改变产生了去习惯化反应，但对角度的改变没有，这证实了科恩和扬格的观点，即方向是早期形状感知中的一个有力线索。在实验2和3中，新生儿分别对在试验中改变方向的锐角或钝角进行了熟悉化训练。在随后的测试试验中，婴儿对不同的角度表现出强烈的新奇偏好。文中讨论了对结果的其他解释，但这些实验结果与以下观点相符：新生儿能够快速学会处理角度关系，并且基本的形状感知可能并不依赖于长时间的学习和/或成熟来发展。
