Capparini Chiara, To Michelle P S, Reid Vincent M
Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.
School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Dev Psychobiol. 2022 May;64(4):e22274. doi: 10.1002/dev.22274.
Most fundamental aspects of information processing in infancy have been primarily investigated using simplified images centrally presented on computer displays. This approach lacks ecological validity as in reality the majority of visual information is presented across the visual field, over a range of eccentricities. Limited studies are present, however, about the extent and the characteristics of infant peripheral vision after 7 months of age. The present work investigates the limits of infant (9-month-olds) and adult visual fields using a detection task. Gabor patches were presented at one of six eccentricities per hemifield, from 35° up to 60° in the left and right mid-peripheral visual fields. Detection rates at different eccentricities were measured from video recordings (infant sample) or key press responses (adult sample). Infant performance declined below chance level beyond 50°, whereas adults performed at ceiling level across all eccentricities. The performance of 9-month-olds was unequal even within 50°, suggesting regions of differential sensitivity to low-level visual information in the infant's periphery. These findings are key to understanding the limits of visual fields in the infant and, in turn, will inform the design of future infant studies.
婴儿期信息处理的大多数基本方面主要是通过在计算机显示器中央呈现简化图像来进行研究的。这种方法缺乏生态效度，因为在现实中，大多数视觉信息是在整个视野范围内、在一系列不同的偏心度上呈现的。然而，关于7个月大以后婴儿周边视觉的范围和特征的研究有限。目前的研究使用检测任务来探究婴儿（9个月大）和成人视野的极限。在每侧视野的六个偏心度之一处呈现Gabor斑，在左右中周边视野中从35°到60°。通过视频记录（婴儿样本）或按键反应（成人样本）测量不同偏心度下的检测率。超过50°时，婴儿的表现降至随机水平以下，而成人在所有偏心度下均表现出最高水平。即使在50°范围内，9个月大婴儿的表现也不相同，这表明婴儿周边对低水平视觉信息的敏感度存在差异区域。这些发现对于理解婴儿视野的极限至关重要，进而将为未来婴儿研究的设计提供参考。
