Set size, novelty, and visual pop-out in infancy

J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1996 Oct;22(5):1178-87. doi: 10.1037//0096-1523.22.5.1178.

Abstract

The effects of set size and novelty on visual pop-out in 6-month-old infants was assessed in a perceptual-identification (memory reactivation) paradigm in which infants, trained and tested in their own homes, viewed a mobile containing a unique novel or familiar object amidst different numbers of familiar or novel distractors, respectively. Unique objects of both types popped out at all set sizes except the largest, where there was modest evidence that familiar distractors speeded processing (Experiment 1). When the proportion of familiar targets in a display of intermediate set size was increased, however, infants no longer detected the familiar target (Experiment 2). These findings offer additional support for the proposition that visual pop-out in infants and adults is the some phenomenon.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention*
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Female
  • Habituation, Psychophysiologic
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Mental Recall*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Psychology, Child*
  • Retention, Psychology