Cross-modal transfer and information processing by the sense of touch in infancy.

136 1-yr-old infants were tested on tasks of visual–tactual cross-modal transfer and tactual intramodal processing. In Exp I, Ss successfully differentiated novel from familiar objects by tactual exploration after 60 sec of either visual familiarization (V–T) or 60 sec of tactual familiarization (T–T); all testing that involved tactual exploration was carried out in total darkness, using infrared videotaping. In both tasks, Ss spent significantly more time manipulating novel than familiar shapes. In the T–T task they also engaged in more manipulatory episodes and exhibited more hand-to-hand transfers with the novel shapes. Neither type of transfer was shown with shorter (30-sec) familiarization periods. The finding of successful T–T transfer with 60-sec familiarization was confirmed in Exp II using different stimuli and a modified testing procedure. In both experiments there was evidence that T–T processing surpassed V–T transfer. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of familiarization time on visual recognition memory in infant pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina).

Used the familiarization-novelty procedure in 2 experiments to examine the effects of study time on visual recognition memory in 34 infant pigtailed macaques. In Exp I, Ss were familiarized with abstract black-and-white patterns for 10 sec. They then were given a test trial in which the familiar stimulus was paired with a novel one. Results show that during the test trial, Ss directed significantly more visual attention toward the novel stimulus, a finding that provides evidence for recognition memory. In Exp II, a different group of Ss was familiarized with abstract black-and-white patterns for 1, 5, and 10 sec. Ss demonstrated recognition after the 10-sec familiarization period. Ss older than 6 wks of age at test also demonstrated recognition after the 5-sec study time, a finding that is consistent with the hypothetical 4:1 ratio between macaque and human infant development of some basic sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processes. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-modal transfer in infants: Relationship to prematurity and socioeconomic background.

Compared 94 full-term middle class, full-term lower-class, and preterm infants on cross-modal and visual intramodal functioning. In the cross-modal tasks, infants were familiarized either orally or tactually; in the intramodal tasks they were familiarized visually. Visual recognition memory was assessed by the paried-comparison technique. All 3 groups demonstrated comparable visual–visual intramodal functioning, whereas only the full-term, middle-class group was able to transfer information across modalities. Failure in cross-modal transfer was discussed from the perspective of (a) a specific deficit in tactual sensory processing, (b) a general deficit in rate of information processing, and (c) a deficit in sensory integration per se. It is suggested that cross-modal functioning in infants may provide a sensitive index for assessing cognitive deficit in the early years. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in hemispheric specialization for tactual processing in very young children: Evidence from cross-modal transfer.

Examined whether young children show any evidence of right hemispheric specialization for tactual processing. 72 1-, 2-, and 3-yr-old right-handed children were each administered 6 cross-modal tasks in which they palpated a shape with either their left or right hand for 25 sec and then viewed the familiar and a novel shape in a 10-sec test of visual recognition. Although Ss of all 3 ages showed significantly more visual fixation to novel shapes, regardless of which hand had been used for palpation, scores were enhanced among 2- and 3-yr-olds following palpation with the left as compared with the right hand. This left-hand (right hemisphere) superiority was not evident in 1-yr-olds. These results are the first to demonstrate a left-hand superiority for information processing in children as young as 2 yrs and to suggest that this adultlike pattern is developed by at least the 2nd year of life. Left-hand superiority may be due to asymmetries in tactual sensitivity, motor control, and/or information processing. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing visual recognition memory in preterm infants.

Tested 6-mo-old full- and preterm infants on tasks of visual recognition memory. In Study 1, with 54 Ss, preterms failed to differentiate between novel and familiar test stimuli following brief amounts of familiarization, whereas full-terms showed significant novelty preferences on 2 of the 3 problems. Preterm Ss who had received extra sensory stimulation during the early week of life showed long-term benefits in that their performance was indistinguishable from that of the full-terms. In Study 2, 36 preterm Ss who had not received any intervention showed visual recognition memory if the familiarization time was lengthened. This success suggests that in general, prematures were able to store and retrieve the information and to make the visual discriminations involved; they did, however, show a pronounced deficit in the speed of information processing. It is suggested that visual recognition memory is negatively affected by prematurity and that performance can be improved by altering early environmental conditions. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual discrimination and detection of configurational invariance in 3-month infants.

Investigated 40 3-mo-old infants' discrimination of simple visual arrangements of discrete elements, using an operant high-amplitude sucking technique in a stimulus familiarization–novelty paradigm. In Exp I, response recovery was found following changes in the arrangement of 3-dot patterns. To rule out contour density and position as possible cues, Ss were familiarized in Exp II with sets of stimuli varying in size and position but of constant arrangements. Response recovery was found following new arrangements of similar size and position, but Ss failed to recover to the familiarized arrangement presented in novel sizes and positions. Results of Exp III indicate the ability of infants to discriminate changes in size and position similar to the variations received during familiarization in Exp II. Results suggest sensitivity to pattern configuration and the ability to detect pattern invariance. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between visual and tactual exploration by 6-month-olds.

Observed the looking and touching responses of 48 6-mo-olds to visually or tactually novel objects to investigate the relationship between Ss' visual and tactual exploration. Ss were familiarized with an object of a given color and temperature and were then presented with an object different only in color or different only in temperature. Ss in the temperature-change condition exhibited both visual and tactual novelty responses, whereas Ss in the color-change condition exhibited neither. Findings indicate that 6-mo-olds are capable of tactual recognition memory, temperature is a salient property of objects for infants, and visual exploration and tactual exploration are not independent perceptual activities but are related in an asymmetrical fashion. Findings also support the notion that, in some circumstances, young infants may be so engrossed with the tactual characteristics of an object that attention to its visual properties is diluted. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of cross-modal recognition in infant pigtail monkeys (Macaca nemestrina).

Examined the development of cross-modal recognition in 48 infant pigtail monkeys in 2 studies by using an adaptation of the visual preference technique. Ss were first familiarized orally with pacifiers of 1 of 2 shapes and were then tested on corresponding visual stimuli. In a cross-sectional experiment (Exp I), Ss under 200 days postconception at test (approximately 4 postnatal weeks) showed a visual preference for the orally familiar stimuli, which provided evidence for cross-modal recognition. Ss over 200 days postconception at test showed a visual preference for 1 of the test stimuli, which made their data uninterpretable with respect to cross-modal abilities. In a longitudinal experiment (Exp II), Ss were tested once when they were younger than 200 days postconception and once when they were older. When young, they showed a visual preference for the orally familiar stimuli. When older, they showed a visual preference for the same test stimuli found for the cross-sectional Ss. Results are discussed relative to human infant cross-modal data obtained by similar procedures. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preservation of cross-modal transfer of a rate discrimination in the bushbaby (Galogo senegalensis) with lesions of posterior neocortex.

Assessed the effect of lesions of posterior neocortex, using a test method that permits the demonstration of cross-modal transfer in intact bushbabies. Eight Ss were trained to discriminate light flashes of 18/sec and 3/sec in a go-no-go shock avoidance task. On completion of training, 4 Ss received lesions of posterior neocortex by aspiration. After 6 wks both lesion and intact Ss were returned to training in the visual discrimination. On the day following criterion performance on the visual test, auditory clicks of the same rate and contingencies were substituted and maintained to criterion. All 8 Ss demonstrated rapid transfer, and the lesion Ss were not retarded as compared with intact Ss. The cross-modal transfer of a specific rate discrimination was thus preserved in the absence of posterior intersensory neocortex. Results are discussed in terms of a hypothetical subcortical system capable of the amodal coding of simple stimulus dimensions. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of visual, haptic, and manipulatory experiences on infants' visual recognition memory of objects.

To determine the effects of visual, haptic, and manipulatory experiences on visual recognition of objects' shapes, 108 6-, 9-, and 12-mo-old infants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 stimulus familiarization conditions in which they either only looked at an object (visual), looked at and manipulated an object (visual-haptic), or looked at an object encased in a transparent box that the infant manipulated (visual-manipulatory). Visual recognition memory was assessed by the paired-comparison technique in which memory is indexed by infants' differential preferences for novel and familiar stimuli. The major findings were that (a) 12-mo-olds showed evidence of memory in all conditions, (b) younger Ss showed evidence of memory only in the visual condition, and (c) at all ages Ss' preference for novel relative to familiar stimuli was significantly greater in the visual condition than in the visual-haptic and visual-manipulatory conditions, with the latter conditions not differing significantly. It is argued that the manipulatory activity per se depressed Ss' differential preferences in the visual-haptic and visual-manipulatory conditions. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity in tactual–visual cross-modal transfer: Infancy to 11 years.

The present study demonstrated that individual differences in cross-modal transfer showed continuity over a 10-year span. Tactual–visual tasks, requiring visual recognition of shapes that had previously been felt but not seen, were given to full-term and preterm children at 2 ages, 1 and 11 years. Cross-modal performance showed a left-hand advantage at 11 years and, for both groups, cross-age correlations were significant when tactual exploration at 11 years was done with the left hand (r?=?.34–.36). The continuity showed some specificity in that the infant measure did not relate to other types of cross-modal performance at 11 years and was not dependent on aspects of spatial ability involving form perception. This continuity accounted for most of the previously reported relation of infant cross-modal ability to 11-year IQ. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familiarity and novelty preferences in infant recognition memory: Implications for information processing.

Investigated the suggestion that young infants show a preference for familiar stimuli that is supplanted by a preference for novel stimuli as they get older and the act of recognition becomes commonplace. In Study 1, 84 Ss (3.5, 4.5, and 6.5 mo old) were tested for visual recognition memory of shapes, using the paired comparison procedure. The 3.5-mo-olds showed a strong preference for the familiar, whereas the older Ss preferred the novel stimulus. In Study 2 with 72 3.5- and 6.5-mo-old Ss, these shifts were found to depend more on familiarization time than on age. Ss of both ages showed a preference for the familiar stimulus after limited exposure to it but shifted to a preference for the novel stimulus after more extended exposure. It is concluded that regardless of age, infants prefer to look at that which is familiar as they begin to process a stimulus; once processing becomes more advanced, their preference shifts to the novel. Findings are therefore contrary to the developmental view investigated. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and temporal congruity and auditory–visual integration in infants.

The influence of the spatial and temporal relation of auditory and visual stimuli on 6-mo-old infants' perception of these stimuli as attributes of a common object was explored in 4 studies. In Exp I, after familiarization with an object that moved in synchrony with a periodic sound coming from it, the 89 Ss associated the object and sound; they looked more at the familiar than a novel object in the presence of the familiar sound, but not in the presence of a novel sound. Exp II with 22 Ss showed evidence for association following experience in which an object and sound were spatially congruent but exhibited a form of temporal incongruity (continuous movement and periodic sound). In contrast, no evidence of auditory–visual association was shown after familiarization in which the object and sound were temporally congruent but spatially incongruent (Exp III; 21 Ss) or in which object and sound were spatially congruent but exhibited a different form of temporal incongruity (periodic movement and continuous sound; Exp IV with 23 Ss). (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An early and a late developing system for learning and retention in infant monkeys.

Separate groups of rhesus monkeys of different ages were tested in delayed nonmatching-to-sample and 24-hr concurrent discrimination-learning tasks considered to be measures of recognition memory and habit-formation systems, respectively, in an ontogenetic comparison of the development of these 2 systems. In Exp I, the visual-recognition abilities of 17 3-, 6-, or 12-mo-old Ss were measured, while 7 3-mo-old Ss were compared to adult controls on a discrimination-learning task in Exp II. Results show that infant Ss failed to learn the nonmatching task until they were approximately 4 mo old. With further maturation, learning ability gradually improved, but did not reach adult levels of proficiency even when Ss were 1 yr old. Postlearning evaluation with long delays and lists confirmed this slow ontogenetic development of recognition memory to adult levels of function. By contrast, 3–4 mo old Ss learned to discriminate long lists of object-pairs nearly as quickly as adults, despite 24-hr intertrial intervals. This striking dissociation in the ability of infants on the 2 tasks closely resembles the dissociation previously found in adults rendered amnesic by limbic lesions. Findings suggest that, whereas the nonlimbic habit system matures early in infancy, the limbic-dependent memory system develops more slowly. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infants' detection of visual-tactual discrepancies: Asymmetries that indicate a directive role of visual information.

Infants' cross-modal functioning was investigated in two studies. In Study 1, 11-month-old infants were confronted with five different visual–tactual discrepancies created with a mirror arrangement. The infants' behavioral reactions to the discrepancies were compared with their behavior on matched control trials with a forced-choice judgment procedure. Infants detected discrepancies in which they saw an egg and felt a cube, saw a fur-covered cube and felt an egg, and saw a cross and felt a fur-covered cube. However, they provided no evidence that they detected discrepancies in which they saw a cube and felt a cross or saw a cube and felt a fur-covered cube. In Study 2, infants were confronted with discrepancies that were the converse of those which seemed to go unnoticed in Study 1: They saw either a cross or a fur-covered cube and felt a plain cube. Both of these new discrepancies were detected according to the forced-choice judgment procedure. The results indicate that texture as well as shape can serve as a basis for cross-modal matching for infants. The asymmetries in cross-modal matching that were observed across Studies 1 and 2 are interpreted as evidence that visual information plays a directive, goal-setting role for infants' manual explorations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of IQ and specific cognitive abilities at 11 years from infancy measures.

Relations between infant information processing and specific cognitive outcomes at 11 years were examined in a sample of preterms and full-terms followed longitudinally (N?=?90). Infancy measures, obtained at 7-months and 1-year, included visual and tactual recognition memory, crossmodal transfer, object permanence, and visual attention; eleven-year measures included perceptual speed, memory, spatial ability, verbal ability, and IQ. Two of the infancy measures (7-month visual recognition memory and 1-year cross-modal transfer) predicted 11-year IQ. Most of the infancy measures were related to perceptual speed, even with IQ controlled, and were selectively related to other 11-year abilities, independent of both speed and IQ. These findings reinforce the notion of cognitive continuity from infancy. Specifically they suggest that the infancy measures share a common core (perceptual speed) but that some of the measures may also tap other conceptually distinct abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural correlates of cross-modal recognition memory by 8-month-old human infants.

Examined the neural correlates of cross-modal recognition memory in 8-mo-old infants by using ERPs. Testing began by having all Ss feel (but not see) an object for 60 sec. Test trials then followed. Infants in Condition 1 received 15 presentations of a picture of the familiar object, followed by alternating pictures of that object and a novel object. Infants in Condition 2 received 15 presentations of a picture of the novel object, followed by the same test sequence as infants in Condition 1. Infants in Condition 3 were presented with 2 test trials during which looking times were recorded to pictures of the familiar and novel objects; they then received the same test sequence as infants in Conditions 1 and 2. Infants in Condition 4 were presented only with the same test sequence as infants in Conditions 1, 2, and 3. Only in Conditions 1 and 4 was a late positive slow wave invoked by the novel object (indicative of recognition memory), although infants in Condition 3 did show a significant looking preference for the novel object. These results are contrasted with previous studies examining the neural correlates of visual recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquired equivalence and distinctiveness in matching to sample by pigeons: Mediation by reinforcer-specific expectancies.

Assessed the ability of a reinforcer to mediate an association between 2 stimuli that independently predict the occurrence of that reinforcer (acquired equivalence of cues). In Exp I, 12 male White Carneaux pigeons were trained on shape (plus and circle) and color (red and green) matching-to-sample tasks. Correct responses were systematically reinforced with corn on some trials and wheat on others to establish associations between 1 stimulus from each task and a "common" outcome. Following training, Ss were transferred to a symbolic matching-to-sample task wherein a stimulus from one training task was presented as the sample, and the stimuli from the other training task were presented as comparisons. In the 1st session, experimental Ss made significantly more correct responses than controls (i.e., Ss "matched" stimuli previously associated with a common outcome). Exp II with 18 Ss replicated this acquired equivalence effect and controlled for food preference. Delayed matching-to-sample training demonstrated enhanced memory performance for Ss exposed to different reinforcement contingencies, but this effect was confined to the shape task. Results indicate that a reinforcer can serve as the basis for organizing otherwise unpaired predictive cues in memory and that animals will selectively use differential expectancies as cues for solving complex discrimination tasks, depending on the difficulty of the discrimination. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental study of shape integration over space and time.

Three experiments, with 172 Ss (aged 6–24 yrs), examined the integration of shape information over successive glances. In Exps I and II, Ss classified line drawings subtending 1–26° visual angle as possible or impossible objects. Response times and errors increased as a function of figure size for all age groups. The decline in performance with figure size was greater for children than for adults. In Exp II, Ss also performed a classification task based on only 1 of the informative regions in each figure. Performance in the 2 tasks suggested that the ability to encode shape information from a single region of the figures did not change with age. In Exp III, a simultaneous condition, in which an intact figure was presented, was compared with sequential conditions in which blank intervals of 0–3 sec separated 2 views of different parts of the figure. All Ss classified the figures most quickly and accurately in the simultaneous condition, and children were more affected by longer delays between views than adults. It is concluded that these results point to age-related improvements in sequential integration of shape information, both when integration occurs through successive glimpses over space and when information is separated only in time. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of short-term memory codes on visual image processing: Evidence from image transformation tasks.

Three experiments showed that phonological recoding of visual stimuli in short-term memory affects coding in long-term memory (LTM) and therefore performance on tasks involving generation and manipulation of visual images of the stimuli. An image transformation task was devised. It consists of mentally subtracting a part of an image to discover in the remainder another object. In Exp 1, Ss were required to learn a set of easily nameable visual stimuli and then perform the subtraction task on images retrieved from LTM. Performance was significantly better when initial learning was accompanied by articulatory suppression (AS). Exp 2 confirmed that AS had no effect when the task was performed on an image of a just-presented stimulus. In Exp 3, the nameability of the stimuli was manipulated. The results replicated the effect of AS for items that were easy to name but showed no effect of AS for stimuli that were difficult to name. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)