Development of preferences and processes of visual scanning in the human infant during the first 3 months of life.

Used corneal infrared photography to record the visual fixations of 24 infants (4-6 wks and 10-12 wks) exposed to simple geometric figures. Results indicate that Ss in both age groups showed decreasing fixation time to the feature that initially attracted most fixations. Young Ss limited their fixations to a smaller area of the visual field than did older Ss. This developmental change in dispersed scanning might be an essential factor in later figure preferences. There was no preference for specific features, closed figures, or any particular figure. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)