Question 1

The closer an object is to a person, the _____ there is.

Accepted Answer

Binocular disparity increases as an object gets closer to a person because each eye views the object from a slightly different angle, leading to greater disparity or difference in the images each eye sends to the brain. This disparity is what allows for depth perception.

Question 2

The "visual cliff" was designed to evaluate

Accepted Answer

The "visual cliff" was designed to evaluate depth perception, specifically the ability to perceive depth and distance.

Question 3

_____ drives the other-race effect in infants.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that frequent exposure to faces of a similar race can drive the other-race effect in infants, where they have difficulty differentiating between faces of different races. This suggests that early exposure and experience with faces of different races may help to reduce implicit racial biases.

Question 4

Research by Meltzoff in which 18-month-olds observed either an adult or a mechanical device pull at two ends of a dumbbell demonstrated that children can learn by imitating what?

Accepted Answer

The research by Meltzoff demonstrated that 18-month-olds can learn by imitating both the behavior and intentions of adults.

Question 5

Seven-month-old Vivi is presented with a trapezoidal object that adults would perceive as a rectangle placed on a diagonal, with one side closer than the other side, similar to the window from the Yonas, Cleaves, and Pettersen study described in the text. During the first set of trials, a patch is placed over one eye, and the object is presented in front of Vivi. During the second set of trials, the patch is removed and the object is again presented. Researchers record Vivi's reaches toward the object. The MOST likely result will be that Vivi reaches

Accepted Answer

When one eye is covered, Vivi will have difficulty perceiving depth and may use other cues, such as the relative length of the sides of the object, to guide her reach. Since the longer side will appear closer, she is likely to reach toward it with one eye closed. When the patch is removed and depth perception is restored, Vivi is more likely to reach based on the object's position in space rather than the length of the sides, resulting in no preference between the two sides.

Question 6

Which statement BEST describes researchers' current view of young infants' ability to mentally represent objects?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that young infants can not only mentally represent objects but also act based on these representations, indicating an understanding of object permanence and the ability to anticipate or react to the behavior of objects even when they are not visible.

Question 7

Research on the music perception of infants has NOT demonstrated that North American infants

Accepted Answer

The passage states that research on music perception of infants has not demonstrated that they are less able to detect changes in complex rhythm than are adults. The other options are all supported by research.

Question 8

What did research by Baillargeon examining infants' attention to a screen that rotated into the space occupied by hidden objects that were either tall or short demonstrate about infants' thinking about objects?

Accepted Answer

Baillargeon's research demonstrated that infants as young as 3.5 months old were able to reason about the height of hidden objects based on their attention to a screen that rotated into the space occupied by the hidden objects. This indicates that infants are able to mentally represent some characteristics of unseen objects.

Question 9

The process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity, resulting in depth perception, is called

Accepted Answer

Stereopsis is the process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity, resulting in depth perception. Option A, optical expansion, refers to a monocular depth cue. Option C, binocular disparity, describes the difference in the images seen by each eye. Option D, monocular vision, refers to depth perception using only one eye.

Question 10

This form of depth perception emerges around 4 months of age and is complete within just a few weeks.

Accepted Answer

Stereopsis is the ability to perceive depth using binocular vision, meaning that both eyes work together to create a three-dimensional image. This ability typically emerges around 4 months of age and becomes more refined over time. Therefore, option B is the correct answer. Optical expansion refers to the visual cue that objects appear larger as they move closer to the viewer, but it is not related to depth perception. Binocular disparity is another term for stereopsis and is related to the ability to perceive depth using both eyes. Monocular vision refers to the ability to perceive depth using only one eye, but it is not as precise as stereopsis.

Question 11

_____ is indicative of a possible neurological problem.

Accepted Answer

Persistence of any neonatal reflexes past infancy can indicate a neurological problem, as these reflexes typically disappear as the child's nervous system matures.

Question 12

The idea that we learn by doing is called

Accepted Answer

The idea that we learn by doing is commonly referred to as active learning, as opposed to passive learning where we simply receive information without engaging with it. Choice A (social knowledge) refers to information gained through social interactions and may not necessarily involve active learning. Choice B (object permanence) refers to the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, which is a concept typically learned during infancy. Choice D (rational learning) refers to learning based on reasoning and logical deduction rather than trial and error, which is not necessarily the same thing as learning through doing.

Question 13

Which scenario is the BEST example of an infant's discovery of an affordance?

Accepted Answer

Discovering that one can sit in a chair that is low to the ground is an example of an infant discovering an affordance, because it involves perceiving a relationship between the properties of an object in the environment (the height of the chair) and their own abilities (their ability to sit). This is a classic example of the ecological approach to perception, which emphasizes the relationship between an organism and its environment. Options A-C do not fit this definition as closely.

Question 14

The types of patterns that infants appear to prefer are those

Accepted Answer

Infants appear to prefer patterns that provide maximum new information, as they have been shown to look at novel and irregular stimuli for longer periods of time than familiar and predictable ones.

Question 15

Bree is an 11-month-old baby girl who insists on trying to walk in order to explore and navigate her environment. However, she is not very good at walking and does much better at crawling. Yet she refuses to crawl. This demonstrates the vital role of

Accepted Answer

Bree's behavior demonstrates the role of motivation in development. Despite being less successful at walking, she is motivated to explore her environment and continues to try.

Question 16

Research examining infants' sitting skills and their 3D object completion skills suggests that

Accepted Answer

The research suggests that there is a great deal of interaction between visual development (as in 3D object completion) and motor development (as in sitting skills). There is likely overlap in brain maturation required for each of these skills, but the research does not make a specific statement about this. The research does not suggest that 3D object completion is necessary for skilled sitting, and while there may be specific brain regions involved in each of these skills, the research does not make this claim.

Question 17

Two infants of different ages, Diego and Hannah, are tested with the preferential-looking technique to determine their visual acuity. A series of black-and-white-striped patterns are presented individually next to a gray square. Diego can distinguish stripes that are narrower than the stripes Hannah can distinguish. Compared with Hannah, Diego has

Accepted Answer

Diego is able to distinguish narrower stripes than Hannah, which indicates that he has better contrast sensitivity. This means that Diego can perceive differences in contrast between stripes and the background more easily than Hannah, suggesting that his visual system is more sensitive to contrast.

Question 18

Infant Greta hears a bell that she cannot see and immediately turns toward the sound. This is an indication that Greta has which ability?

Accepted Answer

Auditory localization is the ability to locate the source of a sound. In this scenario, Greta was able to turn towards the sound of the bell, indicating that she could localize the sound, even though she couldn't see the source.

Question 19

_____ is an example of a scale error.

Accepted Answer

Scale error refers to the cognitive error made by young children where they misjudge the relationship between their own size and the size of objects in their environment. Attempting to put one's own foot into a tiny doll shoe is an example of this kind of error. Option B refers to a spatial error, option C refers to a balance error, and option D refers to a weight perception error.

Question 20

Statistical learning involves

Accepted Answer

Statistical learning involves forming associations between stimuli that occur in a predictable pattern. It allows individuals to learn about the regularities in the environment and make predictions about what is likely to happen next.

Quiz 5: Perception, Action, and Learning in Infancy