Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 14, 2026

A View of Their Own: Capturing the Egocentric View of Infants and Toddlers with Head-Mounted Cameras
03:56

A View of Their Own: Capturing the Egocentric View of Infants and Toddlers with Head-Mounted Cameras

Published on: October 5, 2018

The development of visual expectations in the first year

J S Reznick1, K Chawarska, S Betts

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3270, USA. reznick@unc.edu

Child Development
|December 7, 2000
PubMed

Insights

Infant expectations develop between 4-9 months, showing procedural knowledge rather than specific event predictions. This study used the Visual Expectations Procedure to track infant anticipatory behaviors.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Infant Perception

Background:

  • Understanding how infants form expectations is crucial for cognitive development research.
  • Previous studies suggest infants can anticipate simple events, but the nature of these expectations is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the developmental trajectory of expectation formation in infants.
  • To differentiate between general procedural knowledge and specific event-based expectations in early development.

Main Methods:

  • The Visual Expectations Procedure was employed with 128 infants (6-12 months) in Experiment 1 and 76 infants (4-12 months) in Experiment 2.
  • Participants viewed videotaped sequences with alternating or complex pivot patterns of a toy's appearance.
  • Measures included reaction time and the percentage of anticipatory gaze shifts.

Main Results:

  • Infant reaction times improved and anticipatory gaze shifts increased significantly between 6-9 months (Experiment 1) and 4-8 months (Experiment 2).
  • Performance did not improve further in older infants.
  • Anticipations were often inaccurate, especially for complex patterns and younger infants, indicating gaze shifts before stimulus onset but not toward the correct location.

Conclusions:

  • Young infants demonstrate expectations reflecting general or procedural knowledge.
  • The findings suggest that early expectations may not involve specific, articulated predictions of upcoming events.
  • Developmental changes in expectation formation are evident within the first year of life.

More Related Videos

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

An Automated Method for Assessing Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers Using an Eye-Tracking System05:10

An Automated Method for Assessing Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers Using an Eye-Tracking System

Published on: March 17, 2023

Related Concept Videos

Vision01:24

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision01:15

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.
Visual System01:26

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to exist...