Recognition of point-light biological motion displays by young children

We tested the ability of children 3-5 years of age to recognise biological motion displays. Children and adults were presented with moving point-light configurations depicting a walking person, four-legged animals (dogs), and a bird. Participants were able to reliably recognise displays with biological motion, but failed in the identification of a static (four consecutive frames taken from each sequence) version. The results indicate that, irrespective of the highly reduced and unusual structural information available in point-light displays, biological motion is sufficient for reliable recognition of human and non-human forms at an age as early as 3 years. Moreover, 5-year-olds exhibit the ceiling level of recognition. The findings are discussed in the context of the neuropsychological and brain mechanisms involved in biological motion perception.