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Development of saccade target selection in infants
1Department of Psychology, Showa Women's University, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. masakom@swu.ac.jp
Insights
Infant saccade generation shows developmental changes in target selection. Between 2 and 5 months, infants improve their ability to select a target when multiple options are available, especially when a fixation point remains visible.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Saccade generation is crucial for visual exploration.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of target selection in infants is important for cognitive development research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental changes in the target selection process for saccade generation in infants.
- To compare saccade latencies in single-target versus double-target conditions across different infant age groups.
Main Methods:
- Saccade latencies were measured in 2-, 3-, and 5-month-old infants.
- Participants viewed single or double peripheral targets, with varying fixation stimulus offset timing (Overlap vs. Gap conditions).
Main Results:
- Saccade latencies were longer in the double-target condition compared to the single-target condition.
- The difference in latency between single and double targets was more pronounced in 2-month-olds than 5-month-olds during the Overlap condition.
- This age-related difference diminished in the Gap condition.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest maturational development of the target selection process for saccade generation between 2 and 5 months of age.
- The results indicate that the ability to inhibit competing targets develops during this period, particularly when visual distractors are present.
Abstract:
To investigate the development of the target selection process for saccade generation, saccade latencies toward one of two targets were compared with those toward a target presented alone, under conditions where the timing of fixation stimulus offset was varied. 12 2-mo.-olds (7 boys and 5 girls), 12 3-mo.-olds (6 boys and 6 girls), and 12 5-mo.-olds (8 boys and 4 girls) participated. The latencies were longer when two saccade targets were presented on the left and right sides of the display (Double-target condition) than when one target was presented either on the left or right side of the display (Single-target condition). The difference between the Single and Double-target conditions tended to be larger in 2-mo. old infants than in 5-mo.-old infants when a central fixation target remained on after the onset of peripheral stimuli (Overlap condition). However, there was no difference between the 2-mo.-olds and the 5-mo.-olds when the fixation target was turned off before the peripheral stimuli were presented (Gap condition). The results provided evidence of the maturational development of a target selection process for saccade generation during 2 to 5 mo. of age.