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Sensitivity to Visual-Tactile Colocation on the Body Prior to Skilled Reaching in Early Infancy
Jannath Begum Ali1,2, Rhiannon L Thomas2,3, Stephanie Mullen Raymond2
1Birkbeck, University of London.
Child Development
|September 13, 2020
Summary
Infants as young as 4 months can perceive when visual and tactile stimuli are in the same location. This bimodal perception develops before infants master reaching skills, showing early sensory integration.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Sensory Integration
- Infant Perception
Background:
- Infants integrate sensory information from different modalities.
- Previous research indicated visual-tactile colocation perception in older infants' hands.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate visual-tactile perceptual colocation in young infants' feet.
- To determine the age at which bimodal perception of colocation emerges.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments compared 4- and 6-month-old infants' visual preferences for stimuli presented on the same or different feet.
- Control conditions ruled out undifferentiated supramodal spatial coding.
Main Results:
- Four-month-olds preferred colocated stimuli, while 6-month-olds preferred noncolocated stimuli.
- Results demonstrate sensitivity to visual-tactile colocation on the feet by 4 months of age.
Conclusions:
- Bimodal perception of visual-tactile colocation is present by 4 months of age.
- This capability precedes the development of skilled reaching, highlighting early multisensory integration.
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