Perception of three-dimensional cues in early infancy

Three experiments examined infants' processing of 3D information in static images. Three-month-olds familiarized with micropatterns that appeared to adults to be 3D blocks illuminated from the top subsequently preferred a test array that contained a micropattern that appeared to be a block illuminated from the bottom; however, they failed to detect comparable discrepancies in 2D images. Thus, 3-month-olds are sensitive to 3D cues in static images. In another experiment, infants failed to exhibit a preference between an array containing a single novel element among familiar elements and another array containing a single familiar element among novel elements. Thus, unlike discrepancies in fundamental features such as line-crossings, discrepancies in 3D cues failed to pop-out and engage infants' attention. These results reveal that 3-month-olds are sensitive to 3D cues in static images. However, discrepancies based on these cues may not engage infants' attention like those based on fundamental features.