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# Perceptual Organization of Complex Visual Configurations by Young Infants

## Details

**Authors** Quinn et. al.

**Year** 1997

**Publisher** Infant Behavior and Development

**Discipline** Human Development

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0163-6383(97)90059-x) 
10.1016/s0163-6383(97)90059-x

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

Researching how infants perceive things.

### What they found (results)

The infants were able to visually distinguish the shapes and their looking times indicated as such.

## Commentary

### In short

From an early age, the human brain is capable of visually distinguishing between stimuli.

### In more detail

An innate process possessed by humans leads one to explore when humans develop this skill and how it can be ascertained. In 1997, Quinn et. al. 1997 completed two studies on 97 healthy infants between three and four months old. In Experiment 1, an embedded figure task was used to determine whether three and four month-old infants organize visual pattern information in accord with the good continuation principle which simply means that humans tend to see a line as continuing in the direction in which it is set.

Two experimental groups were familiarized with a complex pattern shown in Figure 3.

To determine whether infants could parse and organize the pattern in Figure 3 into two distinct shapes (a teardrop and a square) one experimental group was presented with a teardrop shape and a number 4 immediately following familiarization. In the experimental group, 17 out of 24 infants showed a preference for the “4” at a preference rating of over 50%, while in the control group (those who had not seen the number 4 alongside the teardrop), only 4 out of 24 infants showed a preference for the “4” at a preference rating of over 50%. These results indicate that the experimental group of infants who had seen the teardrop before, saw the number “4” a novel visual stimulus—catching their attention and preference. This preference indicates that the infants were able to Distinguish pattern into two Distinct shapes.

A second experimental group was presented with a square shape and a number 4 immediately following familiarization. In this experimental group, 22 out of 24 infants showed a preference for the “4” at a preference rating of over 50%, while in the control group (those who had not seen a 4), 14 out of 24

1 The “good continuation principle” refers to the Gestalt organization principle that humans have an innate tendency to perceive a line as continuing in the established direction of the line.

infants showed a preference for the “4” at a preference rating of over 50%. Further, these results indicate that the experimental group of infants who had seen the square shape before were able to Distinguish the above pattern into two Distinct shapes.

According to the authors the experiment showed, “a finding consistent with the notion that infants’ adherence to the good continuation principle facilitated organization of the region containing the contours of the square into the square shape.” These results from both groups in Experiment 1 confirm that some degree of habituation to the familiar stimulus occurred in both experimental groups.

**Patterns it shows** D

**How to cite this** Quinn et. al. (1997). Perceptual Organization of Complex Visual Configurations by Young Infants. Infant Behavior and Development.