In three studies, 12-month-old infants were familiarized either tactually or visually with objects and were then tested for visual recognition memory using either (1) the familiar and a novel object, (2) colored pictures of the objects, or (3) outline drawings of the objects. (Author/MP)

Infants were familiarized with geometric forms and were then tested with a novel form paired with the familiar one. Compared to infants who had longer looks at the display, those who had shorter looks demonstrated more broadly distributed looks, showed more looks and shifts, and inspected more stimulus areas; and their shifts included more…

Three groups of 12-month-old infants were tested for cross-modal and intramodal transfer of information about shape. Infants were given either visual or tactual familiarization and then tested for visual or tactual recognition. Overall, intramodal transfer was superior to cross-modal transfer. Cross-modal asymmetries were found for which possible…

Studied in three experiments the distribution and malleability of visual attention in 5-month-olds while they inspected large geometric designs. Established that infants who were short-lookers had novelty scores above chance, whereas long-lookers demonstrated chance responding. Illuminating different parts of visual display induced long-lookers to…

Investigated the effect of increasing familiarization time on the visual recognition memory of 6- and 12-month-old full-term and preterm infants. Results suggested that persistent differences exist between preterm and full-term infants throughout at least the first year of life in this fundamental aspect of cognition. (Author/RH)

Two studies of visual recognition memory in infants demonstrated 9-month-olds had greater retention ability than 6-month-olds. Six-month-old infants had difficulty recognizing stimuli over short delays, even when distractors were absent. Results are discussed in terms of memory changes possibly occurring at 9 months. (Author/DB)

Full-term middle-class, full-term lower-class, and preterm infants were compared on cross-modal and visual intramodal functioning in order to determine whether cross-modal functioning would be impaired in infants born prematurely, or in full-term infants who were being raised in less advantaged environments. (MP)

Examined the stability of two aspects of infant visual attention derived from the paired-comparison procedure in infants tested at 6, 7, and 8 months of age. The two aspects were novelty preference and exposure time. Suggests that both novelty and exposure-time scores reflect moderately stable but independent characteristics of infant behavior.…

This study assessed cognitive processing speed among full-term and preterm infants when they reached 5, 7, and 12 months of age. Findings indicated that at all ages, preterms required about 20 percent more trials and 30 percent more time than full-terms to reach criterion on a novelty preference task. Among preterms, slower processing was…

Infant novelty scores correlated significantly with measures of cognitive outcome beginning at 24 months of age and continuing at 34, 40, and 72 months of age. Parental education was strongly correlated with cognitive outcome beginning at about two years of age. (RH)

Examined contributions of cognitive processing speed, short-term memory capacity, and attention to infant visual recognition memory. Found that infants who showed better attention and faster processing had better recognition memory. Contributions of attention and processing speed were independent of one another and similar at all ages studied--5,…

Visual recognition memory is a robust form of memory that is evident from early infancy, shows pronounced developmental change, and is influenced by many of the same factors that affect adult memory; it is surprisingly resistant to decay and interference. Infant visual recognition memory shows (a) modest reliability, (b) good discriminant…

Examined, over a 10-year span, continuity in individual differences in cross-modal transfer to visually recognized shapes that had previously been felt but not seen. Found that cross-modal performance showed a left-hand advantage at 11 years. Cross-age correlations were significant when tactual exploration at 11 years was done with the left hand.…