This study examined behavioral, heart rate (HR), and event-related potential (ERP) correlates of attention and recognition memory for 4.5-, 6-, and 7.5-month-old infants (N = 45) during stimulus encoding. Attention was utilized as an independent variable using HR measures. The Nc ERP component associated with attention and the late slow wave (LSW)…

This study examined the effect of attention in young infants on the saccadic localization of dynamic peripheral stimuli presented on complex and interesting backgrounds. Infants at 14, 20, and 26 weeks of age were presented with scenes from a Sesame Street movie until fixation on a moving character occurred and then presented with a second segment…

The study of visual attention in infants has used presentation of single simple stimuli, multi-dimensional stimuli, and complex dynamic video presentations. There are both continuities and discontinuities in the findings on attention and attentiveness to stimulus complexity. A continuity is a pattern of looking that is found in the early part of…

To examine the development of look duration as a function of age and stimulus type, 14- to 52-week-old infants were shown static and dynamic versions of faces, Sesame Street material, and achromatic patterns for 20 s of accumulated looking. Heart rate was recorded during looking and parsed into stimulus orienting, sustained attention, and…

Tested the model which posits that heart-rate deceleration and respiratory sinus arrhythmia are indices of infant attention. Infants studied cross-sectionally at 14, 20, and 26 weeks of age were presented with complex patterns on a TV screen which were accompanied by an "interrupting stumulus". (Author/BN)

Examined visual fixation in 3- to 6-month olds for fit to attentional inertia theory. Found that look duration toward extended audiovisual stimuli had a lognormal distribution. The conditional probability of looking away decreased when look duration increased. Heart rate deceleration accompanied look onset and stimulus changes occurring within…

Results of a study involving 30 infants of 14, 20, or 26 weeks confirm the existence of distinct developmental phases of attention during the visual preference procedure. Findings suggest a refinement of the use of fixation duration as the major dependent variable in the procedure. (RH)

Examined the effect of attention on infants' responses to briefly exposed visual stimuli. Found that the duration of stimulus exposure in the familiarization phase was positively correlated with the preference for the novel stimulus in the paired-comparison procedure, and processing of briefly presented visual stimuli differed depending on the…

Examined visual fixation in infants 6 months to 2 years old for fit with theory of attentional inertia. Found that fixations had lognormal distribution, heart rate decreased during a look, and heart rate returned to prestimulus levels immediately before look offset. Older children showed different looking patterns to two types of stimuli; younger…