ERIC Number: EJ1151871
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Sep
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: EISSN-1939-0599
Saccadic Reaction Times in Infants and Adults: Spatiotemporal Factors, Gender, and Interlaboratory Variation
Ben Kenward; Felix-Sebastian Koch; Linda Forssman; Julia Brehm; Ida Tidemann; Annette Sundqvist; Carin Marciszkom; Tone Kristine Hermansen; Mikael Heimann; Gustaf Gredebäck
Developmental Psychology, v53 n9 p1750-1764 Sep 2017
Saccade latency is widely used across infant psychology to investigate infants' understanding of events. Interpreting particular latency values requires knowledge of standard saccadic RTs, but there is no consensus as to typical values. This study provides standard estimates of infants' (n = 194, ages 9 to 15 months) saccadic RTs under a range of different spatiotemporal conditions. To investigate the reliability of such standard estimates, data is collected at 4 laboratories in 3 countries. Results indicate that reactions to the appearance of a new object are much faster than reactions to the deflection of a currently fixated moving object; upward saccades are slower than downward or horizontal saccades; reactions to more peripheral stimuli are much slower; and this slowdown is greater for boys than girls. There was little decrease in saccadic RTs between 9 and 15 months, indicating that the period of slow development which is protracted into adolescence begins in late infancy. Except for appearance and deflection differences, infant effects were weak or absent in adults (n = 40). Latency estimates and spatiotemporal effects on latency were generally consistent across laboratories, but a number of lab differences in factors such as individual variation were found. Some but not all differences were attributed to minor procedural differences, highlighting the importance of replication. Confidence intervals (95%) for infants' median reaction latencies for appearance stimuli were 242 to 250 ms and for deflection stimuli 350 to 367 ms.
Descriptors: Reaction Time, Infant Behavior, Infants, Adults, Gender Differences, Foreign Countries, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Age Differences, Child Development, Eye Movements, Spatial Ability, Time, Comparative Analysis, Visual Stimuli, Statistical Analysis
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway; Sweden; Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A