Biomaterial Database

A competition model of exogenous orienting in 3.5-month-old infants. 1998

J L Dannemiller

Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA. jdannem@facstaff.wisc.edu

Four experiments are reported on exogenous (stimulus-driven) orienting in 3.5-month-old infants. A small moving bar embedded in a field of static bars was used to draw the infant's attention to one side of the display or the other. The bars could be either red or green. In all four of these experiments sensitivity to this small moving bar was affected significantly by how unevenly the red and green bars were distributed across the visual field. Sensitivity to the moving bar was lower when most of the red bars were in the field contralateral to this probe suggesting competition between the motion stimulus and contralaterally placed red but not green bars on a small, but significant proportion of trials. This basic effect replicated in four separate experiments and depended coarsely on how unevenly the red and the green bars were distributed across the field. A competition model of exogenous orienting with a winner-take-all rule captured the most important features of the data. The distribution of color within the visual field can bias attention significantly at 3.5 months making it either more or less likely that an infant will detect a moving stimulus.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008960	Models, Psychological	Theoretical representations that simulate psychological processes and/or social processes. These include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.	Model, Mental,Model, Psychological,Models, Mental,Models, Psychologic,Psychological Models,Mental Model,Mental Models,Model, Psychologic,Psychologic Model,Psychologic Models,Psychological Model
D002657	Child Development	The continuous sequential physiological and psychological maturing of an individual from birth up to but not including ADOLESCENCE.	Infant Development,Development, Child,Development, Infant
D002666	Psychology, Child	Branch of psychology involving the study of normal and abnormal behavior of children.	Child Psychology,Infant Psychology,Pediatric Psychology,Psychology, Infant,Psychology, Pediatric
D003118	Color Perception	Mental processing of chromatic signals (COLOR VISION) from the eye by the VISUAL CORTEX where they are converted into symbolic representations. Color perception involves numerous neurons, and is influenced not only by the distribution of wavelengths from the viewed object, but also by its background color and brightness contrast at its boundary.	Color Perceptions,Perception, Color,Perceptions, Color
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001288	Attention	Focusing on certain aspects of current experience to the exclusion of others. It is the act of heeding or taking notice or concentrating.	Focus of Attention,Selective Attention,Social Attention,Attention Focus,Attention, Selective,Attention, Social,Selective Attentions
D014794	Visual Fields	The total area or space visible in a person's peripheral vision with the eye looking straightforward.	Field, Visual,Fields, Visual,Visual Field
D017603	Signal Detection, Psychological	Psychophysical technique that permits the estimation of the bias of the observer as well as detectability of the signal (i.e., stimulus) in any sensory modality. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)	Signal Detection (Psychology),Signal Detection Analysis,Signal Detection Theory,Analyses, Signal Detection,Analysis, Signal Detection,Detection, Psychological Signal,Detection, Signal (Psychology),Detections, Psychological Signal,Detections, Signal (Psychology),Psychological Signal Detection,Psychological Signal Detections,Signal Detection Analyses,Signal Detection Theories,Signal Detections (Psychology),Signal Detections, Psychological,Theories, Signal Detection,Theory, Signal Detection