The development of attention to simple and complex visual stimuli in infants: Behavioral and psychophysiological measures

Abstract

The study of visual attention in infants has used presentation of single simple stimuli, multidimensional 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 infancy that remains throughout adulthood. A discontinuity is an emerging sensitivity to the content of the information in the stimulus presentations and alterations in patterns of attention based upon stimulus comprehensibility. The current paper reviews some of these findings with particular application to complex video presentations.The study of visual attention in infants has used presentations of a wide range of stimuli. The first decades of this work used simple geometric patterns in an attempt to study basic process and the development of attention. These stimuli were simple static geometric patterns or simple pictures of objects and people. The goal of this work was to characterize basic processes in infant attention and simple stimuli were used to reduce the effect of non-cognitive processes, such as social factors (faces, interpersonal social exchanges) or specific experiences of the infant (familiar or home surroundings). However, in the last few years it has been shown that the use of such stimuli might not generalize to the types of stimulus information found in the infant's environment. This has led to the use of "complex" stimuli, the use of dynamic visual patterns, and the study of attention to video programs played on television monitors.The current paper will review work using visual fixation and heart rate changes as measures of attention to visual stimuli. I will emphasize the work done in my own laboratory vis-a-vis some general work done on visual attention. This work shows both continuity from infants to adults on basic visual processes and work done with complex video stimuli, and discontinuity in attention to these types of stimuli. Early work using simple stimuliThe first work on infant visual attention examined the length of time that infants would direct their fixation to simple visual stimuli. These stimuli were typically presented on rear-projection screens with slide projectors, were achromatic, and included everything from pictures of faces, checkerboard patterns and geometric shapes, landscape scenes, to pictures of realistic objects. Because of the nature of the stimulus projection device, these pictures were "static" © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.John E. Richards, Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Phone: 803 777 2079, Fax: 803 777 9558, richards-john@sc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable...

The Relation between Infant Covert Orienting, Sustained Attention and Brain Activity

“…We found greater P1 ERP amplitude and increased current density amplitude around the P1 peak latency in brain regions involved in early visual processing (Martinez et al, 1999; Richards, 2005) during sustained attention than inattention. Sustained attention is hypothesized to increase general arousal (Reynolds & Richards, 2007; Richards, 2009, 2010) and information processing efficiency (Reynolds et al, 2010; Richards, 2010; Richards et al, 2010). The current finding of enhanced brain activity to visual targets during sustained attention is consistent with the hypothesis that sustained attention enhances brain alertness, which in turn facilitates infant information processing.…”

“…Infant sustained attention plays an important role in infant cognitive processes, such as stimulus orienting, information processing, and recognition memory (see Colombo, 2001; Richards, 2009, 2010 for reviews). Infant sustained attention has been well defined by infant HR changes derived from electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings (Reynolds & Richards, 2007).…”

Infant Attention Is Dynamically Modulated With Changing Arousal Levels

“…Richards, 2010) there has been a lack of data considering the dynamic processes of arousal and its moment-to-moment effects on cognition. Instead, the majority of data collected has averaged over these dynamic processes in order to obtain "more pure" or "cleaner" cognitive measures.…”

Effects of interstimulus intervals on behavioral, heart rate, and event‐related potential indices of infant engagement and sustained attention

“…Infants may engage in sustained attention for only 2–3 s, or not at all, when presented with simple stimuli, but may spend 20 s or more in sustained attention when the visual presentation is complex and dynamic (Reynolds & Richards, 2008; Richards, 2010; Richards & Casey, 1992). For example, Courage et al (2006) observed longer durations of sustained attention in response to complex stimuli (e.g., faces, Sesame Street) compared with achromatic patterns.…”