A DUAL-PROCESS ANALYSIS OF INFANT VISUAL ATTENTION

这项拟议中的研究分析了婴儿行为变化的潜在过程。 注意力反应是对刺激的体验的函数。 以前的分析强调了认知记忆过程 对冗余刺激的反应减少（习惯化）。 的 目前的建议集中在一个动机唤醒过程， 对有效强烈刺激的反应短暂增加 （致敏）。 提出了双过程分析法， 婴儿对重复刺激的反应是 两个基本的学习过程，习惯化和 致敏 提出了三种主要的研究途径。 第一 侧重于双过程分析的一般性， 婴儿对自然面部刺激的反应 主体质询 解决的是是否存在证据表明，面孔，除了 它们在婴儿注意力中的其他作用，也使婴儿视觉敏感， 固定 第二条研究路线继续过去对 致敏的刺激决定因素。 刺激参数，如 刺激阈上对比度及其色彩特征 将被探索。 不同年龄婴儿的视觉能力将 通过对刺激物的对比度及其 将探索色彩特征。 的视觉能力 不同年龄的婴儿将通过进行实验来估计， 对比灵敏度、光度函数和锥细胞作用光谱。 这 研究将包括发展分析，对个人的研究， 视觉的差异，以及它们与个体差异的关系， 模式偏好，以及对早产儿的研究。 第三研究 途径的重点是信息敏感化的后果- 在婴儿中加工。 敏感化促进信息处理， 至少有两种方式：（1）敏感刺激转移其唤醒 对其他刺激的可靠预测，以及（2）敏化 信号导致改善的前瞻性处理的元素， 一个联想学习的情况，或元素之间的关系。 通过将认知记忆和动机唤醒过程结合在一起 理论，双过程分析有望作为一个更全面的 婴儿注意力动力学的治疗。 双进程帐户具有 对了解“特殊”婴儿群体的影响， 与健康的足月婴儿相比，它们的“唤醒能力”不同。

The proposed research analyzes processes underlying changes in infants' attentional responses as a function of experience with a stimulus. Previous analyses have emphasized a cognitive-memorial process responsible for decrements in responding to a redundant stimulus (habituation). The current proposal centers on a motivational-arousal process responsible for transient increases in responding to effectively intense stimuli (sensitization). A dual-process analysis is advanced according to which an infant's responses to repeated stimulation are the outcome of the interaction between two fundamental learning processes, habituation and sensitization. Three main avenues of research are proposed. The first focuses on the generality of dual-process analysis by applying it to infants' reactions to naturalistic face stimuli. The main question addressed is whether evidence exists to show that faces, in addition to their other roles in infant attention, also sensitize infant visual fixation. The second line of research continues past investigations of the stimulus determinants of sensitization. Stimulus parameters such as the suprathreshold contrast in the stimulus and its chromatic characteristics will be explored. The visual capabilities of different aged infants will be estimated by performing experiments on contrast in the stimulus and its chromatic characteristics will be explored. The visual capabilities of different aged infants will be estimated by performing experiments on contrast sensitivity, luminosity functions, and cone action spectra. This research will include developmental analyses, studies on individual differences in vision and how they relate to individual differences in pattern preferences, and studies with preterm infants. The third research avenue focuses on the consequences of sensitization for information- processing in infants. Sensitization facilitates information-processing in at least two ways: (1) Sensitizing stimuli transfer their arousing properties to other stimuli that reliably predict them, and (2) sensitizing signals lead to improved prospective processing of either the elements in an associative learning situation, or of the relation between the elements. By combining cognitive-memorial and motivational-arousal processes in one theory, the dual-process analysis holds promise as a more comprehensive treatment of infant attentional dynamics. The dual-process account has implications for the understanding of "special" populations of infants, who differ in their "arousability" relative to healthy, full-term infants.