The development of human vision: basic processes and applications

我们的研究计划有三个相互关联的目标。首先是描述和理解重要的人类视觉功能的早期发展，如空间视觉，色觉和折射。最近，我们扩大了这一目标，包括对视觉注意力和记忆等认知功能的研究。 这项工作的一个重要特点是我们使用行为（例如，看）和心理生理（例如，心率）测量婴儿注意力的检查。在可能的情况下，我们还试图将我们的研究结果与基于神经科学的大脑发育模型相结合。第二个目标是设计新的时间效率高的心理物理测试，测量视觉功能（例如，对比敏感度、注意力）。我们预计这些测试也将具有研究应用和商业潜力。 第三个目标是使用现有的最佳技术，评估更广泛的婴儿和儿童群体，如缺铁、高度屈光不正或神经功能障碍的婴儿和儿童的视觉功能和信息处理的发展。 具体来说，我们希望进行现场测试，特别是评估我们实验室设计的新测试的实际效用。虽然我们进行的每个实验都是为了解决与长期目标之一有关的具体问题，但一个根本目标是进行解决基础科学和实际应用问题的研究。总的来说，这项工作的结果将引起各种各样的研究人员的兴趣，例如，那些希望了解调节视觉和视觉信息处理的复杂机制的起源的人;那些希望确定吸引婴儿注意力并可能促进学习的自然环境的方面的人;那些希望识别早期（可能不成熟）解剖和生理发育的行为相关性的人;以及那些希望产生测量早期感觉功能的新工具的人。

Our research program has three interrelated objectives. The first is to describe and understand the early development of important human visual functions such as spatial vision, color vision, and refraction. More recently, we have broadened this objective to include research on cognitive functions such as visual attention and memory. An important feature of this work is our use of both behavioral (e.g. looking) and psychophysiological (e.g., heart rate) measures in the examination of infant attention. Where possible we also try to integrate findings from our research with neuroscience-based models of brain development. The second objective is to design new time-efficient psychophysical tests that measure visual functioning (e.g., contrast sensitivity, attention) in infants and children. We anticipate that these tests will also have research application and commercial potential. The third objective is to use the best available techniques to assess the development of visual functioning and information processing in broader populations of infants and children such as those with iron deficiency, high refractive error or with neurological dysfunction. Specifically, we want to field-test and in particular, evaluate the practical utility of the new tests that are designed in our laboratory. Although each experiment we conduct is designed to address a specific question pertinent to one of the long-term objectives, an underlying goal is to conduct research that addresses questions of basic science and of practical application. Collectively, the results of this work will interest a wide variety of researchers, for instance, those who wish to understand the origins of the complex mechanisms that mediate vision and visual information processing; those would wish to identify aspects of the natural environment that capture infants' attention and potentially facilitate learning; those who wish to identify the behavioral correlates of early (and likely immature) anatomical and physiological development; and those of wish to generate new tools for measuring early sensory functioning.