Perception of Spatial Relations

In, On, and Behind Discrimination (6 months of age)

This study is designed to determine whether or not infants understand the concepts of "in", "on", and "behind" and recognize them as distinct and separate relationships. In this study, infants sit in their parent's lap facing a computer monitor. On the monitor they see one object going in another object several times until the infant is bored or habituated (maximum = 20 trials). Once the infant is habituated, he or she sees the same object going in the other object using a different camera angle. Then they see the object go behind the other object, and finally, they see the object go on the other object. By measuring and comparing how long infants look as these different relationships we can conclude whether or not they see these situations as different from one another. The reason we include a trial where the object goes in the other object but is seen from a different camera angle is to assure that the infant truly understands the relationship between the objects and is not simply considering the degree of occlusion caused by the relationship.

Related Publications:

• Casasola,  M. & Cohen, L.B. (In press). Infant categorization of containment, support and tight-fit spatial relationships. Developmental Science.

• Casasola, M., Cohen, L.B. & Chiarello, E.(submitted).Six-month-old infants' categorization of containment spatial relations.

Example Stimuli:

In, On, and Behind Stimuli

Car In (1.8 MB)

Nerd On (1.8 MB)

Monkey Behind (1.9 MB)

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