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Do babies and toddlers instinctively know that heights are dangerous?Luckily you don’t have to try these experiments yourself, because researchers have spent endless hours doing it for you! The first study to explore this was the classic “Visual Cliff” experiment. In 1960, researchers Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk placed crawling 6-14 month-olds (as well as baby animals) on a plexiglass surface, half of which was over a large drop-off, to see what they would do when they encountered the edge of the “cliff.” Nearly all of them peered over the edge and refused to cross over. The researchers concluded that depth perception is innate, and keeps babies safe from dangerous, height-related obstacles. Many in the child development field interpreted this to mean to that depth perception triggers an automatic fear of heights, even in the youngest among us. But current researcher Karen Adolphdisagrees. For over 20 years she has replicated the visual cliff experiment countless times. In her research, though, she uses actual drop-offs and other height obstacles (with a researcher hovering to catch little ones before they fall). What Adolph has found is that new crawlers head straight for, and over, the cliff. It doesn’t take them long, though, to begin carefully experimenting with different ways to get down. Then, as soon as those crawlers start walking, they go straight for the cliff again – only to be caught by a researcher as they toddle off the edge! But just as they did as crawlers, the new walkers start deliberately and figuring out through trial and error how to get down without hurting themselves. And throughout all of this, there wasn’t a trace of fear on their faces. Adolph’s work suggests that if depth perception/fear of heights alone kept little ones from crawling off the edge, it would apply to every stage of motor development. What she found instead is that with each new motor skill (sitting, crawling, cruising, and walking), babies and toddlers need to recalibrate their movements to a new way of seeing and being in the world – a process that teaches them to gauge what they can, or can’t do safely. What can we learn from this?What can parents and caregivers learn from this? Perhaps that we need to keep little ones safe, but we also need to let them take appropriate, supported physical risks. We can’t assume that fear would prevent our new walker from walking off the edge of the climbing wall at the playground structure, but we also can’t prevent her from learning (with support) how to get down safely. Little ones need a chance to learn how to use their bodies in new situations, and practice mastering those skills. In other words, it’s important to recognize the windows in which little ones don’t understand the limits of their abilities, and need us to hover. But it’s equally important to slowly take small steps away as we allow them to take small steps forward, both teaching and trusting them to find their footing.
Crawling-onset age predicts visual cliff avoidance in infantsJ E Richards et al. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1981 Apr. AbstractTwo experiments are reported that tested the effects of crawling-onset age, the amount of crawling experience, and testing age on avoidance of the deep side of a visual cliff apparatus by human infants. In Experiment 1, 49 infants ranging in age from 7 to 13 mo. were tested on the visual cliff after 1 or 2 mo. of crawling experience. Discriminant analysis revealed that crawling-onset age, and not crawling experience, discriminated between those infants who crossed and those infants who avoided the apparent drop-off. Infants who crossed the deep side were infants with an early crawling-onset age. In Experiment 2, 40 infants were tested on a visual cliff apparatus, half at 9 and half at 12 mo. of age. Discriminant analysis again found that crawling-onset age discriminated between infants who crossed the infants who would not cross the deep side, whereas testing age alone did not. These results call into question the idea that experience crawling is critical in inducing visually guided avoidance behavior in infants. It is argued that the crawling-onset age effect occurs because crawling during the tactile phase of infancy interferes with later visual control of locomotion. Similar articles
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What did the visual cliff experiment determine about infants quizlet?What did the visual cliff experiment determine about infants? They can perceive depth by the time they are old enough to crawl.
What is the visual cliff and what does it teach us quizlet?What does it teach us about nonverbal communication? If mother poses a fear face, the baby will not cross the visual cliff. If the mother poses a smile, or nonverbal communication that is encouraging, the child is more likely to cross over to her.
What infant response did Gibson and Walk 1960 measure in the visual cliff research?Gibson and Richard D. Walk (1960) investigated the ability of newborn animals and human infants to detect depth. Gibson and Walk tested whether youngsters would crawl over an apparent cliff - if the neonates did it could be assumed that the ability to see depth was not inborn.
What is the common understanding regarding infants and the sensation of touch?What is the common understanding regarding infants and the sensation of touch? The sensation of touch has not been studied; therefore, we don't know if infants sense touch at birth. Newborns are capable of feeling touch. Infants can feel deep pressure but not light pressure.
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