Frame of reference for visual perception in young infants during change of body position

Abstract

The visual and vestibular systems begin functioning early in life. However, it is unclear whether young infants perceive the dynamic world based on the retinal coordinate (egocentric reference frame) or the environmental coordinate (allocentric reference frame) when they encounter incongruence between frames of reference due to changes in body position. In this study, we performed the habituation-dishabituation procedure to assess novelty detection in a visual display, and a change in body position was included between the habituation and dishabituation phases in order to test whether infants dishabituate to the change in stimulus on the retinal or environmental coordinate. Twenty infants aged 3-4 months were placed in the right-side-down position (RSDp) and habituated to an animated human-like character that walked horizontally in the environmental frame of reference. Subsequently, their body position was changed in the roll plane. Ten infants were repositioned to the upright position (UPp) and the rest, to the RSDp after rotation. In the test phase, the displays that were spatially identical to those shown in the habituation phase and 90 degrees rotated displays were alternately presented, and visual preference was examined. The results revealed that infants looked longer at changes in the display on the retinal coordinate than at changes in the display on the environmental coordinate. This suggests that changes in body position from lying to upright produced incongruence of the egocentric and allocentric reference frames for perception of dynamic visual displays and that infants may rely more on the egocentric reference frame.