Visual Preference Tests Research Articles

Psychophysiological and Visual Behavioral Responses to Faces Associated with Affective and Non-affective Touch in Four-month-old Infants

Affective touch (gentle, caress-like touch) carries a rewarding meaning, which may represent a neurophysiological foundation for the development of social interactions from the earliest stages of life. Developmental studies have shown evidence of infants’ sensitivity to affective touch as reflected by a decrease in heart rate and activation of the insular cortex. Moreover, affective touch has been shown to regulate infants’ emotional state, reinforce eye contact and facilitate learning of facial information, suggesting that affective touch may promote social functioning from the earliest stages of development. The present study aims to investigate the role of affective touch in enhancing engagement with social stimuli, exploring sustained attention and cardiac responses to faces as signatures of the underlying psychophysiological mechanism. Four-months-old infants (N = 40) were repeatedly presented with a female face paired with touch (hand stroking vs tapping with a brush in two different blocks) alternating with a face presented without tactile stimulation (familiarization phase), followed by a visual preference test between the two faces. Our results revealed an attenuated cardiac response in the affective compared to the non-affective condition during the familiarization phase. During the test phase infants looked longer at both the faces presented in the affective touch condition, compared to the faces in the non-affective condition. These findings suggest that affective touch might promote engagement in social interactions by facilitating physiological state regulation during processing of multisensory social information.

Prenatal music stimulation facilitates the postnatal functional development of the auditory as well as visual system in chicks (Gallus domesticus)

Rhythmic sound or music is known to improve cognition in animals and humans. We wanted to evaluate the effects of prenatal repetitive music stimulation on the remodelling of the auditory cortex and visual Wulst in chicks. Fertilized eggs (0 day) of white leghorn chicken (Gallus domesticus) during incubation were exposed either to music or no sound from embryonic day 10 until hatching. Auditory and visual perceptual learning and synaptic plasticity, as evident by synaptophysin and PSD-95 expression, were done at posthatch days (PH) 1, 2 and 3. The number of responders was significantly higher in the music stimulated group as compared to controls at PH1 in both auditory and visual preference tests. The stimulated chicks took significantly lesser time to enter and spent more time in the maternal area in both preference tests. A significantly higher expression of synaptophysin and PSD-95 was observed in the stimulated group in comparison to control at PH1-3 both in the auditory cortex and visual Wulst. A significant inter-hemispheric and gender-based difference in expression was also found in all groups. These results suggest facilitation of postnatal perceptual behaviour and synaptic plasticity in both auditory and visual systems following prenatal stimulation with complex rhythmic music.

Repetitive auditory stimulation at a critical prenatal period modulates the postnatal functional development of the auditory as well as visual system in chicks (Gallus domesticus)

The extrinsic sensory stimulation plays a crucial role in the formation and integration of sensory modalities during development. Postnatal behavior is thereby influenced by the type and timing of presentation of prenatal sensory stimuli. In this study, fertilized eggs of white Leghorn chickens during incubation were exposed to either species-specific calls or no sound. To find the prenatal critical period when auditory stimulation can modulate visual system development, the former group was divided into three subgroups: in subgroup A (SGA), the stimulus was provided during embryonic day (E)10 to E16, in SGB E17- hatching, and in SGC E10-hatching. The auditory and visual perceptual learning was recorded at posthatch day (PH) 1-3, whereas synaptic plasticity (evident from synaptophysin and PSD-95 expression), was observed at E19, E20, and PH 1-3. An increased number of responders were observed in both auditory and visual preference tests at PH 1 following stimulation. Although a decrease in latency of entry and an increase in total time spent were observed in all stimulated groups, it was most significant in SGC in auditory preference and in SGB and SGC in visual preference test. The auditory cortex of SGC and visual Wulst of SGB and SGC revealed higher expression of synaptic proteins, compared to control and SGA. A significant inter-hemispheric and gender-based difference in expression was also found in all groups. These results indicate facilitation of postnatal behaviour and synaptogenesis in both auditory and visual systems following prenatal repetitive auditory stimulation, only when given during prenatal critical period of development.

Visual and olfactory preference of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) adults to various companion plants

Natural enemies can be attracted to companion plants that can provide them with suitable habitat including food and shelter. This study was conducted to determine if the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), could be attracted to olfactory and visual cues of various companion plant species. Ten potential plants that can attract and provide H. axyridis with alternate food sources (i.e. nectar and pollen) were selected for olfactory preference tests. These plants included dill ( Anethum graveolens), yarrow ( Achillea spp.), butterfly weed ( Asclepias tuberosa), dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale), bugleweed ( Ajuga reptans), marigold ( Tagetes tenuifolia), tansy ( Tanacetum vulgare), goldenrod ( Solidago spp.), morning glory ( Ipomoea spp.), and sunflower ( Helianthus annuus). Visual preference tests were conducted with six different colors: white, yellow, blue, red, green, and orange. The result of the olfactory preference test showed that H. axyridis adults significantly preferred sunflower and dill among the ten potential companion plants tested in this study. In a visual preference test, H. axyridis significantly preferred yellow to any other colors. The result of this study suggested that odor and color of some companion plants (olfactory and visual cues) could assist in the use of biological control by attracting H. axyridis adults to the cropping area.

Comparing image preference in controlled and uncontrolled viewing conditions

We examine the relationship between controlled and uncontrolled visual preference tests. We compare the results for the preference of printed images in various viewing environments. The data are examined with regard to different numbers of observer subsets and we can derive an experimental guideline for an equivalence of the controlled and uncontrolled preference experiments based on the certainty of the expected result.

Recognition of the Mother's Face by Six‐Month‐Old Infants: A Neurobehavioral Study

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 6-month-olds as each watched pictures of the mother's face and a stranger's face. The ERPs differed for the 2 faces, but the pattern of neural activity elicited depended on whether the mother and stranger looked different (Experiment 1, n = 22) or alike (Experiment 3, n = 22). In contrast, when different 6-month-olds were each shown 1 of these 44 pairs of faces their ERPs did not differ between the 2 faces (Experiment 2, n = 22, and Experiment 4, n = 22). In a visual preference test of recognition, infants showed no evidence of recognizing the mother's face (Experiment 5, n = 32). Together, these results suggest that infants are able to recognize their mothers' faces but (1) the neural processes accompanying recognition depend on the difficulty with which mother can be discriminated from stranger and (2) under the conditions investigated in this study, ERPs are a more sensitive measure of recognition than is looking time.

Rearing in darkness changes visually-guided choice behavior in Drosophila

To test whether visual experience can affect development of visual behavior in the fruitfly, Drosophila, we measured the visually-guided choice behavior of groups of flies reared in complete darkness, compared with controls reared in a normal light/dark cycle. We used a simple visual preference test, i.e. choice among four different visual targets each consisting of vertical black lines of a particular width on a white background, using a blind testing procedure so that the individual rearing histories were not known by the tester. Both groups of flies were strongly attracted to the vertical lines; however, generally the dark-reared flies were more attracted to the wider stimulus lines than were the control flies. Control experiments in which normally reared adults were kept for several days in darkness showed that the effects of dark-rearing were not simply due to being in darkness, but depended upon the timing of the deprivation. The results indicate that the development of visual behavior can be affected by visual experience in Drosophila and thus open the possibility of using Drosophila for genetic dissection of mechanisms of visual plasticity.

Vision‐to‐touch and touch‐to‐vision transfer of form in 5‐month‐old infants

We investigated 5‐month‐old infants' cross‐modal transfer of form from vision to touch and from touch to vision. In the first experiment, 32 infants were familiarized with an object visually or tactually (in the hand), until a habituation criterion was reached, and then they received three tests in which the same or a different object appeared in the same or a different modality. The dependent variable was the duration of a look or of a grasp. If infants are capable of cross‐modal transfer they should (1) explore the familiar object presented in a new modality less than the novel object presented in the new modality, (2) remain habituated to the familiar object in the first modality after presentation of that object in the second modality, and (3) discriminate objects intra‐modally.Cross‐modal transfer was found from vision to touch, but not from touch to vision. In an attempt to employ a different test of touch‐to‐vision transfer, a second experiment was conducted, in which 16 infants were tactually familiarized with an object and then given a visual preference test; cross‐modal transfer from touch to vision again did not occur. Tentative explanations are presented, involving the perception of modality‐specific object properties and the development of eye‐hand coordination.

COMPLEX: An Applesoft BASIC program to assess preference for visual complexity

Since Berlyne's classic work on preference for environmental complexity (e.g., Berlyne & Boudewijns, 1971), visual preference tests have been used widely in experiments dealing with a range of basic and applied research objectives. Research applications in the area of basic personality structure (Wiedl, 1977) are representative of the use of this technique in the study of adjustment and clinical psychology. Preference for complexity has also been incorporated into work on cognitive style and information processing (Frost & Lindauer, 1980), cognitive development in young children (Burton, 1981), and social-filial attitudes (Lohmann & Wiedl, 1977). The basic technique has proved to generalize well across disciplines, settings, and topic areas. The program described here can be used to obtain a range of behavioral measures related to visual preference. It can also be used to carry out experimental procedures involving a number of possible independent variables. The program also has potential use as an instructional tool for courses in information processing, cognitive psychology, personality, individual differences, and assessment.

Development of Knowledge of Visual-Tactual Affordances of Substance

Infants of 12 months were familiarized in the dark with an object of either a hard or an elastic (spongy) substance. Following 60 sec of manipulation, a visual preference test was given with simultaneous presentation of 2 films of identical objects, 1 moving in a pattern characteristic of a rigid object and 1 moving in a pattern characteristic of an elastic object. Infants handled the 2 substances differently in an appropriate manner and looked preferentially with more and longer first looks to the type of substance familiarized. A replication of this experiment with familiarization in the light yielded comparable results. A third experiment with 1-month-old infants allowed them to mouth objects of either a hard or a soft substance for haptic familiarization and then tested looking preferences with real objects moving rigidly or deforming. These infants looked longer at the object moving in a manner characteristic of the novel substance. The results, together, suggest that quite young infants detect intermodal invariants specifying some substances and perceive the affordance of the substance.

Visual and tactual variation seeking in the rat: intermodal effects of early rearing.

AbstractConditions of variation and constancy for both tactual and visual stimulation were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial. Hooded rats were reared under these conditions from 23 to 39 days of age, following which they lived in standard laboratory cages until 49 days of age. Preference tests for variation vs. constancy in both tactual and visual preference tests were conducted at 48 and 49 days of age. Ss previously exposed to the variable stimulation conditions, either tactual and/or visual, showed equal preference for variable stimulation in both tests. This was in contrast to the controls, which preferred the less variable stimulation in both tests. The intermodal effects of the early environmental stimulation were discussed in terms of Fiske and Maddi's activation model.