In the Visual Cliff Simulation the Baby Stopped Short of the Cliff. What Does It Mean
Visual Cliff Experiment
By Dr. Julia Russel, published July 27, 2020
Gibson, E. J., & Walk, R. D. (1960). The" visual cliff". Scientific American, 202(4), 64-71.
Aim
Aim
Eleanor J. Gibson and Richard D. Walk (1960) investigated the power of newborn animals and human infants to observe depth.
Gibson and Walk tested whether youngsters would crawl over an credible cliff - if the neonates did it could be assumed that the ability to meet depth was not inborn.
If they did not, this would support a nativist view - that perceptual abilities are innate.
Process
Procedure
Their apparatus consisted of a 'span' either side of which was a sturdy glass platform. One side of this had a chequered pattern immediately under the glass (the 'shallow side'). On the other side of the span was a 'cliff' - the chequered design was below a vertical drop.
Experiment 1
Sample: 36 infants ranging in historic period from vi months to 14 months. Their female parent also participated in the experiment.
The independent variable (IV) was whether the baby was chosen by its female parent from the cliff side or the shallow side (of the visual cliff apparatus).
The dependent variable (DV) was whether or not the child would clamber to its mother.
This was a repeated measures design because the infant was called from both the cliff side and the shallow side of the apparatus.
Experiment 2
Using the same apparatus, Gibson and Walk tested chicks, lambs and kids (young goats) all less than 24 hours old.
The studies using other species are quasi (laboratory) experiments. The naturally occurring independent variable (4) was the fauna species e.g. rat / chick / lamb / kitten.
The dependent variable (DV) was whether the animate being preferred the shallow side or the deep side of the visual cliff apparatus
They likewise used an adjustable floor on the deep side of the cliff so that the examination could starting time with it in the loftier (and therefore safe) position merely could exist of a sudden lowered once the creature was on it. This gave them the opportunity to observe the animal's response and to see whether information technology learned from the experience of not 'falling downwards.'
Other species were besides tested, including rats (which were additionally tested with a raised bridge) and kittens, which were several weeks quondam before they could be tested. Some kittens were tested after existence reared in the night.
The rats were likewise tested with apparatus providing fewer visual cues by replacing the chequered pattern with a uniform grey surface to see whether the blueprint was essential to perceiving depth.
Findings
Findings
- Gibson and Walk found that, fifty-fifty when encouraged to practice so by their mothers, 92% of the babies refused to cross the cliff - fifty-fifty if they patted the glass.
- No chick, lamb or kid crossed to the deep side. When the deep side was suddenly lowered, the animals froze into a defensive position. Even with repeated experience of this process, the animals did not learn that information technology was safe to stand on the glass.
- The rats used their whiskers to feel the glass so would walk across to the deep side unless the span was raised so they couldn't accomplish information technology with their whiskers.
- The kittens, like the other species, showed a marked preference for the shallow side. When reared in the dark until 27 days, however, this deviation was not apparent and they crawled or fell every bit often onto the deep as the shallow side, neither did they prove the typical freezing response when placed directly onto the deep side.
- Even so, after a week in the lite their beliefs was just like that of low-cal-reared kittens.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As the infants were able to observe the danger from the 'cliff' side, Gibson and Walk concluded that their depth perception might be innate - information technology was at least nowadays equally presently as they could clamber.
However, equally homo infants take several months to crawl it is possible that they had learned their power to perceive depth during this time. The 2nd experiment aimed to explore this possibility using animals.
Animals are able to guess depth equally soon equally they are mobile, whether that is immediately later birth/hatching or somewhat afterward. Although this is dependent on visual experience (ie being kept in the lite) the fourth dimension taken to recover from this impecuniousness is very short compared to the length of deprivation.
Together, the findings suggest that depth perception is an innate procedure.
The survival of any species requires that its members develop depth bigotry by the fourth dimension they accept up independent locomotion, whether this exist at one day (the chick and the goat), 3 to 4 weeks (the rat and the cat) or half dozen to 10 months (the human infant).
Critical Evaluation
Critical Evaluation
The process was a rigorously controlled laboratory test so offered a reliable - just also prophylactic - mensurate of depth perception. As information technology was possible to eliminate or command the influences of other senses (such as touch on from the rats' whiskers) they ensured it was a valid test of visual perception.
The consistency of the results over a range of species including humans adds credibility to the findings. However, the sample of homo infants was quite pocket-sized and the age range rather large - some were likely to have been crawling for sometime before they were tested.
Although the mothers were present and gave informed consent there was still a potential ethical result. Simply looking at the drop, or beingness encouraged to cross information technology by their mothers, may have distressed the babies - they didn't know the glass was at that place to salve them.
The investigation of the nature-nurture issue in perception didn't end with Gibson and Walk'due south research. This simply explored the plasticity of infant perception, so the question of whether developed perception could arrange was not considered.
This has, withal, been investigated in several different ways. Stratton (1897) and Kohler (1962) used complex optical apparatus to modify their view of the world, e.thousand. by inverting it using prisms.
In these situations the world at offset seems upside down, or muddled, but over time the brain adapts to the modify and normal perception returns.
When the apparatus is removed, it again takes time to revert. Other, less dramatic, changes to perception tin exist induced by shifting the field of view slightly to one side then testing depth perception, eg by the ability to signal accurately to a target.
In such situations people conform readily - inside well-nigh an hour - merely only if they are able to actively interact with their environment. Participants who are pushed effectually in wheelchairs failed to learn to cope with the visual baloney (held vii Bossom, 1961). Findings such as these tell us that, at least in some respects, depth perception is learned.
References
References
Gibson, E. J., & Walk, R. D. (1960). The" visual cliff". Scientific American, 202(iv), 64-71.
Kohler, I. (1962). Experiments with goggles. Scientific American, 206(5), 62-73.
Stratton, Thousand. K. (1897). Vision without inversion of the retinal prototype. Psychological review, 4(four), 341.
How to reference this commodity:
How to reference this article:
Russel, J. (2020, July 27). Visual cliff experiment. Only Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/visual-cliff-experiment.html
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