EFFECT OF AGE COMPLEXITY AND AMOUNT OF CONTOUR ON PATTERN PREFERENCES IN HUMAN INFANTS

Two-dimensional grid patterns with black and white elements of four different sizes ( 1 8-, 1 2-, 1-, 2-inch checks) and two different arrangements (random or redundant) were presented to 13-, and 20-week-old infants using a complete paired comparisons design. Infants preferred (spent more time looking at) patterns with greater amounts of contour thus verifying earlier reports relating contour information to preferences. Preferences decreased as a pattern began to contain great amounts of contour (very small elements). Older Ss preferred patterns with greater amounts of contour compared to younger Ss. An inverted U-shaped function of preference to the square root of the amount of contour appeared to be the best description of this looking behavior as well as shifts in this looking behavior with age. Describing these preferences and shifts in preference with age in terms of a complexity" continuum did not prove useful for these data. © 1969."