Infant Perception and Learning
Spatial completion is one piece of evidence that seems to support the nativist view of infant perception. Based on this evidence, experiments have explored the types of visual information that infants use in the perception of spatial completion. Spatial completion was observed at 4-months old when rod parts that had aligned outer edges were moved in cycle behind a stationery occluder (Johnson, 2010). The same observations were replicated and extended and indicated that the 4-months olds showed evidence of completion when parts of the rods were aligned. The same results were found at two months old when the experiment was conducted with the use of various occluder sizes and arrangements of edges.
Based on Johnson (2010), he provides 3D object completion as evidence of learning. A solid ‘L’-the shaped object that has eight faces was used. The experiment tested 4, 6- and 9.5-months old infants. The results from this study indicated developmental progression in 3D completion. At four months old, post-habituation looking did not show any evidence of completion, while at 9.5 months old, constantly observed longer at the hollow test display indicating perception of habituation. At six months, it was only male infants that indicated this preference. Female infants were observed equally at the two tests (Johnson, 2010). At 9.5 months old, there was no male advantage, where both genders observed the hollow shape at an extended time.
Lastly, the apparent contradictions can be reconciled through observing pieces of evidence from all the experiments conducted on this subject. There is no one account, such as nativist or Piagetian, that account for the fundamental changes that are underlying the emergence of object concepts in infants (Johnson, 2010). Hence, calling the need to borrow from the two theories.