Attention-Getting and Attention-Holding Processes of Infant Visual Preferences

COHEN, LESLIE B. Attention-getting and Attention-holding Processes of Infant Visual Preferences. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1972, 43, 869-879. In a new procedure that permitted the independent assessment of attention-getting and attention-holding processes of various stimulus parameters, 18 male and 18 female 4-month-old infants were exposed to checkerboards varying in size and number of squares. The major finding was that the latency of turning toward the pattern was determined more by the size of the checkerboard than by the number of checks, while the duration of fixation was more a function of the number of checks than the size. Infants also tended to turn faster toward and look longer at the right side than the left. The results supported the contention that infant attention should be divided into separate attention-getting and attenion-holding processes.