AAQ: Depth Perception

Introduction

Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk's groundbreaking "Visual Cliff" experiment (1960) investigated depth perception in infants and animals. Their research examined whether depth perception is an innate ability, or something learned through experience.

Participants

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The study used two primary groups of participants.  The first group consisted of 36 human infants aged 6 to 14 months old and non-human animals. Various species were used, including baby goats, kittens, and rats, as comparisons.

Method

The experimental setup involved a large glass table, with a checkered pattern placed underneath. On one side of the table, the checkered pattern was placed directly beneath the glass, creating the appearance of a solid, shallow surface.

On the other side, the checkered pattern was positioned far below the glass, creating the illusion of a "cliff" or drop-off. Although the glass surface extended across the entire table, giving a safe surface to crawl on, the drop-off appeared visually steep to the participants.

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Infants were placed on the shallow side of the glass and were encouraged by their mothers to crawl toward them across the glass surface.  

Researchers observed whether the infants would cross onto the "deep" side (the glass over the drop-off) or hesitate, suggesting that they perceived the depth of the cliff and avoided it.

Similarly, animals were placed on the apparatus to determine whether they would walk over the "deep" side or show signs of perceiving the visual cliff.

Gibson and Walk thought that if depth perception were innate, infants and animals would be able to perceive depth (i.e., the potential danger of a drop-off) from an early age, without needing to learn it from experience.

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Results and Discussion

Gibson and Walk's visual cliff experiment was a landmark study that contributed to understanding the development of depth perception. The results provided strong evidence that depth perception is at least partly innate. Human infants, even at young ages, showed hesitation to crawl over the visual cliff, and animals displayed similar behaviors immediately after birth, suggesting that depth perception is not solely learned through experience but may be an inborn ability critical for survival.