ABSTRACT
A central question in perceptual studies is how constant perceptions are attained from varying inputs. Stated another way, how do we identify common objects and determine their location reliably despite variations in their distance, orientation, slant, context, illumination, and other confounding factors? Developmentalists have sought an understanding of what is innate and what is learned in these capabilities. With the recent advent of techniques for examining the visual capacities of young infants, evidence favoring the nativist position has accumulated. Specifically, several sophisticated visual capabilities have been demonstrated at birth or shortly thereafter. These capabilities include recognition of familiar objects presented in various ways (Fagan, 1976), segmentation of one object in the field from another (Kellman & Spelke, 1983), the perception of depth (Fox, Aslin, Shea, & Dumais, 1980; Gordon & Yonas, 1976), and more.
