The development of visual skill depends on visual experience. Research on visual acuity, face perception, and stereopsis support this claim

Question

Choose one area; discuss a finding in the area that supports the claim that visual experience is necessary for the development of visual skill.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Visual acuity: Maurer and colleagues (1999) examined infants who were deprived of visual input for the first few months of life because they were born with cataracts. The cataracts were removed within the first six months of life, and infants were fitted for contacts. Immediately after the procedure, infants' visual acuity was no better than newborns'. Thus, without the proper visual experience over the first few months of life, infants' visual acuity does not develop. Face perception: Le Grand and colleagues (2001) examined infants who were deprived of visual input for the first few months of life because they were born with cataracts. The cataracts were removed within the first six months of life, and infants were fitted for contacts. These individuals showed subtle deficits in face processing even when they were tested more than nine years after the cataracts were removed. Thus, without the proper visual experience over the first few months of life, individuals' face perception does not develop in a typical fashion. Stereopsis: Stereopsis typically develops around four months of age when pathways in the visual system become segregated so that some cells receive information from the left eye, some cells receive information from the right eye, and some cells receive binocular information. Stryker and Harris (1986) administered a drug that blocked the neural activity that would normally occur in response to visual experience. They found that the segregated neural pathways do not develop typically under these conditions. Thus, without the proper visual stimulation, the visual system does not develop typically.