Explain intermodal perception and its importance to perceptual development
What will be an ideal response?
Intermodal perception is a fundamental ability that fosters all aspects of psychological development. Our world provides rich, continuous intermodal stimulation—simultaneous input from more than one modality, or sensory system. In intermodal perception, we make sense of these running streams of light, sound, tactile, odor, and taste information by perceiving them as unified wholes.
Infants expect sight, sound, and touch to go together. Research reveals that babies perceive input from different sensory systems in a unified way by detecting amodal sensory properties—information that overlaps two or more sensory systems, such as rate, rhythm, duration, intensity, temporal synchrony (for vision and hearing), and texture and shape (for vision and touch).
Young infants seem biologically primed to focus on amodal information. Intermodal sensitivity is crucial for perceptual development. In the first few months, when much stimulation is unfamiliar and confusing, it enables babies to notice meaningful correlations between sensory inputs and rapidly make sense of their surroundings. Early parent–infant interaction presents the baby with a rich context—consisting of many concurrent sights, sounds, and touches—for expanding intermodal knowledge.
You might also like to view...
In reaction-time experiments, caffeine improves the decision-making part of the task but impairs the motor component
a. True b. False Indicate whether the statement is true or false
The concrete operational stage of cognitive development is
A. the second of Piaget's stages B. the third of Piaget's stages C. the fourth of Piaget's stages D. the last of Piaget's stages
Thor won a gold medal in the hammer-throw at the 1992 Olympics and then married his sweetheart, Elke. Shortly afterward, however, Thor was in an accident and suffered damage to his hippocampus. Now Thor cannot
A. recognize Elke's face. B. remember the muscle sequencing necessary to throw the hammer. C. remember that he won the Olympics in 1992. D. remember who won the hammer-throw in the 1996 Olympics.
Which of the following is an accurate statement about "stage" theories of development?
A. In Freudian theory, sexual arousal and interest occur during the latency stage. B. In Erikson's theory, development occurs across the lifespan. C. In Freudian theory, intrapsychic conflicts are resolved in early childhood. D. In Adler's theory, the basic quality of human nature is negative and needs to be controlled.