An early sensitivity for detecting differences in visual topological property in 0-to 4- day-old human neonates

Abstract

Primitive, and invariant across degraded visual settings, topological properties may serve as the basis for object recognition in an ever-changing world. The present study investigated whether human neonates exhibit an intrinsic visual sensitivity for a frequently encountered topological propterty, the presence or absence of a hole in a 2D shape. Using the familiarization/visual-paired comparison prodecures with looking time measurement, we tested forty-three 0 to 4 day-old neonates' visual discriminability. The infants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: Condition 1: a disk vs. a ring (topologically different, geometrically similar), Condition 2: a disk vs. a triangle (topologically equivalent, geometrically different), or Condition 3: a ring vs. an S-like figure (topologically different, and total area equated). Based on infant's novelty preference scores derived by their looking time, the results showed that neonates were able to differentiate the shapes in Conditions 1 and 3, but not in Condition 2, suggesting a sensitivity for topological but not geometrical property. In sum, the present finding supports the notion that the ability to perceive visual topological information may be readily present at birth, at least for the presence or absence of a hole in a 2D shape.