Effects of a Shaped Pattern Preference on Depth Avoidance by Human Infants in the Visual Cliff Situation

Abstract

19 crawling infants were presented on the visual cliff. Subsequently, a preference for a smaller checked pattern was successfully established for 10 infants in a non-depth situation where both patterns were placed directly beneath the glass. Although no infants descended to the deep side when patterned surfaces were displayed in the pretest, 5 of 10 infants who reached criterion for the shaping procedure descended to the deep side and 5 to the shallow in a posttest. Under nonpatterned conditions, a consistent preference for shallow or deep sides was not evidenced in either pretest or posttest conditions.