Classic Visual Cliff Experiment Essay

The Classic Visual Cliff ExperimentThis young explorer has the good sense not to crawl out onto an apparently unsupportedsurface, even whenMother beckons from the other side. Rats, pups, kittens, and chicksalso will not tryto walk across to the other side. (So don’t bother asking why the chickencrossed the visual cliff.)We tested 36 infants ranging in age from six months to 14 months on the visual cliff.Each child was placed upon the centre board, and his mother called him to her from thecliff side and the shallow side successively. All of the 27 infants who moved off theboard crawled out on the shallow side at least once; only three of them crept off the brink onto the glass suspended above the pattern on the floor. Many of the infants crawledaway from the mother when she called to them from the cliff side; others cried when shestood there, because they could not come to her without crossing an apparent chasm. The experiment thus demonstrated that most human infants can discriminate depth as soon as they can crawl.The behavior of the children in this situation gave clear evidence of their dependence on vision. Often they would peer down through the glass on the deep side and then back away. Others would pat the glass with their hands, yet despite this tactual assurance of solidity would refuse to cross. It was equally clear that their perception of depth had matured more rapidly than had their loco motor abilities. Many supported themselves on the glass over the deep side as they maneuvered awkwardly on the board; some even backed out onto the glass as they started
The visual system seems to notice the prominent dimensions first, and then finer grained features as one focuses in on details. Marr’s theory makes some intuitive sense, given that artists do the same thing when planning to draw