Visual acuity in human infants assessed with stationary stripes and phase-alternated checkerboards

Abstract In recent studies of the development of visual acuity in infants, finer acuity has been found in studies employing visually evoked potentials (in which temporally-modulated stimuli such as alternating checkerboards are used) than in studies employing preferential looking (in which stationary gratings have typically been used). In the present experiment, phase-alternated or stationary checkerboards, and stationary square-wave gratings, were used to obtain behavioral estimates of visual acuity in 2-month-old infants. The forcedchoice preferential looking technique was used. Similar acuity values were found for all three stimuli. The results suggest that the differential acuity values found between previous visually evoked potential and preferential looking studies are not attributable to differences in the stimuli used. Other possible causes of the discrepancy are discussed.