Weight perception in 12-month-old infants

Abstract Haptic weight perception was investigated in 12-month-old infants. Following an habituation sequence with a heavy or light object, babies received a haptic test during which they held either the familiar or a new object weight. Two dependent measures were recorded: (1) Holding times in order to assess habituation as well as reaction to novelty; (2) Manual pressure exerted on the object in order to investigate infants’ capacity to adjust their manipulation to the object’s weight. Both measures revealed infants’ capacity to haptically perceive the property of weight.

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