Binocular vision in infants: a review and a theoretical framework.

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the empirical findings on infant binocular vision within a coherent theoretical framework. This framework includes: (1) a consideration of the multileveled nature of binocular function, (2) the constraints placed upon binocular function by other aspects of visual development, and (3) the role that early visual experience may play in binocular development. Worth classified binocular function into three hierarchically related levels: (1) bifoveal fixation, (2) fusion, and (3) stereopsis. Worth's proposal that these three levels are hierarchically organized is strictly true only for normal adults. This necessary but not sufficient hierarchy may be violated in the developing visual system. Nevertheless, tests of these three levels of binocular function are useful in characterizing both the developmental and the pathological state of the binocular visual system. The chapter considers each of these three levels of binocular function in an effort to describe the mechanisms underlying their development.

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