Perception of object unity in 2-month-old infants.

The perception of object unity in partial occlusion displays was examined in 722-month-old infants. The infants were habituated to 1 of 3 displays depicting a rod undergoing lateral motion behind a box. In each display, more of the rod was visible behind the box than was previously available in prior studies of young infants' perception of occlusion. Posthabituation test displays consisted of 2 rod pieces (broken rod) and a complete rod, presented 3 times each in alternation. Infants in all 3 conditions looked longer at the broken rod than at the complete rod, suggesting that the hidden region of the rod in the habituation display was inferred despite the absence of direct perceptual support. These findings suggest that very young infants' visual, attentional, or cognitive skills may be insufficient to consistently support perception ofobject unity, except under some display conditions.

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