PSY 3E 04: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
UNIT–I: WHAT BABIES DO
TOPIC: Visual Perception
, VISUAL PERCEPTION
Visual perception, put simply, refers to how the brain perceives and processes visual stimuli. It consists
of various aspects:
i) Visual Figure Ground
The ability to focus one’s visual attention on one object or figure, against a complex background.
ii) Visual Discrimination
The ability to perceive the similarities and differences between objects, shapes and symbols. This aspect
of visual perception enables us to categorize, match and sort things.
iii) Visual analysis & synthesis
The ability to combine parts of a unit to form a whole, or alternatively, to divide the whole into its
separate parts.
iv) Visual closure
The ability to complete figures, words or sentences, which are perceived as incomplete, in order to give
them meaning.
v) Visual memory
The ability to memories information received from the eyes. Visual memory is important for accurate and
efficient reading and spelling.
vi) Visual motor integration
The ability to integrate the functions of the visual system and the motor skills.
DEFECTS IN VISUAL PERCEPTION
A visual processing or perceptual disorders refers to a hindered ability to make sense of information taken
in through the eyes. Difficulties with visual processing affect how visual information is interpreted, or
processed by the brain. The defects in visual perception include the following:
Defects in visual location
Defects in visual orientation
Stereopsis and depth perception
Achromotopsia
Defect in the perception of movement.
i) Defects in visual location
The perceptual ability of the brain damaged subjects to assess the visual location of the
INFANCY THROUGH CHILDHOOD
UNIT–I: WHAT BABIES DO
TOPIC: Visual Perception
, VISUAL PERCEPTION
Visual perception, put simply, refers to how the brain perceives and processes visual stimuli. It consists
of various aspects:
i) Visual Figure Ground
The ability to focus one’s visual attention on one object or figure, against a complex background.
ii) Visual Discrimination
The ability to perceive the similarities and differences between objects, shapes and symbols. This aspect
of visual perception enables us to categorize, match and sort things.
iii) Visual analysis & synthesis
The ability to combine parts of a unit to form a whole, or alternatively, to divide the whole into its
separate parts.
iv) Visual closure
The ability to complete figures, words or sentences, which are perceived as incomplete, in order to give
them meaning.
v) Visual memory
The ability to memories information received from the eyes. Visual memory is important for accurate and
efficient reading and spelling.
vi) Visual motor integration
The ability to integrate the functions of the visual system and the motor skills.
DEFECTS IN VISUAL PERCEPTION
A visual processing or perceptual disorders refers to a hindered ability to make sense of information taken
in through the eyes. Difficulties with visual processing affect how visual information is interpreted, or
processed by the brain. The defects in visual perception include the following:
Defects in visual location
Defects in visual orientation
Stereopsis and depth perception
Achromotopsia
Defect in the perception of movement.
i) Defects in visual location
The perceptual ability of the brain damaged subjects to assess the visual location of the
