The Perceptual World of the Child

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How does the newborn infant experience the world? What can he see, hear, feel, and smell? Is his perceptual world a “buzzing, blooming confusion”? Or is he born with a ready-made ability to make sense of his senses? Philosophers have debated these questions for centuries. But in the last decade, new psychological research methods have brought us closer to definitive answers than ever before.

In this book T. G. R. Bower takes the reader on a lively tour through the ingenious experiments that have given psychologists new insight into the child’s-eye view of the world. These experiments reveal an extremely sophisticated perceptual system that permits the infant to see an organized three-dimensional world right from the start. But this system is also extraordinarily vulnerable during development. It needs the proper sights and sounds to grow on, just as the muscles need appropriate exercise. Bower demonstrates that these needs have important implications for the way in which we provide stimulation for normal infants, as well as for our efforts to overcome sensory deficits in handicapped children.