DOCUMENT RESUMF In 113 681 ee tri ---... CS 002 179 . ./ AU"IOF Young, Francis A., 1; Lindsley, Depall_B.0 Ede TTI"LT - FerIy Experience and Visual Informaii,ion Processing in Perceptual and 'leadi641 PisordArs; PrOceedings ofa ConferencA Held October 27-3n, 1968, At Lake Mohonk, New York, in Association with.the,Committee on Brain Sciences, Div. of Medical ScienceP; National 'Research Council. TNSTTTUTTON National Academy of- Sciences -.National Pasearch Council, liashington, D.C. PUB IgTis 71't NOT? 538p 'AVAIL' tnr.FPOM Printing and Publishing Office, National Acadeiy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washing4:on, D.C. 20116 ($9:951 3DRS PPTC",, FF-$ ^.92 Plus Posatage. HC Not Available frokEDRS. r n'SCTIPTnPS Anthologies; Cogni.4%ive Processes; Conference Reports; Early Feeding; Eye Movements; Information Theory; . *reading Difficulty; *Peading Processes; *Reading research; Remedial Reading; *Vision; *Visual Perception % - ABSTRACT . A , This book brings together papers presented ata conference on early experience and visual inforiaitien processing in perceptual and readin5 disorders sponsored by the kttional Academy` of Sciences. The goal of the conference was to integrateebtsic knowledge . of structure and mechanisms of eye and brain with their function and *heir behavioral roles in'perceptione'rdth the focuson underlying factors *hat may contribute to reading disorders. The first section discusses topics related to the role of the- visual system: optical and oculomotor, retinal, and central neural faretos.LThe second eectionxdiscusses attentional and perceptual itechanims. The thir section discusses early experience and learning' in visaal.information proce sing: The fourth section discusses the role of information pros isssing in perceptual and reading disabililties. The fifth and fin 1 section discusses management of childre with perceptual and reading disabilities. The introduction is written by DonaldLindsley and Francis Young. Individual papers are written by such authorsas Jeanne Chan, Pobert Boynton, Pobert Doty, roger Sperry, Richard Jung, George Sperling, Ira Hirsh, Merton Flom, Wi114am Mason, Robert Fantz, and H. Burtt Pichardson,.Jr. (TS) **** ****************************Ji*********************************** Documents acquired by ERI,C inclu4? many informal unpublished * materials not available from other soArces. EPIC makesevery effort * * to obtain the best col)! available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility aresoften encpunte,red Mid this affects the quality * * of ..he, microfiche and hardcopy reproductions EPIC makes%available * * via he !RTC Document Reproduction Service (BIM). EDRS is not '4, responsible for the quality of the original document., Reproductions * . * supplied by Errs are the best that cah be made from the .original. ** ****s****************************************************************** ut Oa PAII3;oaiif OR 1.04.144 DotAfPOPP a VollsJPAltt 1OFFC-JIC6011 I.._ . -1 o \ N , i' FRANCIS .4 YOUNG !DONALD B. LIDSLEY Early Experience and Visual F;111,,,to..10wl ruOtPviI14.'. ` OPPP.,,,, I ksPoliv.AL ay miCgio Infoimation Processing 1,4.NE ONLY *Pa,Pkt FP.<1.149D RV 44(444 V, t 1141AtilD Oui,ouviaTo..Tho, ONE, Ray P. V.001i tt AC.OttEMItp.r;4.114YmtNA in PeiPtuar and ErwCAP,OP. Iu...t.orp.(4111Pi100. '110% 0%01,IOr Pup I frPs: WEQuo,c1P PCPP.S Recling DisOrder$, 1.4 cesrPtsor.... ot,P.1-1 Proceedings of a Conference held October 27-30. 19,Y, at Lake ,i'Mohonk. kw York, in association with the Contmittee On Brain Sciences. Division of Medical Sciences, lit National 'Research Council C\if NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES \VASA! ING1 ON, D.C. 1970' 02 The conference was supported by Public Health Semce contract Pf143*4744.1ask order 38. froin the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and-Stroke. Published by the aid of the Edmond and Marianne Bladsv Ophthalmology Fund ISBN 0-309-01765-3 Available front Printing and Publishing Office National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D.C. 20418 First printing, October 1970 Second printing, September 1971 No, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72. 605763 03 I / .1 Foreword et A Lake Molionk Mountain House has a history of hosting altruistic meet- ings long before they became so popular. In 1883, the first conference of Friends of the Indians was held there, a conference that laterwas ,broallervidlo include a more general subject. ".4ke Mohank Conference of Friends of the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples." In 1895,a con- ference on international arbitration met there. The dismal-history of these subjects since then testifieS that more than motivation and intelli- Once are needed to transform successful conferences intoaMion. More than twenty years ago, it was obvious that, given sufficient funds, scientists and engineers could put courageous menon the moon because these efforts would not be hampered by superstitionlioblems of brain and behavior are another matter and in the opinion of any people constitute a most important frontier. Although there have been no comparable dramatic and highly visible breakthroughs in the knowl- edge of the mechanisms of childhood development, there has beena quiet revolution in the knowledge of how the child develops. It isnow rtcogniied that from birth to three years isan age of sinister importance. The hope is that similarly objective studies of hOw development pro- ceeds will be extended (and supplement existing observations of the pe....;od) to seven years of age, when the child enters public life in the school situation. V . 04 Fore ivfml It has Feen apvarent since MO that cognitive development is not depen,dent on motor ack.omplishments-. It might seeitito he only a small step 10.inu observation of overt actions in infants three to six month4 old to t.areful observations of visual attention to various objects!at a few . days of age, but the results have been revolutionary in directing atten- non to the -sdiemata of cognitive development at the earliest age. Instinc- tual behavior in human infants may be considered minimal, the sucking, reflex, the Li-) mg signal, and perhaps imitative reactions, early body play mg, and infantile sexuality belong in this category. The quiet revo- 1 lution of the last decade has taken infancy out bf the realm of concern/ about primary necessities of vegetation and into the sphere of the fully -P living human being and has shown that cognitive learning and socializf (ion can begin at a very early age. Parents who have the interest and, ability to understand its importance have accomplished thistransition urAuld-rearnig fairly well on a naturalistic, almost subconscious,/level. Those children whose parents are too harried by economic or other problems are not so fortunate. The t.Afererice speakers put the problem in bold relief. Although the research studies described einphasize the importanCe of exteroceptive stimulation of the infant, they by no means derogate the importance of somatusensory and motor functions' and loving maternal and paternal Bare. Tiro capacity of the very young infant to find intellectual pleasure in manipulating a mobile, for example, was documented, but theinfant -can and often does receive similar "education" from an old tin canif there is the emotional security of parental care and affection. The conferenCe was notable for its scientific objectivity. The goal was to bring people -of diverse disciplines together to communicate on the role of early experience in visual information processing. Discussions were confined to the subject With no "practical" implications for belief- system conditioning techniques. The general tune was free of acrimoni- ous arguments, as if each participant knew that the issues were too important to permit personal polemics. Even during the extracurricular hours, when individual differences of opinion were more openly ex- pressed, the arguments, although pointed, were urbane and friendly. There was a remarkable demonstration of the free-inquiry approach to complex problems. The data were the result of hardheaded and disci- plined naturalistic observations gently and skillfully guided by instru- .orented measurements and manipulation of the environment. Freud, Watson, Gesell, Piaget, and many other pioneers were present in the Pi 4 . backgrouq, obviously inspiring or provoking the investigators, but sreverdonunating-the Scene. I was impressed by the emphasis on the necess' ity of integration of two or inure sens-orimotor facilities. One wonders about the phenomenoii of Helen Kdler and is led to the speculation thata facility not properly used may have a negative effect on other facilities, This sugges,tiOn may' answer.some of the puzzles }!resented. Appropriate attention was paid to the handicapped child. but what stood out was the_needfor greater uuderstarkding of "normal"(Aiwa- normal developmental problems. studies of "normals" giiegreat insight into the problems of the marginal child. This volume of proceedingsis a valuable supplement to the three-year study of the Jbint.Commissiontan Child Mental Health, which represents onlyone of many, farge-scale at- tack on the problems of child developmentnow receiving wide public attention. and it lends perspectise to the work of the Interdisciplinary Committee on Reading Problems and the,National Adv isory Committee on Dyslexia and Related Reading Disabilities. Myse was brought out at the conference than is immediately apparent. If the child from birth to three y ears of agecan gain such emotional and intellectual satisfaction from