A language user’s knowledge of words.
Author Archives: Brian Hopkins
Vitalism
A metaphysical doctrine, originating perhaps with Aristotle (384-322 BP), that the functions of all living organisms stem from some vital force (variously termed √©lag vital‚aa or ‚aaentelchy‚aa) that cannot be accounted for in chemical, mechanical or physical terms. It can be seen as a form of pluralism (i.e., reality consists of more than one type of …
Visual cortex
The part of the cortex that represents visual information. Can refer to either primary visual cortex, or all of the primary and secondary visual cortices. See Calcarine sulcus (or fissure), Ocular dominance columns, Oculomotor nucleus, Primary motor cortex, Primary visual cortex (V1), Secondary visual cortex (V2), Two visual systems hypothesis
Visually reinforced preferential looking technique
A method for the study of early word comprehension that presents one auditory form (e.g., a word) from a speaker to the left of the child and one from a speaker to the right of the child. If the child turns toward the ‘correct’ direction, a rewarding stimulus such as a bunny playing a drum …
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Visual cliff
An apparatus used to test an infant‚was visual depth perception and fear of heights. Typically made of Plexiglas with a shallow side and a deep side . See Depth perception
Visual accommodation
Adjustments, voluntary or involuntary, of the crystalline lens of the eye to compensate for the distance of the object of focus from the retina and to keep the image focused on the fovea. The degree of curvature of the lens provides information about the distances of objects, and as such constitutes one of the monocular cues …
Visual acuity
The ability to see fine details in a visual stimulus, typically measured by the number of degrees of visual arc subtended by object that can just be discriminated or by the width of the object itself. Visual acuity is reported to developsubstantially during the first months and years of life. This finding is basedon results …
Visual-manual loop
The recurrent flow of information from vision to the motor system of the hand and back again . See Circular causality, Perception-action coupling
Violation of expectancy
A process whereby an expectancy that has been developed, either briefly or over a long period of time (e.g., moving arms makes a positive image becoming clearer; having mother come each time the infant cries), is not met (e.g., moving the arms no longer results in a clear image; mother does not come when infant cries). …
Violation of expectation technique
This technique involves presenting two events to infants successively, one of which accords to a given physical principle, and the other which violates the principle. It is assumed that if infants are aware of the principle, they will look longer at the violation event because it departs from their expectation. In many applications, this technique involves …