Held and Hein 1963 Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behavior. “This presentation contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law” VIDEO 1

I. Background A. Sensation and Perception 1. Sensation is the process of bringing information from the outside world into the body and to the brain. a. We gather information through sensory receptors such as our eyes and ears. b. Sensory Interaction = a process whereby two senses influence each other such as smell and taste c. Our senses include sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch and proprioception (balance and movement)

I. Background 2. Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting the information brought into the brain by the senses. a. Some debate exists about whether perception is a result of nature or nurture. b. Previous studies on perception have Used human babies (neonates) Used human patients with cataracts Used animals Studied different cultures By studying adaptation to different stimuli

I. Background B. Previous studies have examined 1. rearing animals in restricted environments (deprivation) 2. Studying sensory adaptation in adults (how do they adapt to a displaced field). 3. Previous studies on adults have shown that their ability to control their own movement is essential to sensory readjustment. 4. This study tries to combine these two types of research.

I. Background 5. Study by Reisen & Aarons a. 1 set of cats raised in an artificial patterned environment where they were not allowed to move around, as a result, despite the change in pattern they lacked the ability to use their vision to guide their movements. b. A 2nd set were allowed to move but had their vision occluded. They also showed deficits

I. Background C. Aim/Hypothesis 1. Held & Hein believe that control over self produced movements are necessary to this sensory interaction. 2. AIM = To test whether self-produced movements related to changes in stimulation are essential for the development of certain perceptions

II. Method – subjects A. Subjects 1. 10 pairs of kittens 2. each pair from a different litter. 3. reared in similar environments 4. In each pair one was the Active (A) participant and the other was the Passive (P) participant.

II. Method B. Exposure Apparatus and Procedure 1. The active kitten (A) was able to move around the cylinder a. Could move in either direction clockwise or counter-clockwise. b. Could move inward and outward from the center c. Move up or down (place paws up the side of the cylinder.) d. The (P) kitten moved in the exact same way as the A cat but did not control their movement.

II. Method - apparatus 2. The middle cylinder prevented the cats from seeing each other. 3. The passive (P) kitten could not manipulate the environment but the paws were free to drag along the floor 4. Apparatus designed to move as easily as possible 5. during non-testing times the kittens were kept in a darkened environment.

II. Method - procedures C. Testing 6. Neither cat could see their own limbs 7. Spent 3 hours per day in the testing apparatus C. Testing 1. All the tasks required visual-spatial discriminations (senses working together) 2. Visually guided paw placement – The kitten was held above a table and slowly moved towards it. A normal kitten would extend its paws to touch the surface.

II. Method - procedures 2. Avoidance of a visual cliff a. Glass top table with a gap in the middle b. One side of the gap in the middle is over a 30” drop with a checkerboard pattern at the bottom. The other side has a shallow drop where the pattern is touching the glass. c. A normal cat will walk on the shallow part.

II. Method - procedures 3. Blink response a. The cat strapped into as standing position with a large sheet of plexiglass in front of it. b. E moved his hand in front of the glass as if he would hit the cat. Will the cat blink? 4. Additional tests (see cue question)

Summary Cues CUE 1: What is the alternative to the hypothesis proposed by H & H? CUE 2: Describe in further detail the dimensions and characteristics of the “kitty carousel.” (At least 4 characteristics) Cue 3: Describe the guided paw placement test from the study. CUE 4: Describe the 3 additional tests from the study CUE 5: For each of the following choose 1 and explain why it meets the criteria for that choice Is this a lab or field study? Is this a longitudinal or snapshot study? Is this a independent groups or repeated measures design? CUE 6: How does this relate to cognitive approach? CUE 7: Write 3 T/F questions from material found in the study BUT NOT in the video.

Held and Hein 1963 Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behavior. “This presentation contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law” VIDEO 2

II. Method - general D. General procedures 1. The 10 pairs were divided into 2 groups ( X & Y) 2. 8 pairs were assigned to group X while 2 to group Y 3. Group X raised in the dark until (A) was of sufficient size to turn the roundabout (8-12 weeks) then began exposure in the apparatus for 3h daily .

II. Method - general 6. When the kittens were not in the apparatus they were returned to their mothers and litter mates in a darkened environment. 7. Group X kittens were tested 6 times after exposure to the carousel and when the (A) kitten showed paw placement they were both moved to the visual cliff.

II. Method - general 8. Both cats were re-tested the following day and after the test the (P) cat was placed in a lighted environment for 48 hours. 9. The process then repeated itself.

III. Findings and Results A. All kittens responded normally to the pupil, tactual placing and pursuit tests which means they had no visual impairment B. In Group X the (A) cat showed paw placement after 33 hours of exposure, none of the (P) kittens did. The same held true for blink responses C. All the (A) cats passed the visual cliff tests as if raised normally. None of the (P) cats did

III. Findings and Results D. Group Y (P) cats showed same problems as group X (P) cats E. After 48 hours in a normally lit room all cats performed at the normal level F. Conclusions – It can be concluded that self-produced movement with concurrent visual feedback is necessary for the development of normal visually guided behaviors.

IV. Discussion and Eval A. Are the results valid? 1. Possible alternative explanations for the deficits found in the (P) cats and the author’s response a. Atrophy of the brain from deprivation b. .Shock due to the environment they were raised in could have caused inhibition of proper responses

B. Evaluation 1. Ethics (see class activity) 2. Remember that this experiment took place long before the current rules on animal treatment were in place.

SUMMARY CUES CUE 8: What are the practical and ethical reasons for raising the cats with their mother and litter mates? Cue 9Describe how group Y was treated in a similar or different way to those in group X. CUE 10: Write down 2 comparative results that you will memorize for this study CUE 10: How did the author refute the atrophy alternative? CUE 11: How did the author refute the different environment explanation? CUE 12: List two ways you think the rights of the animals were violated and two ways they were protected. CUE 13: This experiment was highly controlled. Pick 3 controls that H & H instituted and why they put them in place. CUE 14: What were the IV’s and DV’s of this experiment? CUE 15: How does this study fit into the nature vs nurture debate? CUE 16: Define field experiment CUE 17: Briefly outline how you would change H&H to a field exp Who What Where When How