Final answer:
Psychologists use habituation to measure infants' perceptual abilities by exposing them to a stimulus until their interest declines, indicating recognition and memory. This method helps to identify the developmental stages at which infants can differentiate familiar from novel stimuli and understand concepts like object permanence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Habituation in Infants' Perceptual Abilities
Psychologists use habituation to study the perceptual abilities of infants by exposing them to a consistent stimulus until the infant's response to the stimulus decreases. This process, known as habituation, indicates that the infant has formed a memory or recognition of the stimulus and no longer finds it new or interesting. For example, by showing infants a particular object repeatedly, and noticing the decreasing interest they show each time, psychologists can infer that infants remember the object from previous exposures and are therefore capable of memory and recognition. This type of non-associative learning is critical in the developmental psychology field as it provides clues about the sensory and cognitive development of infants.
The phenomenon of habituation extends to understanding that certain stimuli are non-threatening, which is essential for survival, as seen in various animal species. When applied to infant development, habituation allows researchers to determine at which developmental stages infants can differentiate between novel and familiar objects or situations.
Through habituation studies, developmental psychologists have deepened our understanding of cognitive milestones, such as object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen. Exposing infants to a disappearing and reappearing object can demonstrate the age at which they begin to grasp this concept, signaling an important stage in their cognitive development.