A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

What was the result of Compos's study involving 6-week-old babies on a visual cliff?

1. Increased heart rate when near the edge

2. Decreased heart rate when placed on the edge

3. Ability to crawl immediately with no hesitation

4. Total disinterest in the visual cliff

The correct answer is: Decreased heart rate when placed on the edge

The correct answer reflects a key observation from the study on infant perception and depth perception using the visual cliff experiment. In Compos's study, when the 6-week-old babies were placed near the visual cliff, researchers noted decreased heart rates, which indicated a level of relaxed behavior. This suggests that the infants were not perceiving a significant threat when near the edge. The implications of this finding are essential in understanding the developmental stages of infants. At around six weeks of age, babies are still developing their depth perception and may not yet display an instinctive fear of heights. Therefore, their physiological response, as evidenced by the decrease in heart rate, suggests that they were comfortable or indifferent to the visual cliff scenario, typically characterized by a glass-covered drop-off. This behavior illustrates that young infants may not possess the same level of awareness about spatial relations and dangers as older babies or children. Thus, the decreased heart rate signifies a lack of fear response, indicating that they were likely not ready to crawl or show hesitation as seen in older infants.