INFANTS FAST SACCADES IN THE GAP PARADIGM AND DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL-ATTENTION

The saccadic reaction times (SRTs) in the overlap, no-overlap, and gap conditions of 2.5- to 12-month-old infants and adults were measured. In the overlap condition, the SRTs of younger infants were over 600 ms longer than those of older infants, whereas the SRTs in the gap condi tion of the younger infants were 300 - 350 ms, much faster than report ed hitherto, and were shortened only by about 100 ms. The results indi cate that the oculo-motor system and attention process for disengageme nt in the gap condition mature earlier than the attention process for disengagement in the overlap condition.