THE HAPTIC PROCESSING OF TEXTURE AND SHAPE BY 7-MONTH-OLD TO 9-MONTH-OLD INFANTS

This study was designed to assess whether infants can encode both the texture and shape of the same haptic stimulus or alternatively are con fined to encoding only one feature or the other. A sample of 24 infant s (mean age 31.8 weeks) was familiarized to one stimulus and then pres ented with this familiar stimulus and two other stimuli, one being nov el either in texture or shape and the other novel in both these featur es. Only haptic contact with the stimuli was permitted. The pattern of responses to the three stimuli confirmed that the infants encoded bot h texture and shape.