Recognition of point-light biological motion displays by young children

We tested the ability of children 3 - 5 years of age to recognise biologica l motion displays. Children and adults were presented with moving point-lig ht configurations depicting a walking person, four-legged animals (dogs), a nd a bird. Participants were able to reliably recognise displays with biolo gical motion, but failed in the identification of a static (four consecutiv e frames taken from each sequence) version. The results indicate that, irre spective of the highly reduced and unusual structural information available in point-light displays, biological motion is sufficient for reliable reco gnition of human and non-human forms at an age as early as 3 years. Moreove r, 5-year-olds exhibit the ceiling level of recognition. The findings are d iscussed in the context of the neuropsychological and brain mechanisms invo lved in biological motion perception.