Visual attention is the gatekeeper of cognition
Ever wonder what your baby is looking at? So do researchers interested in infant learning. In fact, infant visual attention is one of the most fundamental aspects of infant learning, as preverbal infants learn almost everything about the world through their eyes. By understanding what grabs and holds your baby’s attention, we can begin to unravel the marvels of infant learning. In our lab, we make use of infants’ natural curiosity, by showing them brightly colored objects on a computer monitor. Using eye tracking technology, we can measure with great precision exactly where your baby is looking, how quickly they move their eyes, and how long they look. By examining the development of these attentional styles in infants, we hope to gain a better understanding of how attention influences memory and learning throughout a lifetime.