Certificate In Psychology (CPSY) Practice Exam

Which technique compares how long babies look at different stimuli?

1. The preferred exposure strategy

2. The visual preference technique

3. The habituation paradigm

4. Electroencephalography

The correct answer is: The visual preference technique

The visual preference technique is a method used to assess infants' visual attention and preferences by comparing how long they look at different stimuli. This technique is based on the idea that infants will look longer at stimuli that they find more interesting or appealing. By presenting two or more visual stimuli simultaneously and measuring the duration of gaze directed at each, researchers can infer the infant's preferences, cognitive processing, and visual perception capabilities. The longer an infant looks at one stimulus over another can indicate a preference or an increase in curiosity regarding that particular stimulus. Other techniques mentioned serve different purposes. The preferred exposure strategy involves exposing infants to various stimuli to determine which they might prefer, but it does not specifically measure gaze duration as the visual preference technique does. The habituation paradigm focuses on measuring the decrease in response to a familiar stimulus over time, indicating that the infant has become familiar with it. Lastly, electroencephalography is a method for recording electrical activity in the brain, which is not directly related to visual preference or gaze duration measurements.