格式塔相似性原則：三至六個月大的嬰兒能利用拓撲性質或幾何性質來群組圖案嗎？

Gestalt Similarity Principle: Can 3- to 6-Month-Old Infants Use Topological or Geometric Property to Group Visual Patterns?

本研究欲探討三到六個月大的嬰兒是否能根據相似性原則來組織視覺圖案，相似與否的依據有兩種：拓撲性質或幾何性質。我們採用熟悉化╱視覺配對比較作業為典範，設計三種不同的圖形區辨情況：水平或垂直條紋圖形，拓撲差異圖形（圓盤和圓環），與幾何差異圖形（圓盤和三角形）來檢測嬰兒組織視覺圖案的能力。每種圖案皆進行四個嘗試，每個嘗試都包括熟悉期的單張刺激以及測試期的配對刺激各20秒。結果顯示，三到六個月大的嬰兒對於條紋狀圖形有顯著的新奇偏好，顯示嬰兒能區辨水平與垂直方向的不同。在拓撲差異圖形作業中亦有顯著的新奇偏好，表示嬰兒能根據拓撲性質的差異來群組圖案，並能區別新舊圖形整體方向的不同（水平或垂直）。然而，在幾何差異圖形的作業中則沒有出現任何偏好，表示嬰兒似乎還不能根據幾何性質的差異來群組圖案，亦無法區別水平或垂直方向排列的圖案。整體而言，三到六個月大的嬰兒已經能根據拓撲差異性來區辨並組織視覺圖形，但還不能根據幾何性質來組織視覺圖形。本研究的結果支持格式塔相似性原則的發展論觀點。

The present study aims to explore whether young infants can use similarity principle to group visual patterns. Two kinds of form similarity were employed in the study: topological and geometrical properties. Using familiarization/ novelty preference procedure, we tested 3- to 6-month-old infants with three kinds of pattern discrimination tasks in three blocks: horizontal and vertical stripes, patterns consist of topologically different elements (a disk and a ring), and patterns consist of geometrically different elements (a disk and a triangle). There were four trials in each block and each trial contained a 20-second familiarization period followed by a 20-second test period. The results showed that, for the stripe condition, 3- to 6-month-old infants significantly preferred the novel orientation, indicating a reliable discriminability between horizontal and vertical stripes. For the topologically different patterns, infants significantly preferred the pattern with a novel global orientation, indicating an ability to group the elements based on topological differences. However, for the geometrically different patterns, infants failed to show any reliable novelty preference, indicating an inability to group the elements based on geometric differences. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that 3- to 6-monthold infants can discriminate and group visual patterns based on topological difference. This finding is consistent with the developmental and learning view of the Gestalt principles in infancy.