| Abstract: | While acknowledging that there has been enormous progress in our understanding of sensory and perceptual development in human infancy over the past three decades, this paper looks toward future directions in preparation for the 21st century. It is argued that investigators should move away from the categorical thinking that dominates the field and focus more on developmental process in studying the acquisition of perceptual skills. Also, more attention should be paid to the functional role of perceptual skills and less to demonstrations of discrimination. In addition, researchers should attempt to bring their work and conceptualizations more in line with that on adults and older children. Future work on sensory and perceptual development in infancy will be heavily influenced by our understanding of how the brain works, especially with refinements in brain imaging and neurophysiology and with developments in computational modeling of perceptual processes. Finally, it is likely that there will be increased application of research findings to such problems as identification of infants at risk. |
