Eleanor Gibson's studies of the responses of visually inexperienced animals and human infants to the "visual cliff" seem to
A) support Helmholtz's nativist perceptual theory.
B) refute Helmholtz's trichromatic theory.
C) disconfirm aspects of Helmholtz's empiricist perceptual theory.
D) support Helmholtz's theory of unconscious inference.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eleanor Gibson's studies on the responses of visually inexperienced animals and human infants to the "visual cliff" seemed to disconfirm aspects of Helmholtz's empiricist perceptual theory, which posited that perception is exclusively learned through experience. Gibson found that even visually inexperienced young animals and infants have an innate capacity to perceive depth and distance, which indicates that some aspects of perception are innate rather than exclusively learned through experience.

Eleanor Gibson's Studies of the Responses of Visually Inexperienced Animals