A recent study conducted by a Brit scientist has explained the reason why children see different shapes when they see a cloud, often that of a dog or a bear.
A recent study conducted by a Brit scientist has explained the reason why children see different shapes when they see a cloud, maybe that of a dog or a bear, as object perception in a grown up manner is possible only at the age of 13. While adult brains can assume that light comes from above when they have to judge whether shaded images are convex or concave, young children have to learn this ability, reports New Scientist.
Jim Stone at the University of Sheffield, UK, showed embossed shapes such as squares and shaded images such as footprints to 171 children aged from 4 to 10.
Each child was shown 10 images and asked whether they were convex or concave. The "correct" answer assumed an object was lit from above.
The children got better with age, with the average score out of 10 improving by 0.43 each year.
If children of other ages develop at the same rate, Stone predicts that babies will learn to assume that light comes from above at about 21 months.
But this aspect of their visual perception won't be "fully grown" until the age of 13 or so.
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"No wonder they can't look at a cloud without seeing a dog or a bear," he said.
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