Past Research Projects
These studies were previously carried out at the William and Mary Child Research Center. Dr. Peter M. Vishton and his colleagues have since published their findings in several academic journals in child development.
Reaching as a Yardstick for Early Infant Gestalt Perception
This study found that the particular way a child reaches for an object is indicative of whether or not the child perceives the object as being whole. Varying certain characteristics of a connected object or two-piece object affected whether or not children perceived the object as composed of one or two parts.
For more information on this study, including video, please visit the following website: http://pmvish.people.wm.edu/gestalt.php
Infant Object Catching
This study focused on future-oriented reaching in children, specifically using different paths of motion to infer which particular characteristics were important in young children being able to succeed in future oriented reaching.
For more information on this study, please visit the following website: http://pmvish.people.wm.edu/objectmotion.php
For a complete list of studies that Dr. Peter Vishton has composed or collaborated on, please visit his faculty website: http://pmvish.people.wm.edu