In a study, researchers placed 6-month-old infants on a "visual cliff" apparatus, a glass-covered table with a shallow side and a deep drop visible beneath the glass. Mothers stood on the deep side and called the infants. Most infants crawled across the shallow side but refused to cross the deep side, even when coaxed. Infants who had recently begun crawling showed the strongest avoidance.
The finding that crawling experience strengthened avoidance suggests that depth perception
- A
Is entirely learned and absent before crawling begins
- B
Depends solely on auditory feedback from caregivers
- C
Is entirely innate and unaffected by experience
- Dcheck_circle
Is shaped by an interaction of innate ability and learning through experience
Explanation
The cliff data point to an experience-dependent refinement of innate depth-perceiving capacities, consistent with a nature-nurture interaction.