Speed discrimination in 6- and 10-month-old infants follows Weber’s law

The speed of a moving object is a critical variable that factors into actions such as crossing a street and catching a ball. However, it is not clear when the ability to discriminate between different speeds develops. Here, we investigated speed discrimination in 6- and 10-month-old infants using a habituation paradigm showing infants events of a ball rolling at different speeds. The 6-month-olds looked longer at novel speeds that differed by a 1:2 ratio than at the familiar ones but showed no difference in looking time to speeds that differed by a 2:3 ratio. In contrast, the 10-month-olds succeeded at discriminating a 2:3 ratio. For both age groups, discrimination was modulated by the ratio between novel and familiar speeds, suggesting that speed discrimination is subject to Weber’s law. These findings show striking parallels to previous results in infants’ discrimination of duration, size, and number and suggest a shared system for processing different magnitudes.

► Infants’ speed discrimination was investigated using a habituation paradigm.
► Infants’ discrimination was modulated by the ratio between speeds.
► This parallels infants’ discrimination of duration, size, and number.
► Results suggest a shared system for processing different magnitudes.