use of very large stimulus displays, produce significant results even in 5-month-old infants (Arterberry, 2008, Hemker et al., 2010). Recent research using the preferential-reaching method provides evidence that methodological refinements, e.g. The results of most of these studies suggest that the ability to respond to pictorial depth cues emerges between 5 and 7 months of age. Since binocular depth information weakens the effect of pictorial depth information, sensitivity to the pictorial depth cue is reflected by a stronger reaching preference for the apparently nearer object under monocular viewing than under binocular viewing conditions. Infants are tested under both monocular and binocular conditions. The critical pictorial depth cue specifies one of the objects as lying within reaching distance and the other as out of reach. In this work, infants are typically presented with two equidistant objects. Most studies employing the preferential-reaching technique have been conducted by Yonas et al. Research on the development of sensitivity to pictorial depth cues has utilized two experimental paradigms, preferential-reaching and looking methods (for overviews, see KavЕЎek, 2003a, Kellman and Arterberry, 2006). These many cues include shading, texture gradients, height in the visual field, and line junctions (e.g., Cutting and Vishton, 1995, Gibson, 1950). They are, therefore, also called вЂњstatic-monocularвЂќ cues. These cues provide information about objectsвЂ™ distances and the layout of the three-dimensional world in a single, stationary image. In the last three decades, numerous studies on the development of infantsвЂ™ ability to respond to pictorial depth cues have been published. In sum, the divergent findings of studies in this area may be resolved by assuming substantial developmental progress in infant sensitivity to pictorial depth cues during the first months of life. In contrast, the second group of studies controlled for the potential influence of lower-level stimulus features on the infantsвЂ™ experimental performance and more unambiguously demonstrated sensitivity to pictorial depth information in infants 6 months of age and older. It is possible, however, that the infants in these studies responded primarily to low-level, two-dimensional stimulus differences. The results of these studies might demonstrate that 3вЂ“5-month-old infants perceive spatial layout from pictorial cues.

In the former, young infants were tested for their ability to distinguish between displays that differ in spatial information provided by pictorial depth cues. While one group of studies has established responsiveness to pictorial depth cues at 3вЂ“5 months of age, the other has found that the ability to extract pictorial 3D information emerges at about 6 months. This research can be subdivided into two groups. This paper reviews habituationвЂ“dishabituation and preferential-looking studies on the emergence of sensitivity to pictorial depth cues in infancy.

Pictorial depth