Developmentof perceptual modalities, either individually or in some combination(i.e., cross-modal matching or intermodal perception), from before birth toweeks, months and sometimes years postnatally. Most research concerned withperceptual development has focused on the visual system during the period ofinfancy, particularly the first six months after birth, as visual functionsundergo rapid and relatively clear-cut changes during this period. This isparticularly the case for so-called low-level abilities such as depthperception, visual accommodation, and visual acuity. The study of higher-levelabilities involved in various attentional processes such as search strategiesoverlaps considerably with research on cognitive development. Overall, therehas been a relative neglect of auditory development and more especially withregard to the gustatory and olfactory modalities. In recent years, a growingtrend is evident to study the developing interrelationships between perceptionand action, mainly (but by no means not exclusively) within the context ofecological psychology.
See Attention, Cognitivedevelopment, Cross-modal matching, Depth perception, Ecological psychology, Gustation, Intermodal perception, Olfaction, Perception-action coupling, Visualaccommodation, Visual acuity