| Abstract: | Twelve kittens with vibrissae clipped on the 1st day of life were compared to matched controls for the development of a preferential behavior in a visual cliff situation in an effort to examine the developmental relationship between sense systems. The kittens with reduced tactile input (vibrissae-clipped) were found to discriminate between the “shallow” and “Sdeep” sides of the visual cliff at younger ages and with greater consistency than controls. The results for which there are alternative explanations available support the hypothesis that reduction of input in one modality reduces competition between sense systems, thereby resulting in the precocial use of another sense system. |
