blakemore and cooper

• Hubel and Wiesel (1962)

  in normal cats, neurons in the visual cortex respond not just to light but to specific features of the visual world - one type of neuron is orientation-specific, each one responds to lines in a different direction

  total visual deprivation in kittens causes neurons in the brain that should be associated with the deprived eyes to decline in number - greatest susceptible when kittens are 4-8 weeks old
• Hirsch and Spinelli (1970)

  investigated the effect on neurons of the visual cortex in cats when their early visual experience is controlled

  normal cortical organisation changed when one eye only saw vertical stripes and the other only horizontal stripes
• aim

  investigate the effect on kittens' visual development of a restricted visual environment, consisting of either vertical stripes only or horizontal stripes only, in which the animal could move freely
• participants

  laboratory-raised kittens that were housed in complete darkness until 2 weeks of age
• experimental design

  laboratory experiment with an independent measures design

  kittens were kept in the dark unless they were in the visual display apparatus or were being tested