Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months.

2 dimensions inversely varied in previous complexity studies using checker-boards were varied independently. Patterns with more elements, angles, and information as well as patterns with larger elements received longer fixation at all ages, but initially prepotent size preferences decreased with age while number preferences became stronger. Further analysis showed the inadequency of contour length as the stimulus determinant for, or of increasing "optimal complexity" with age as the interpretation of, these previous findings. Term-preterm comparisons at 5-week intervals proved changes were a function of prenatal plus postnatal development rather than age from birth alone.