Visual habituation and dishabituation in preterm infants: a review and meta-analysis.

Davison et al. (2010) pooled every habituation study done with preterm babies. They compared how quickly these infants looked away from a repeating picture versus full-term babies. The team also checked if medical risk, type of picture, or test routine changed the result.

Preterm babies got bored slower and noticed new pictures later. The gap was medium-sized and showed up again and again across labs. Riskier neonatal histories, odd pictures, or sloppy timing made the gap bigger.

Yaari et al. (2018) followed the same children to 18 months and found the early attention lag grew into wider language and motor delays. Griffith et al. (2012) linked the same slow attention to later behavior problems at age eight. Together they show the infant habituation gap is an early red flag for lifelong issues.

Velikos et al. (2015) and Capio et al. (2013) add a warning: Bayley-III scores also lag in preterms, but the label can flip 15% of the time. So habituation gives you extra data, not a final verdict.

Ding et al. (2017) muddies the water: they say low birth weight, not early birth itself, hurts face memory. This hints that some babies tagged "preterm" may really be struggling because they were growth-restricted, not because they arrived early.

When you test a preterm toddler, expect slower habituation. Use short trials, high-contrast pictures, and correct age for prematurity. Pair the task with a stable tool like the Bayley-III and watch for medical risk factors. If attention looks weak, flag the child for early intervention and schedule follow-ups; the same deficit tracks into school-age language, motor, and behavior gaps.