Results obtained from 27 infants ranging in age from 10 to 12 weeks indicated that infants develop expectancies regarding how stimuli occurring in particular contexts should behave based on their prior experiences with these stimuli. (Author/RH)

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Relationship between maternal ratings of temperament and operant learning was examined in 18 2- to 3-month-old infants. Subjects participated in a conjugate reinforcement experiment; mothers of subjects completed the Carey and McDevitt Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire 2 to 3 days before the learning study. Two temperament dimensions,…

Three experiments examined whether newborns are sensitive to an operant-conditioning task involving unprepared relation between a response and a stimuli. Found that newborns tested under the High-Amplitude Sucking procedure were involved in an operant-learning situation, in that an increase in sucking rates could be obtained after an auditory…

This paper presents a pilot study designed to suggest an experiential interpretation of the development of extreme activity levels in infants (specifically, hyperactivity) and to demonstrate that general activity in infants may be influenced by the reinforcement contingencies established by mothers. Subjects were three 13-week-old infants. Operant…

Using an objective measure of attention obtained during a baseline period, assesses in two studies the effects of attention on operant learning among 240 infants 14 weeks of age who were rewarded for kicking with a pattern of lights and tones. (RH)

Two experiments examined whether associating an imitation task with an operant task affected 6-month-olds' memory for either task. Results indicated that infants successfully imitated a puppet's action for up to 2 weeks only if the associated operant task (pressing a lever to activate a miniature train) was retrieved first. Follow-up study…

The influence of negative affect on the retrieval of information from memory during infancy was investigated in two studies through the use of an operant conditioning paradigm. The procedure used, known as "mobile conjugate reinforcement," involves a free operant task in which an infant is reinforced for footkicking by the movement of an…

Three experiments examined the memory-preserving effects of reactivation and reinstatement reminders following 6-month-olds' learning and forgetting of an operant task. Findings indicated that a single reactivation reminder extended infants' memory of an operant mobile task for 2 weeks, a single reinstatement extended it for 4 weeks. A single…