Learning to Control the Environment in Infancy

FINKELSTEIN, NEAL W., and RAMEY, CRAIG T. Learning to Control the Environment in Infancy. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 806-819. 34 infants participated in 3 experiments designed to examine the effects of response-contingent stimulation on subsequent performance in different learning tasks. Free operant and discriminative operant responding techniques were used to examine the proposition that experience with responsive stimulation would enhance an infant's subsequent learning performance. The results from the 3 experiments provide support for the central thesis. The mechanisms by which the transfer effects were obtained are discussed and an explanation concerning changes in attentional behavior is offered.