The acquisition and violation of expectancy: An experimental paradigm

An experiment was conducted wherein a repeated presentation of a stimulus was followed by a new stimulus and it was predicted that attention, as measured by orientation of the head and fixation of the eyes, cardiac deceleration, smiling, and pointing, would show response decrement over repeated trials of S1 and will show response recovery to S2.

Abstract

An experiment, using 44-month-old children, was conducted wherein a repeated presentation of a stimulus (S1) was followed by a new stimulus (S2). It was predicted that attention, as measured by orientation of the head and fixation of the eyes, cardiac deceleration, smiling, and pointing, would show response decrement over repeated trials of S1 and would show response recovery to S2. The data of this experiment confirmed these hypotheses and the results are discussed in terms of the orienting reflex, emotion, and general theories of attentional processes in the young child.