A comparison of fixed-trial and infant-control habituation procedures with 6- to 13-month-old at-risk infants

Abstract

Response decrement and recovery were compared using fixed-trial and infant-control habituation procedures. Infants who had experienced perinatal difficulties (e.g., respiratory distress, jaundice) were tested at 6 to 13 months of age. Post hoc rescoring of the fixed-trial data according to infant-control rules showed similar baseline responding and decrement scores for two procedures, although the infant-control group made more frequent and longer looks at the stimulus. A response to novelty was obtained only for the infant-control procedure. Risk severity did not emerge as a significant factor. The findings are discussed with reference to contingency effects operating in infant-control and procedure-specific sensitization. It was concluded that infant-control and fixed-trial habituation paradigms offer alternative procedural routes for studying representational competence in infancy.