Learning processes have been investigated for regularities of the changes in the strength of a reflex that result from manipulations of several parameters of a stimulus. Most of this work has been carried out in the tradition of associative theory. One consequence of this emphasis was that for a long time several phenomena that can be…

Examined the effect of functional values of stimuli on orienting response elicitation. Subjects were 50 4-month-old infants and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions. Results suggested the importance of taking into account the functional value of stimuli when analyzing infant attention. (MOK)