Reports four experiments in which infants' recognition memory (defined by novelty preferences) was found to be improved by providing five- to seven-month-old infants with discriminable but related targets during the familiarization period. Facilitation of recognition was found for both photographs of faces and abstract patterns. (JMB)

Investigates the ability of four-, seven-, and ten-month-old infants to perceive and base novelty responses on correlations among perceptual attributes in a category-like context. In a habituation-dishabituation paradigm, ten-month-old infants clearly responded on the basis of the correlation among attributes, while four- and seven-month-old…

A series of five experiments explore the 7-month-old infant's ability to discriminate among photos of faces. The infant's tendency to choose visual targets for inspection provides evidence of discrimination and recognition. (Author/JH)

Several propositions deduced from the discrepancy hypothesis were tested with four-month-old infants using random shapes in a habituation/discrepancy paradigm. (JMB)

To demonstrate a relationship between rate of habituation and complexity levels, 11-week-old infants (N=51) were each given a rate-of-habituation and complexity-level test. Rapid habituators looked longer at complex patterns. Irregular habituators responded randomly to tests or resembled slow habituators in terms of complexity preferred. (ST)

Examined developmental change and stability of visual expectation and reaction times among 5-, 7-, and 12-month-old term and preterm infants. Found that reaction times declined with age while anticipations increased. Infants with faster reaction times were more likely to anticipate upcoming events; this effect disappeared when time between stimuli…

Two experiments involving a total of 177 infants 8 to 11 months of age found that subjects used a global processing strategy like adults' in discriminating transformations of a six-tone melody. Subjects needed melodic contour and frequency range to judge new sequences, but, in easy tasks, they also used absolute frequency. (CB)

Examines developmental change in 4- 7- and 10-month-old infants' perceptions of correlations among attributes to determine whether relational information plays a role in abilities ranging from the perception and recognition of a simple pattern to the formation of a category. (HOD)

Assessed the ability of 5-month-old infants to discriminate between auditory tone patterns differing in temporal arrangement but utilizing the same component tones. Heart rate change provided the measure of pattern discrimination. (JMB)

Examined 2-month-old infants' perception of sparse random-dot displays depicting an illusory shape against a background in three experiments in which background texture, luminance cues, and relative motion information were added or deleted. Found that infants preferred novel stimuli in each condition, revealing an early capacity to perceive shape…

Results demonstrate that 12 - 15 - week-old male infants smile to nonsocial stimuli, and offers support for the recognition hypothesis of infant smiling. (Authors/MB)