Response Differentiation in Infants: A Sex Difference in Learning
- 1 April 1974
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Vol. 38 (2) , 479-484
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1974.38.2.479
Abstract
A visual stimulus was made contingent upon free-operant directional head turns in 10-wk.-old infants. Male infants significantly increased their rate of head turns to the rewarded side while rate of turns in the nonrewarded direction did not change from baseline levels. Female infants, on the other hand, did not demonstrate conditioning. The finding of a significant sex difference in response differentiation is discussed in terms of previous research which suggests that sex differences in conditionability may be a function of mode of reinforcement.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- A portable system for studying head movements in infants in relation to contingent and noncontingent sensory stimulationBehavior Research Methods, 1974
- Nonsocial reinforcement of infants' vocalizations.Developmental Psychology, 1972
- Infant habituation and generalization to differing degrees of stimulus noveltyJournal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1971
- Satiation of visual reinforcement in young infants.Developmental Psychology, 1971
- Smiling to social stimuli: Eliciting and conditioning effects.Developmental Psychology, 1971
- Operant conditioning of visual fixation in infants under visual and auditory reinforcement.Developmental Psychology, 1969