Affective Reactions to Stimuli and Infants' Preferences for Novelty and Familiarity

A paired comparison paradigm was used to explore 7-month-old infants' affective reactions to stimuli and their visual preferences for novelty and familiarity. Ninety-two infants were pretested for baseline looking preferences with two hand puppets. Following a familiarization period with one of the puppets, posttests were given after a 2-minute delay and a 1-week delay. The familiarization period consisted of two conditions designed to evoke (1) positive or (2) neutral affect by playing peekaboo with one of the two puppets. Results indicated that infants who responded with positive affect to the familiarizing stimulus displayed significant familiarity preferences during both the immediate and delayed posttests. Infants who responded with neutral affect during familiarization displayed significant novelty preferences during both posttests. This study indicates that infant visual preferences cannot be considered independent of the affective value that the stimulus situation holds for the infant. These results are discussed in terms of the information processing hypothesis that the speed of processing is the basis of shifts in visual preferences.