Infants pay more attention to new objects than familiar ones, indicating learning. What is this phenomenon called?

Infants pay more attention to new objects than familiar ones, indicating learning. What is this phenomenon called?

• A. Habituation
• B. Imprinting
• C. Conditioning
• D. Generalization

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is habituation. When a stimulus is seen repeatedly, infants tend to reduce their attention because the object becomes familiar and no longer novel. If a new object is introduced, their attention spikes again, showing they’ve learned that the previous object was familiar and that something new is available to explore. This pattern—decreased looking at the familiar object and increased looking at the new one—reflects perceptual learning and memory for the experienced stimulus. Imprinting involves rapid attachment to a caregiver in a critical period, not the general pattern of looking at new versus familiar objects. Conditioning is about forming associations between stimuli and responses, which isn’t what’s being measured here. Generalization is about applying a learned response to new but similar stimuli, which also isn’t the focus in this scenario.

The idea being tested is habituation. When a stimulus is seen repeatedly, infants tend to reduce their attention because the object becomes familiar and no longer novel. If a new object is introduced, their attention spikes again, showing they’ve learned that the previous object was familiar and that something new is available to explore. This pattern—decreased looking at the familiar object and increased looking at the new one—reflects perceptual learning and memory for the experienced stimulus.

Imprinting involves rapid attachment to a caregiver in a critical period, not the general pattern of looking at new versus familiar objects. Conditioning is about forming associations between stimuli and responses, which isn’t what’s being measured here. Generalization is about applying a learned response to new but similar stimuli, which also isn’t the focus in this scenario.