Arousal and preferences for complexity in infants.
To determine the effects of arousal on preference for complexity 9 infants (16 to 18 mo.) were exposed to different levels of complexity under low and high hunger drive. Low-hunger Ss showed longer fixation time than high-hunger Ss toward all stimuli and showed relatively greater preference for complexity than high-hunger Ss. The results were interpreted in terms of optimal-stimulation theory and information-processing theory.
D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007223:Infant; D007257:Information Theory; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception