Conditioning and long-term memory in three-month-old infants with Down syndrome.
The learning and memory of twenty 3-month-old infants with Down syndrome was compared with that of 20 infants without handicaps using an operant conditioning task known as mobile conjugate reinforcement. The infants were trained for 2 days to produce movement in an overhead crib mobile by kicking and were reexposed to this task a week later. Both groups successfully acquired the contingency and displayed reliable long-term retention. In addition, the conditioning and retention-test performance of the two groups of infants did not differ.
Ohr
P S
PS
St. John's University, Jamaica, NY 11439.
Fagen
J W
JW
D001143:Arousal; D001245:Association Learning; D001364:Awareness; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology