Temporal learning in 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children: role of instructions and prior knowledge.
The present study investigates effects of different types of instructions (high-rate, interval, and minimal) during training with a fixed-interval schedule as a function of prior acquired temporal knowledge. A pretest was used to assess 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children's ability to understand the temporal parameters of a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement. The results as a whole show that the control exerted by instructions given by the experimenter or elaborated by the subjects themselves on fixed-interval performance of young children depends on the interaction of two factors: development of verbal self-control skills and mastery of knowledge required by the rules forming the instructions.
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Laboratoire de Psycho-Biologie de l'Enfant, EPHE, CNRS, Paris, France.
Pouthas
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Jacquet
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D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003210:Concept Formation; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D013998:Time Perception