title: Temporal learning in 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children: role of instructions and prior knowledge.
abstract: 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.
authors: Laboratoire de Psycho-Biologie de l'Enfant, EPHE, CNRS, Paris, France.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Droit
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Pouthas
authors: A Y
authors: AY
authors: Jacquet
mesh_terms: 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