Behavioral decrement following stimulus preexposure: Effects of number of preexposures, presence of a second stimulus, and interstimulus interval in children and adults

Conducted 2 experiments with a total of 220 Israeli 1st and 2nd graders and 220 Israeli university students to analyze the similarities between the stimulus familiarization effect and latent inhibition. A significant interaction was found between the stimulus familiarity effect and age. Children exhibited increased reaction time to pre-exposed stimuli as opposed to non-pre-exposed stimuli, but adults did not show this effect. In addition, a number of variables were shown to affect the amount of decrement. The decrement increased as a function of the number of pre-exposures and decreased with the addition of a 2nd stimulus placed in a conditioning relationship to the to-be-tested stimulus during pre-exposure. However, an increase in the interstimulus interval was only marginally effective in increasing the inhibitory effects of pre-exposure. Data are discussed in relation to a conditioned attention explanation for these phenomena of behavioral decrement. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).