Abstract
Three groups of human newborns were presented with 50 trials of intra-oral stimulation for 10-sec. durations while sucking rate was recorded. One received 10 blocks of five-trial alternations of rubber-nipple and rubber-tube stimulation, one received 50 trials of tube alone, and another of nipple alone. The nipple elicited more sucking than the tube. In the alternation group, the nipple elicited an increasing amount of sucking over trials within blocks, while the tube elicited a decreasing amount, apparently due partly to a contrast phenomenon whereby the nipple became more effective in eliciting sucking through alternation with the less effective stimulus, and partly to perseveration, whereby sucking rate to the tube was highest immediately following the nipple trials.
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This study was supported by a PHS research grant (NB 04268) to the senior author. We are indebted to Robert A. Hinde for interpretive suggestions.
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Lipsitt, L.P., Kayo, H. Change in neonatal response to optimizing and non-optimizing sucking stimulation. Psychon Sci 2, 221–222 (1965). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343416
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343416