The A-not-B error: Results from a logistic meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of the A-not-B error was conducted using logistic regressio n on studies conducted before September 1997 (107 data points). An earlier meta-analysis by Wellman, Cross, and Bartsch revealed that age, delay betwe en hiding and retrieval, and number of hiding locations were significant pr edictors of both the proportion of infants who searched correctly on B tria ls and the proportion of infants who searched perseveratively. The current analysis replicated these findings with two exceptions: (1) The number of t rials at the A location was a significant predictor, and (2) the number of locations was a significant predictor of the proportion of infants who sear ched perseveratively, but not the proportion of infants who searched correc tly. Implications of these findings are discussed and a quantitative versio n of a hierarchical competing-systems model of infant search is proposed.