The development of visual expectations in the first year

The development of expectations was investigated by using the Visual Expect ations Procedure. In Experiment 1,128 infants aged 6-, 9-, and 12-months-ol d saw two 40-trial sequences of a videotaped mechanical toy appearing in va rious locations. The sequences represented an alternation pattern (i.e., AB AB) or a complex pivot pattern (i.e., ABCBABCB). In Experiment 2,76 infants aged 4-, 8-, and 12-months-old saw either a left-right alternation or a to p-bottom alternation. Reaction time improved and the percentage of anticipa tions increased between 6 and 9 months in Experiment 1 and between 4 and 8 months in Experiment 2 but not thereafter. Anticipations for the pivot sequ ence and for younger infants on both sequences were often incorrect (i.e., gaze shifts occurred before stimulus onset but were not directed toward the upcoming stimulus). We conclude that young infants have expectations that reflect some degree of general or procedural knowledge, but it is not clear that this behavior implies specific, articulated expectations about upcomi ng events.