Attention and verbal labeling behavior in preschool children: A study in the measurement of Internal Representations

This study sought to determine whether (a) novelty produces greater or less attention than familiarity and incongruity, and (b) children’s labeling behavior is related to their attentive behavior. With the use of 3- to 5-yearold children (N = 431, the results indicate that attention, at least for the stimuli presented, is an increasing function from familiar to incongruous to novel. Moreover, Ss’ speed and accuracy of labeling were related to their attentive behavior, with familiar stimuli producing mostly correct labels with short latencies while incongruous or novel stimuli produced mostly incorrect or no labels with long latencies. These results were discussed in relationship to the concept of novelty.