| Abstract: | A GROUP OF 16 infants with Down syndrome (DS) aged between 6 and 24 months were exposed to two operant learning tasks. One schedule allowed the infant 100% control over delivery of reinforcement (the rotation of a mobile); the other also allowed the infant total control but included a small proportion (10%) of ‘free’, computer‐inserted reinforcement. The response of subjects with DS to both tasks was compared with that of two control groups of nonhandicapped subjects, one matched for chronological age with the infants with DS, the other matched for developmental age. The performance of DS and ‘matched’ subjects differed on a number of levels, with a developmental pattern emerging in subjects with DS of increasing adoption of counterproductive learning behaviours with increasing age. |
