Arousal and preferences for complexity in infants.

Overview

To determine the effects of arousal on preference for complexity 9 infants (16 to 18 mo.) were exposed to different levels of complexity under low and high hunger drive. Low-hunger Ss showed longer fixation time than high-hunger Ss toward all stimuli and showed relatively greater preference for complexity than high-hunger Ss. The results were interpreted in terms of optimal-stimulation theory and information-processing theory.