Certificate In Psychology (CPSY) Practice Exam

What behavior do infants exhibit when they encounter surprising events, according to the violations-of-expectations procedure?

1. They engage in social referencing.

2. They manually explore unusual visual stimuli.

3. They stare at events that they consider to be surprising.

4. They become startled by unexpected events.

The correct answer is: They stare at events that they consider to be surprising.

Infants exhibit a specific response when they encounter surprising events, which is evident through the violations-of-expectations procedure. This method involves presenting infants with scenarios that either conform to or violate their expectations based on prior knowledge or experience. When confronted with an unexpected or surprising event, infants demonstrate an increased amount of staring. This behavioral response indicates their cognitive processing of the unexpected situation, as they spend more time looking at events that do not align with their expectations. This staring reflects their curiosity and engagement with the stimuli, signaling their attempt to understand or make sense of the anomaly in their environment. The longer duration of gaze suggests that they are actively trying to figure out why the event is surprising or contradictory to their previous experiences or beliefs about how the world works. Thus, this increase in staring serves as a key indicator of infants' awareness and cognitive processing capabilities regarding unexpected occurrences.