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Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children
Published on: September 1, 2018
Associative learning via eyeblink conditioning differs by age from infancy to adulthood
Carolin Konrad1,2, Lina Neuhoff3,4, Dirk Adolph3,4
1Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. carolin.konrad@rub.de.
Abstract:
Associative learning is a key feature of adaptive behaviour and mental health, enabling individuals to adjust their actions in anticipation of future events. Comprehensive documentation of this essential component of human cognitive development throughout different developmental periods is needed. Here, we investigated age-related changes in associative learning in key developmental stages, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We employed a classical delay eyeblink conditioning paradigm that consisted of two sessions with a total of 48 paired trials. Our initial hypothesis was that performance in associative learning would increase linearly with age. However, our findings suggest that performance peaks during the primary school years: Children in this age-group exhibited superior performance compared to all other age-groups and displayed the most consistent and least variable learning. Adults and adolescents exhibited faster association learning than infants. An additional learning session supported learning in infants and adolescents indicating that during these developmental stages, consolidation processes are vital for learning. A comprehensive account of the development of associative learning may inform theories on aetiology and treatment options in clinical psychology and neurosciences.
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