Infant's reaction to changes in orientation of figure and frame

Five groups of five-month-old infants observed the same horizontal arrangement of a three-element stimulus placed in a rectangular frame during a series of habituating trials. These trials were followed by either (i) additional exposure to the familiarized standard, (ii) a tringular rearrangement of the three stimulus elements, (iii) oblique rotation of the three elements, (iv) oblique rotation of the three elements and the frame, or (v) oblique rotation of the frame alone. The infants were responsive to all changes in the spatial arrangement of the three elements and to the rotation of the frame, but were less responsive to the change in the frame. The two effects were not additive.