Two latent inhibition experiments were conducted with children aged between 4.6 and 11.8 years. Experiment I sampled a middle socio‐economic class population. Within each age, there were four experimental groups which varied in the number of pre‐exposures to the stimulus that was later used as the reinforced stimulus in a discrimination learning test. Latent inhibition, i.e. poorer learning in the group pre‐exposed to the stimulus as compared with the non‐pre‐exposed group, was found to decrease with age. In Expt 2, children from a low socio‐economic level were presented with a similar design. The results were the same as in Expt 1 except that latent inhibition decreased, as a function of age, at a slower rate. In addition, when the stimulus which is subsequently used as the negative item is pre‐exposed there is no significant effect on subsequent learning in the discrimination test. The data are discussed in terms of Kendler's multi‐stage model of development and Lubow's conditioned attention theory.