Event Set x Event Set designs were used to study the rotating screen paradigm introduced by Baillargeon, Spelke, and Wasserman (1985). In Experiment 1, 36 S%-month-old infants were habituated to a screen rotating 180" with no block, a screen rotating 120" up to a block, or a screen rotating 180" up to and seemingly through a block. All infants were then tested on the same 3 events and also a screen rotating 120" with no block. The results indicate that infants are using novelty and familiarity preference to determine their looking times. To confirm this, in Experiment 2,52 S%-month-old infants were familiarized on either 3 or 7 trials to a screen rotating 180" with no block or a screen rotating 120" with no block. All infants were then tested on the same test events as in Experiment 1. Infants with fewer familiarization trials were more likely to prefer the familiar rotation event. The results of these 2 experiments indicate that infants did not use the possibility or impossibility of events but instead used familiarity or novelty relations between the habituation events and the test events to determine their looking times, and suggest that the Baillargeon et al. study should not be interpreted as indicating object permanence or solidity knowledge in young infants.In the decade and a half since its publication, the study of object permanence in 5-month-old infants by Baillargeon, Spelke, and Wasserman (1985) has been fiequently cited in research and theoretical articles and plays a supportive role in vari-Requests for reprints should be sent to Richard S. Bogartz,

The effects of familiarization and age were examined using Baillargeon's rotating screen paradigm. In Condition A, 4-month-olds exposed to 7 180" familiarization trials looked significantly longer at the 180" test events than the 1 12" test events; there was a familiarity preference. In Condition B, which consisted of 12 instead of 7 180" familiarization trials, the 4-month-olds looked significantly longer at the 112" test events than the 180" test events; there was a novelty preference. In Condition C, which was similar to Condition A except that there were 1 12" familiarization trials, the infants showed a familiarity preference. Thus, 4-month-olds experiencing 7 familiarization trials exhibited a familiarity preference, and those experiencing 12 familiarization trials showed a novelty preference. In Condition D, 6-month-olds experienced 7 180" familiarization trials; there was no preferential looking to either familiar (1 80") test events or novel (1 12") test events. Therefore, looking behavior during the test trials was a function of the type of familiarization experience and age and not necessarily an inferred violation of physics.

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