ABSTRACT
The process of reacting to the events transpiring in our environment is a complex one, oftentimes involving a sequence of steps. For example, the initial response to a stimulus must involve determining the type of attentive response to make: orienting versus defensive response, or selective versus nonselective attention. Once initial decisions are made, additional analyses of the stimulus events may occur, and these are influenced not only by the continuing stimulus events, but also by the outcome of previous response processing decisions. The result is that the process of reacting to events is the sequencing of a set of responses over time. A common circumstance is for later responses to be altered as a result of information gathered in the initial analysis. The evidence is growing that infants demonstrate such contingently programmed sequences of analysis, but that these behaviors undergo developmental changes in the first months of life. It is our purpose to illustrate these results, particularly as they are evidenced in the relation between cardiac activity and cognitive development.
