Infants anticipate probabilistic but not deterministic outcomes

摘要

Infants look at physically impossible events longer than at physically possible events, and at improbable events longer than at probable events. Such behaviors are generally interpreted as showing that infants have expectations about future events and are surprised to see them violated. It is unknown, however, whether and under what conditions infants form proactive expectations about the future, as opposed to realizing post hoc that outcomes do not comply with their previous knowledge or experience.