First-grade children (48 boys, 48 girls) were asked to select one toy from a pair either to keep permanently or to play with immediately. Subjects had been familiarized with one of the pair for either 3 or 5 min.; the other toy was novel. Children preferred novel toys to play with immediately but familiar toys to keep permanently. However, more than 3 min. of familiarization was necessary before the stimulus familiarization effect became evident.
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