Correct counting respects the stable order principle whereby the count terms are recited in a fixed order every time. The 4 experiments reported here tested whether precounting infants recognize and prefer correct stable-ordered counting. The authors introduced a novel preference paradigm in which infants could freely press two buttons to activate…

In an experiment, 13.5-month-old children were tested on 2- and 3-act sequences depicting familiar and novel events. Using elicited imitation, they reliably recalled the sequences in the correct temporal order. In a second experiment, 11.5 month olds accurately recalled 2-act sequences depicting familiar and novel events. (BC)