Instrumental Conditioning of Nutritive Sucking Behavior in the Newborn

There is substantial clinical and experimental evidence that the earliest sensory and motor experiences associated with feeding have a profound effect on the behavioral development of animal and man. A method of recording newborn feeding behavior has been evolved in our laboratory that may facilitate investigation of the mechanisms by which experience modifies the behavior of newborn organisms. The apparatus (Fig. 1), appearance of the data (Fig. 2), and methods of data analysis have been previously described in detail [1–4].